A reform movement in the United States has focused on STEM education and 21st century soft skills such as critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. This spotlight on STEM instruction provided an opportunity to explore how K-14 STEM teacher participants perceived a Design Thinking Instructional Problems (DTIP) approach to…

This study investigates how participating in a teacher externship program increases the awareness of how effective communication plays a critical role in an industry-based environment. It also studies the teacher participants' commitment to changing their classroom practices as a result of acquiring this awareness. The program of focus, the…

Purpose: This paper aims to describe the results of a qualitative case study of three beginning elementary teachers' knowledge-in-practice of multicultural science education. Design/methodology/approach: Data included interviews, focus group discussions, audio-recorded lessons and daily field notes through the course of a month-long summer science…

The current study examined the feasibility and initial efficacy of the Summer Treatment Program for Pre-kindergarteners (STP-PreK) with 37 preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and externalizing behavior problems (EBP). Parents and teachers reported on children's behavior, social/adaptive skills, and self-regulation. Children completed…

Can participation in a 4-day workshop change science teachers' beliefs about reformed science teaching? We observe a significant difference between pre- and post-workshop surveys and explore an unexpected relationship involving teaching experience. Results of this exploratory study indicate a significant correlation between high school science…

In summer 2015, roughly six years after the Great Recession of 2007-2009 ended, the American media began reporting on an emerging teacher shortage. Public schools were reinstating programs and classes that they had cut during the recession, and student enrollment was increasing. Meanwhile, enrollment in teacher training programs was decreasing.…

Beginning teachers experience a variety of challenges and difficulties as they struggle to develop and progress in their teaching career. The following qualitative case study focused on a novice teacher's perceptions concerning the mentoring experience she received in her practicum course at the American University in Dubai. The study was guided…

Entrepreneurship is widely recognized as a driver of rural economic growth and community vitality. Nebraska Extension personnel developed a youth entrepreneurship curriculum--EntrepreneurShip Investigation (ESI)--for middle and high school students. This curriculum has been used at 4-H summer camps, for formal classroom and out-of-school…

Professional learning experiences (PLEs) provide teachers with opportunities to improve their understanding of mathematics content and teaching practices. However, PLEs are often conducted in person and in small groups--hence costly and localized. The purpose of the current study was to explore different ways for teachers to engage in PLEs and how…

The teacher shortage calls for innovative recruitment, development, and retention practices. This qualitative inquiry highlights the Academy for Future Teachers (AFT), a teacher-cadet program for high-schoolers interested in teaching. We endeavored to understand how the varied participants' in AFT (high schoolers, teacher residents, and master…

We compared the effectiveness of and preference for different feedback strategies when training six special education teachers during a 5-day summer training program. In Experiment 1, teachers received written or vocal feedback while learning to implement two different types of preference assessments. In Experiment 2, we compared either written or…

Many undergraduate students will experience being taught by graduate teaching assistants (GTAs); therefore, focusing on GTA pedagogy is in the best interest of the students and university as a whole. Based on a Masters of Arts in Teaching program, a 5-week intensive summer training session for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics…

This report highlights successes and lessons learned from Austin Independent School District's 2020 virtual learning summer school programs. More than 13,000 AISD students in prekindergarten through grade 12 participated in these programs, which offered academic enrichment or acceleration, course credit recovery, and grade level transition.…

National reform documents are calling for an upsurge in the development of integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curricula to simultaneously increase the number of kindergarten through Grade 12 (K-12) students involved in STEM-related coursework and increase the competitiveness of the United States in the STEM-related…

This study examines the perceptions of Korean language teachers on the classroom practice of embedding contemporary Korean pop culture into classrooms for effective world language instruction. While integrating culture in language classrooms has been practiced for decades, Korean teachers in this study expressed a lack of confidence in designing…