Interest is a unique internal motivator of learning that can be sustained and developed by outside influences. A challenge in rural areas is instilling interest in young adults to pursue careers local industries demand in order to mitigate rural out-migration. The purpose of this mixed methods intervention study was to determine if and explain how…

The purpose of this study is to develop and validate an authentic contextual learning framework with six constructs to model the relationships among essential factors of authentic contextual learning. In particular, this framework explores the relationships across six constructs, i.e. learning by applying, healthy learning, collaborative learning,…

Satellite laboratories, designed to ignite interest in technical and computer science topics, employ cross-age peer tutoring and physical computing platforms. Catering to students from 5th grade onwards, these laboratories are led by tutors from 9th grade onwards. Employing a design-based research approach, the project aims to comprehensively…

Emergency remote and hybrid instructional approaches during the COVID-19 pandemic presented new challenges to science teachers, including how to incorporate authentic, hands-on, and collaborative learning experiences via Zoom™ instruction. Through a school-university partnership, a first-year middle school science teacher, an assistant professor,…

Background: Since 1982 many student-centred physical education teaching approaches have been proposed as viable alternatives to the traditional teacher-centred methodology. However, research indicates that their uptake by physical education practitioners has been limited. This is concerning, particularly given the prominence of alternative…

Teaching digital literacies as social practices is challenging for many English as an Additional Language (EAL) practitioners. There is not much research that offers effective approaches and specific examples. Drawing on the '3D' model (Green [2002]. "A Literacy Project of Our Own." "English in Australia" 134: 25-32), this…

This study explores and explains teachers' perceptions and practices in using a reflective practice model to teach STEM education in a blended learning environment. The study was conducted before the COVID-19 lockdown and continued after the quarantine till the end of the semester. The transformative learning and the experiential learning theories…

This study explores the disciplinary literacy perspectives of middle school students of color attending urban parochial schools and the reader subject positions they took up across content-area classrooms. Qualitative analysis of 19 student interviews and accompanying observations of subject-area classes revealed that students' constructions of…

This Teaching and Learning Research Initiative (TLRI) project was a 2-year exploratory study focusing on differentiating the curriculum in response to individual learner differences. The project was designed to explore learning and teaching of differentiated scientific content through observational processes and the expression of that learning…