Knowledge of scientific principles and practices is vital to creating informed citizens. At its core, science helps create citizens who question the why and how of things, while also increasing knowledge of the world and beyond. Humans by nature are curious and thrive when they are engaged in learning that relates to real-world situations relevant…

How can teachers engage students in participatory civic education in a state like Texas where education policy is interfering with the Rights of the Learner by refusing to allow educators to support students in becoming active participants in vital democratic processes? Texas Senate Bill 3, passed in 2021, prohibits teachers from directly…

This study investigates the impact of a STEM field trip on engagement in STEM learning and interest in STEM among students at a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in Texas. Using Kolb's (1984) experiential learning model as a theoretical framework, the research explores how engaging, hands-on activities during the field trip enhance…

This study explored the perceptions of district superintendents in Texas and Arizona concerning the internship activities of superintendent candidates they supervised. Twenty superintendents agreed to participate in interviews. Five uniform questions were presented during the interviews. A qualitative analysis of interview responses is shared, and…

Gross anatomy courses utilize cadaver dissection to teach identification, topography, and spatial relationships of organs. The deconstructive nature of dissection, however, focuses students' attention on the "big picture", followed by a discovery of details. This approach may be useful for many, however some students may prefer to…

Organizational culture is a popular topic in management classes, but teaching about culture in a way that undergraduate students can relate to can be a challenge. In this article, we describe the Texas A&M culture exercise, which draws attention to how to diagnose and evaluate organizational culture using each of Schein's three layers of…

Educational approaches in structural engineering have focused on classical methods for solving problems with manual calculations through assignments, quizzes, and exams. The use of computational software to apply the learned knowledge has been ignored for decades. This paper describes an educational approach to tackle the lack of applicable…

This study employed a qualitative content analysis design to examine the extent to which 8th and 11th-grade U.S. History textbooks, adopted by the State of Texas, foster historical empathy and disciplinary knowledge and skills in the subject of history through student engagement with textbook activities. The textbook activities collected for this…

Problem-posing activities have been shown to motivate students' learning while promoting a multifaceted and interesting educational environment. Moreover, these activities enable students to be engaged in personal interpretations of their own mathematical thinking. The purpose of this study was to determine if using a handson learning intervention…

In the face of information technology changes, not all students will have access to the means to prepare for this future of work. In addressing this issue, in this study, the authors investigate the impact of a 'Making as Micro-Manufacturing (M[superscript 2])' model in motivating STEM-activity participation and developing self-efficacy among…

This article shares findings from the implementation of an ongoing National Professional Development (NPD) project that advances second language literacy and biliteracy in secondary content areas. The project is part of a research-practice partnership between a large public university and two school districts in south Texas that engages in-service…

Due to the social distancing requirements in response to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, K-12 students moved to online education. Because of the limited online teaching resources accessible to Deaf/Hard of Hearing (DHH) students, the authors have developed a YouTube channel that focuses on providing instructional videos that present different…

To foster students' meaningful learning of science, we designed and implemented a unit for five third-grade students that allowed them to understand Carbon Footprint (CF) in a public school in North Texas. The unit lasted seven weeks, where students identified the effects of distance traveled and packaging on the CF of certain consumable products.…

We examined effects of preflection, action, and reflection sessions on youth experiences during a 4-H travel camp. The travel camp was one component of GLOBE, a 2-year Texas 4-H program with intentional goals of advancing understanding of agriculture, poverty, and world cultures. In morning preflection sessions, the 28 youth participants were…

Using data is foundational to school leadership; however, when "data" are narrowly construed as academic outcomes, important data perceived as tangential to academics can be backgrounded, ignored, or unused. Today's school leaders must also attend to data around chronic absenteeism, discipline, learning climate, and social, emotional,…