The manuscript describes a community-based mathematical modeling task that was implemented in a Calculus I classroom to engage students in mathematical modeling. Twenty-five undergraduate students engaged in this activity. These students selected a context that they found interesting, posed questions, developed constraints, came up with solution…

The Junior Knight Camp is an annual summer program that specifically supports elementary school students in an effort to increase knowledge of social studies using an interdisciplinary thematic approach. This interdisciplinary approach includes STEM, the arts, literacy, and physical education. The camp operates on multiple campuses of the…

Field-based practicum experiences are essential in connecting classroom theory to the real world. In this mixed methods study, we analyzed principal candidates' perceptions of their summer residency practicum experiences via a self-assessment principal leadership competency instrument and virtual semi-structured interviews. We found that principal…

There is currently a heavy emphasis on career-connected learning for high school students in New York City. ExpandED Schools' science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) Options (ES Options) program predates the newest of these initiatives. Launched in 2019, ES Options combines a credit-bearing STEM apprenticeship in the spring with a…

Summer Youth Employment Programs (SYEPs) help connect youth to opportunities for career exploration, skill development, and mentorship. Despite heightened investment in SYEPs, research regarding positive impacts is limited. Most of the common SYEP evaluation strategies are rooted in deficit thinking and focus on outcomes such as reducing violent…

This piece introduces the Des Moines University Library's Research and Scholarly Communication Peer Associate Program, focusing on the curriculum of a five-day summer institute developed for graduate medical and health sciences students and rooted in a critical information literacy framework. The authors outline the institute's philosophy and…

This study analyzed the development of an electronic portfolio (i.e., ePortfolio) program designed to promote and assess reflection and engaged learning for participants in a summer internship program. Over the course of eight weeks, 12 undergraduates reflected weekly on their internships through their ePortfolios both in writing and through…

The purpose of this research project was to design, deliver, and informally assess the content and methodology of an introductory online course for the educators of Deaf and Hard of Hearing students (N=20) that focused on the block-based coding language, Scratch. Prior work by The Playful Learning Lab examined various STEM resources and their…

Despite calls for both research and curricular implementations that support underrepresented students' exploration of STEM topics, curricula that apply principles of embodied cognition, such as the use of sports to teach science, are still needed. Further research may also serve to clarify how underrepresented students construct knowledge over…

Authoring Action (A2) is a youth-focused, arts-based, afterschool and summer program. A2's mission is "to transform the lives of youth and the world through the power of creative writing, spoken word, visual and media arts, film-making and leadership education that promotes positive systemic change." Using in-depth interviews, this study…

Many researchers have debated potential differences between male and female students' mathematical performance. One important factor that can impact performance is perception of the content. The purpose of the study is to investigate factors that impact high-ability male and female students' perspectives of mathematics. Participants (n = 12;…

Residential medical specialty camps provide short-term psychosocial benefits to youth with health conditions during summer camp, yet extinguishing effects are commonly seen in follow-up data as campers return to home and school settings (Dawson, 2017; Knapp et al., 2015; Moola et al., 2014; Plante et al., 2001). Innovative year-round support…

This study explored the affective outcomes students perceived from participating in a summer program and the program components that contributed to participants' perceived affective development. Participants were 55 middle school students (29 girls) with intellectual gifts who participated in a 4-day-long residential program conducted in a western…

Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP) is an educational framework that illustrates how to foster educational excellence through a focus on cultural competence, critical consciousness, and academic success, which aims to empower students by making education more applicable and responsive to their lived experiences (Ladson-Billings, 1995). This study…

This article aims to illuminate the perceptions of a pilot grief- and trauma-informed empowerment arts summer program for adolescents who lived in an at-risk Southern, urban neighborhood identified by the city in question as having a high percentage of street violence. The study it is based on was grounded in qualitative techniques, which…