Young children are full citizens. They have full rights to use their "hundred languages," hands, and thoughts to contribute to the field of science. The founder of the Reggio Emilia approach, Loris Malaguzzi, emphasizes in his famous poem that every child has a hundred ways of discovering the world and a hundred worlds to invent. Today's…

Teachers have the daunting task of preparing students for a future that they cannot predict. In an age of information where students have the world quite literally at their fingertips, and with the ever-growing momentum of integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), it is not enough that students experience STEM subjects…

You have to stick with it. It takes time, patience, trial and error, failure, and persistence. It is almost never perfect or finished, but, with a good team, you can build something that works. These are the lessons youth learn when building a robot, as many do in the out-of-school time (OST) programs supported by the initiative described in this…

A conversation between the Director of the University of Manchester's Science & Engineering Education Research and Innovation Hub and the Education Director of England's Halle Orchestra explores the relationship unfolding between science and music. The interview focuses on synergies between music and science and how the two subjects can…

In this article, the author describes a program that he says has "made being smart cool." "FIRST" (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics has made a significant contribution toward progress in advancing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses and STEM careers with young people. "FIRST" Robotics…

A wide variety of out-of-school time (OST) programs across the U.S. offer science education opportunities that cover many scientific disciplines and use diverse pedagogical practices (National Research Council [NRC], 2009). However, to improve youth's scientific literacy, OST educators need to "have the disposition and repertoire of practices…

This article features an after-school FIRST Lego League (FLL) program at Chaminade Middle School in Chatsworth, California, USA. The after-school FLL program feeds into the high school FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) program wherein aspiring young engineers come to the high school team with several years of FLL experience. Through the FLL…

This article describes an after-school program at the Horace Mann School for the Deaf (HMS), the oldest public day school for deaf students in the United States, where almost half of the student body imagined and created bridge and robotic machines. The Deaf Robotics Engineering and Math Team, or the DREAM Team club, included HMS students in…