In 2017 Purdue evGrand Prix hired a K-12 Indiana public educator (the author) to write instructional material that could be implemented into participating teams' high school science and engineering classrooms. The goal was to create science-based integrated STEM learning experiences that complement the construction and racing of a 48-volt electric…

To guide designers developing open education resources for adults preparing for a high school equivalency exam, we developed six authentic personas that represented adults without high school diplomas. Our goal was to assist open education resources designers to develop empathy toward their learners and place themselves in their learners' shoes.…

Moonshot is the redesign of NASA's High School Aerospace Scholars (HAS), which traditionally engaged Texas high school juniors in a 16-week online course for credit and an intense week-long onsite experience working in teams with experts at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC). Due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), our challenge was to design,…

In this design case, we describe our first attempt to create a virtual mathematics tutoring program for students with learning disabilities. We describe in detail how the design was motivated by the pandemic which forced schools into remote learning, how a university and school collaborated on the design, the rationale for our design decisions,…

To gain insight into complex sustainability problems and acknowledge complexity is essential and can be achieved by creating an overview of the entire system, including interaction between variables. Therefore, systems thinking is recognized as a vital cognitive skill required to grasp complex global problems. Nevertheless, the implementation of…

This design case follows the instructional planning and decision making before and during a nine-week project-based unit co-taught by three of the authors at a not-for-profit charter high school in the American Southwest. The school serves students who have not been well served by traditional schooling. The teachers partner with industry…

In this design case, we describe our work to design and develop a socio-scientific issue (SSI) based unit of instruction for use in high school biology. Our team includes university based science educators, an experienced classroom teacher, and a microbiologist. The unit focuses on antibiotic resistant bacteria as a context for student exploration…