Building on the literature of student leadership development, Natalie Sew, Adrianne Billingham Bock, and Danielle Allen share an approach to civic education: Deeper Civic Learning. This approach offers students the opportunity to develop the knowledge, skills, and key civic dispositions needed to engage in their communities and develop their…

Students build up their STEM career interest based on their experiences. However, it remains unclear how students reflect on their STEM experiences in light of their understanding of STEM careers. This study aimed to explore how students relate their practices in STEM project-based learning (PBL) with their perceptions of scientists' and…

Middle school social studies teachers are increasingly working on argument writing in their classrooms so that students can successfully write counterarguments that acknowledge competing perspectives about historical and social issues by the end of eighth grade. The authors' prior research indicates that eighth-grade students "can" grow…

Although science fairs have been an institution of science education for decades in schools across the United States, little is understood about how students' science fair experiences vary and how these variations relate to student learning. Research on this topic is particularly imperative as new science standards increase emphasis on the…

We adapted a multidisciplinary, project-based curriculum to introduce high school students to statistical inquiry. We examined student background characteristics, learning experiences, and course outcomes for 30 students aged 12 to 14 entering ninth grade who were involved in a 1-week, accelerated version of a Passion-Driven Statistics curriculum.…

As new science standards increase emphasis on the teaching of science and engineering practices, research is needed on the implementation and outcomes of students' experiences with authentic inquiry-based activities. Using a framework on teacher support for inquiry, we examined results from a national survey of middle school science fairs. Three…

Standardized testing pressure sometimes discourages schools from broadly implementing experiential learning opportunities. However, some K-12 schools are challenging the trend with greater commitment to learning by experience. STREAM (science, technology, reading, engineering, arts, mathematics) school is a project-based program providing students…

Building on recent research into the importance of positive teacher emotions for student learning experiences, the current study involved five upper primary teachers at a Victorian government school developing integrated mathematics units built around topic areas of personal interest or passion. Respective students (n=88) elected to participate in…

This qualitative multiple-comparative case study investigates (1) The reported experiences and impressions of four pre-service teachers (PTs) on practicum placement in four different classrooms (grades 1-9) where a new Steps to Inquiry (SI) framework was being utilized to support students conducting open inquiry; (2) The relative dispositions of…

This paper presents results of a survey among school children aged 10 to 14 years, who participated in science or mathematics workshops. It particularly relates to their interest and motivation determined immediately after the workshop had finished. A total of 70 workshops were held in elementary schools of Rijeka, Croatia, involving the…

The purpose of this exploratory study was to analyze the writing experiences of eighth-grade students in three social studies classrooms while using a Web 2.0 online writing workspace. Participants included one social studies teacher and 69 eighth-grade students in a selective admission public high school. Furthermore, three of the eighth-grade…

This dissertation is a qualitative case study focused on describing and analyzing the student and teacher experience with One Hen, a project-based learning unit specifically designed to teach civic engagement. In this study I address three questions: 1) Do fifth-grade students' knowledge and skills in economics change after participating in a…

Students have their own lenses through which they view school science and the students' views are often left out of educational conversations which directly affect the students themselves. Pinar's (2004) definition of curriculum as a "complicated conversation" implies that the class' voice is important, as important as the teacher's voice, to the…

Problem statement: Although there is agreement on the potential of project based learning (PBL) and virtual manipulatives (VMs), their positive impact depends on how they are used. This study was based on supporting the use of online PBL environments and improving the efficacy of the instructional practices in PBL by combining the potentials of…

The author served as facilitator of a group of graphic design college students at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC). These students embarked on a collaborative, 24-hour+, work-around-the-clock, creative blitz and used design thinking to serve the needs of Dalewood Middle School in Chattanooga. Students collaborated with industry…