Afterschool interventions in STEM are linked to learning gains during the school day. These opportunities engage and excite students about STEM concepts since they observe a more hands-on, project-oriented approach. Often these opportunities for afterschool interventions are infrequent in nature and leave gaps for students in their maturation and…

The prevalence of habitat and life-threatening environmental problems has motivated environmental researchers to develop education programs to strengthen students' environmental literacy. We argue that the connection between environmental literacy and metacognition is theoretically promising. Therefore, we developed the "Meta-CIC" model,…

The evolution of science is seldom about solitary individuals busy at work in labs making discoveries. This is especially true of the Earth sciences, where time-intensive fieldwork is usually required. Single scientists are rarely capable of amassing the requisite data sets to form grand, unifying theories. This is the case with the new airburst…

In this solar panels and alternative energy project, students were challenged to develop a researchable question about solar energy and electronics and devise a means of answering it. Students worked cooperatively, with specific roles for each member, conducting research, conducting experiments, analyzing results, and writing the final…

The messages students receive through popular media such as movies, television, the internet, and music videos have a powerful influence and can shape their thinking. A national survey of media use by 8- to 18-year-olds found the average adolescent spends over seven and a half hours daily with entertainment media (KFF 2010). Rather than viewing…

Spelling is the study of word-specific knowledge, and knowledge about words is important. Today, many fourth through eighth graders can't write with fluency because they don't have automatic access to basic words and spelling patterns. Yet, sadly, many teachers have had little support in this area. Luckily, evidence-based spelling instruction is…

The purpose of the research project was to determine the effectiveness of a comprehensive career orientation program in increasing awareness of self and of career opportunities in students of rural areas. Conducted with grades 7 and 8 in LePera school in Parker, Arizona from May 1973 to October 1974, the program provided occupational information…

This is the final report of a Kansas state project which had four purposes: (1) Involvement of teacher training institutions with the unified school districts' career education program in order to gather information needed to provide realistic experiences for inservice education of future career education teachers, (2) involve the community in…