This narrative review is the first to focus on how young people themselves express their experiences of participation in ecological restoration projects, as a guide to creating projects that engage them effectively. It gathers 10 qualitative and mixed-method studies that document young people's experiences through observations, interviews, focus…

The paper presents a scoping review of research that has been conducted on integrated STEM programmes in Australian schools over a 10-year period (2012--2022). It aims to determine how integrated STEM is being practiced. A total of 17 papers were chosen for review. The review explored the major characteristics of research that has been conducted…

Contribution: The experiences of three students in a co-curricular project-based design experience are explored. The objective is to characterize authentic and inauthentic (performative) forms of engagement and its potential impact on learning within an authentic experience. We consider these cases in supporting an argument for extensive…

One of the ways in which students can be taught science is by doing science, the intention being to help students understand the nature, processes, and methods of science. Investigative research projects may be used in an attempt to reflect some aspects of science more authentically than other teaching and learning approaches, such as confirmatory…

Researchers have reported that participation in agricultural education reinforces STEM concepts. The use of projects is common in agricultural education. However, the foundational understanding of certain tenets of project use is not clear. A quasi-experimental study was conducted to test the effects of project authenticity on learning. AFNR…

Purpose: This study explored how teachers change, what teachers learn and how they learn during the implementation of project-based learning through lesson study. Design/methodology/approach: In this study, three university researchers, one doctoral student and six mathematics school teachers formed a lesson study team. Using a qualitative…

In 2022, the state department released new standards and a competency-based education curriculum. Simultaneously, the Toledo Creek School District has experienced an unprecedent shift in the student population demographics. The shift has resulted in two distinct zones, east and west, with income averages on the two extremes of the income spectrum.…

One reason for the widespread use of the energy concept across the sciences is that energy analysis can be used to interpret the behavior of systems even if one does not know the particular mechanisms that underlie the observed behavior. By providing an approach to interpreting unfamiliar phenomena, energy provides a lens on phenomena that can set…

Introduction: Cognitive psychology courses are rich in content that can be useful to broad audiences. Much of the foundational research presented in course texts is conducted in highly constrained laboratory settings, making the concepts difficult to apply or use in the real world. Statement of the Problem: Students in cognitive psychology classes…

Background: Authenticity in schools has been highlighted as important for improving students' engagement and learning, and to prepare them for future job markets, especially in science and technology. Purpose: This study investigates students' perceived authenticity of a developed innovation project when implemented in an upper secondary…

Background: Design problems have long attracted researchers' attention for their potential to provide authentic learning opportunities. While we have methods for supporting students to learn through relatively simple engineering and design tasks, supporting students to address complex problems that they find and frame remains poorly understood.…

This pilot study investigates the way that young students and teachers of a Dutch Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) secondary school subject Research and Design (R&D) reason about the concept of 'model'. The core of the Dutch Technasium secondary school course Research and Design curriculum (R&D is in Dutch called…

Incorporating authentic engineering practices into educative experiences in elementary school has the potential to positively impact student consideration of STEM careers and increase student self-efficacy in later engineering study. Additionally, as students move from primary to secondary grades, their interest in STEM topics tends to decline. To…

This study explores student agency in the context of a culturally authentic computer science (CS) curriculum implemented in an introductory CS course in two high schools. Drawing on focus group and interview data, the study utilizes qualitative research methods to examine how students exercise critical agency as they engage in the course and how…

Community partnerships present opportunities for expanding students' learning experiences outside traditional classroom settings. However, under-resourced low-income communities often lack access to such opportunities. This qualitative study explores how high school teachers, community liaisons, and community partners establish and sustain…