Under the new ABET accreditation framework, students are expected to demonstrate "an ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions." Traditional, recipe-based labs provide few opportunities for students to engage in realistic experimental design or…

Augmented Reality (AR) revolutionizes educational approaches by providing an immersive experience that superimposes virtual 3D elements onto the physical environment. This integration of virtual and real worlds addresses the challenge of understanding abstract concepts by enabling three-dimensional visualization and interaction. This study aims to…

Students in the intermediate grades love to talk--but not necessarily about making sense of what they are learning. How do teachers design classrooms that cultivate productive discourse? How do they get out of the way and teach children to learn? First, let's give them something to talk about. Second, teachers need to teach them how to engage in…

The Prospect Park Biodiversity Project was a SENCER collaboration project between the Departments of Biological Sciences, Chemistry, and Mathematics at the New York City College of Technology. The goal of this project was to enhance students' participation and learning in STEM disciplines through a civically engaged framework. The project utilized…

Large numbers of U.S. students lack proficiency in science, and students from different ethnic and socioeconomic groups show disparities in science achievement.2 Science knowledge and skills are important for both academic and workplace success, and a variety of interventions have been developed to improve student science achievement.…

Computational thinking (CT) is increasingly acknowledged as an essential skill to solve problems interdisciplinary. This paper describes the development and validation of the unplugged activity of CT in science (ACTS) module, which is specifically designed to integrate CT. The present study was conducted in five phases: Phase I was composed of…

Given that interest is associated with learning in educational research, understanding how its development can be supported in different learning contexts represents an important line of inquiry. In this study, we investigate the influence of the slowmation construction process on middle school students' interest in learning science and geology.…

We describe a hands-on, collaborative activity designed to illustrate general properties of evolution, provide practice for quantitative skills, promote creativity and collaboration, and enable student self-assessment of learning. During the activity, teams construct bridges using common office supplies. The best-performing bridge becomes the…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how young adolescents participated in various activities in a science summer camp. A total of 26 Taiwanese students and 16 U.S. students participated in a one-week "Argue like a Scientist" summer camp. Based on the design features of project-based learning, this science summer…

"Group Intelligence" is an active learning, inquiry-based activity that introduces prebiotic chemistry, emergent complexity, and diversity's importance to adaptability across scales. Students explore the molecular emergence of order and function through theatrical exercises and games. Through 20 min of audio instruction and a discussion…

The essence of molecular biology education lies in understanding of gene expression, with subtopics including the central dogma processes, such as transcription and translation. While these concepts are core to the discipline, they are also notoriously difficult for students to learn, probably because they cannot be directly observed. While nearly…

In this experiment, students build a spectrometer to explore infrared radiation and greenhouse gases in an inquiry-based investigation to introduce climate science in a general chemistry lab course. The lab is based on the exploration of the thermal effects of molecular absorption of infrared radiation by greenhouse and non-greenhouse gases. A…

Most students globally have mobile devices and the Global Students Laboratory (GlobalLab) project is integrating mobility into learning. First launched in 1991, GlobalLab builds a community of learners engaged in collaborative, distributed investigations. Long relying on stationary desktop computers, or students inputting their observations by…

An upper-division undergraduate polymer chemistry course was developed as a blended/hybrid course. The students met face-to-face once a week for 75 min with all other components being available online. Face-to-face meetings were used for class discussions/problem-based lectures, student presentations, hands-on activities, and examinations. Online…

Out-of-school time (OST) programs like the Coastal Ecology science camp can positively influence science identities, particularly for youth from groups historically underserved and underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). OST STEM programming gives youth opportunities to learn science outside the formal classroom in…