Despite calls from national initiatives for increased STEM learning in the K-12 classroom, addressing STEM in teacher preparation programs has received minimal attention (Brown, 2012). As a result, most courses remained siloed within specific content areas, with little integration (Bergman & Morphew, 2015). This has led to many elementary…

This dissertation investigates the intersection of economics of innovation and human capital development to understand how to empower individuals and marginalized communities to be directed to innovation and STEM disciplines. The research focuses on three main chapters: Chapter 1 examines the effectiveness of an education program in teaching and…

This descriptive, qualitative case study investigated how three high school teachers in non-STEM subject areas developed integrated STEM (iSTEM) pedagogies for conventional classroom lessons in a high-technology makerspace. The school in focus adopted a STEM teaching policy that required all teachers to implement iSTEM teaching in the school's…

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, students were required to transition into a broken online educational experience. However, this unfortunate shift, proved to be an opportune escape route to distance Black girls from traditional anti-Black STEM experiences. This was an opportunity to create educational STEM experiences and…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the experiences and practices of STEM teacher leaders in elementary schools. The characteristics of the STEM teacher leaders were studied under the Teacher Leader Model Standards (2011) framework. The Teacher Leader Model Standards included: fostering collaborative culture, assessments,…

Science Teacher training is an important subsector of professional higher education, and continuous professional development with the latest techniques and trends is vital. The quality of science teacher training in Pakistan could benefit from improved science teacher training models and classroom practices. This Interpretative Phenomenological…

In recent decades, higher education institutions have been increasingly called upon to prepare students for work after college. STEM programs in particular have been provided with increasing federal- and institutional-level support in order to meet the demands of a competitive global marketplace as well as to provide revenue generation for…

A theoretical framework grounded in constructionism and pragmatism theories supported research on learning by doing. This framework underpinned the purpose of this qualitative case study to explore how K-8 STEM teachers facilitated projects utilizing innovative technologies to solve community-based problems. The problem was a lack of connection…

Multi-stakeholder collaborative networks (MSCNs) centered around innovative problem solving have become increasingly popular. These collaborations seek to pool the resources of the various stakeholders in order to address their common issue. The importance of the collaboration members' awareness of one another's resources is the basis for this…

STEM education is an interdisciplinary approach to learning where rigorous academic concepts are coupled with real-world lessons and activities as students apply science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in contexts that make connections between school, community, work, and the global enterprise enabling STEM literacy (Tsupros, Kohler and…

A critical problem in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is the slow uptake of innovative teaching strategies and materials. Developments from the STEM education research community can be shown to improve learning and retention outcomes, but the majority of new teaching strategies go unused by…

STEM Schools purport to prepare students to learn and work in the 21st Century by providing students with innovative learning experiences through the interdisciplinary integration of science, technology, engineering, and math (Tsupros, 2009). Advocates of STEM and innovative school models argue that the traditional school system does not and…

This study is a mixed-methods program evaluation of an agricultural literacy innovation in a local school district in rural eastern North Carolina. This evaluation describes the use of a theory-based framework, the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM), in accordance with Stufflebeam's Context, Input, Process, Product (CIPP) model by evaluating the…

This dissertation explores the context of urban science education as it relates to the achievement and engagement of urban youth. This study provides a framework for Hip-Hop Pedagogy, an approach to teaching and learning anchored in the creative elements of Hip-Hop culture, in STEM as an innovative approach to teaching and learning demonstrates…

Although a great deal of work has been done to develop new educational innovations, in the field of engineering, few innovations have found widespread acceptance in the classroom. Therefore, frameworks that conceptualize the interactions among the variables that influence successful dissemination are critical. In this dissertation, dissemination…