Echoing calls to expand environmental education research through design, this study explores the role of design in garden-based education and illustrate its contributions towards practical impact and theoretical insight. Design can explicate and map conjectures about resources, tasks, roles, and other supports for learning and teaching then, in…

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) topics into K-12 school curricula is a relatively new but crucial challenge faced by education systems worldwide. Attempts to address this challenge are hindered by a serious lack of curriculum materials and tools to aid teachers in teaching AI. This article introduces the theoretical foundations and…

This study investigated students' perspectives on working and studying within a maker culture context. Participants were fifth-grade students (n = 18) in a Finnish elementary school who worked on a fabrication project for five days. The data consisted of student questionnaires (n = 18), group presentations (n = 5) and the final fabrication…

This exploratory case study involved the development and enactment of a multicultural unit. As the population of the school continues to become more diverse there became a need to educate students to become more culturally aware. The main purpose of the study was to raise students' awareness and appreciation for cultural diversity through…

This paper presents a case study examining 3rd, 4th and 5th graders' design fixation and cooperative learning in an engineering design project. A mixed methods instrument, the Cooperative Learning Observation Protocol (CLOP), was adapted to record frequency and class observation on cooperative learning engagement through detailed field notes.…

Surface area is consistently identified as a curriculum standard for K-12 students and it regularly appears on national and international assessments. Recently, many schools began acquiring digital fabrication and advanced manufacturing equipment. The growing use of digital fabrication in classrooms raises the question of whether or not this…

Project-based learning (PBL) is an effective approach to STEM education because it allows students to experience scientific inquiry by using their knowledge and skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to solve realistic problems. PBL consists of four components: (1) posing and comprehending a driving question; (2)…

In this research, it is aimed to identify the scientific creativity of gifted students through project-based activities. In accordance with this purpose, a study has been carried out with 13 gifted students studying in third and fifth grade. In the study, students have been informed about the project development stages and they have been asked…

Could new types of pedagogy that involve more classroom projects and peer instruction encourage school districts to replace outdated furniture and redesign classrooms? Or could new classroom designs using modular furniture have an impact on how teachers engage their students? These are just a few of the questions that educators, instructional…

In the technology-rich twenty-first century, students are required to actively construct their knowledge and collaboratively engage in problem solving by using such skills as adaptability, communication, self-management, and systematic thinking. In accordance with this necessity, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education…

This study investigated how children designed computer games as artifacts that reflected their understanding of nutrition. Ten 5th grade students were asked to design computer games with the software "Game Maker" for the purpose of teaching 1st graders about nutrition. The results from the case study show that students were able to…

This article describes the steps incorporated to teach an engineering design process in a fifth-grade science classroom. The engineering design-based activity was an existing scientific inquiry activity using UV light--detecting beads and purposefully creating a series of engineering design-based challenges around the investigation. The…

Oranges, flying disks, pool noodles, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe may seem like items discarded after a Rube Goldberg experiment, but in fact, these objects were used in teaching science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). This article describes a project in which The Center of Ocean Sciences Education Excellence SouthEast (COSEE SE)…

Hopscotch, basketball, or hide-and-seek? Children have many choices at recess, and while making these choices they must consider and make trade-offs. The way they make these decisions is not that different from the thought processes engineers use when making design trade-offs. Engineers have to make trade-offs because a design that meets all…

The author was originally inspired by "The Exquisite Snake" exhibit she saw at a local museum. Two hundred contemporary artists contributed to this exhibit, which was an adaptation of the old parlor game called "The Exquisite Corpse" that Surrealist artists used to play in the late 1920s and '30s. The author just loved this idea and decided to…