Developing middle grades students' abilities to be civically engaged and approach their world through a lens of civic-mindedness is an essential component of democratic citizens taking informed action. Leveraging an agency-centered, technology enabled approach, the authors of this article explore the influence authentic civic engagement projects…

The project described in this article focused on the school's environment and students' connections with the school. The project took place in a large, comprehensive high school with eight 12th grade students, one with intellectual disabilities, three with learning disabilities, two with autism spectrum disorders, and two with health impairments.…

Secondary schools in Maine and New Hampshire have been involved in a citizen science program called "All About Arsenic" aimed at addressing arsenic contamination of well water, one of the most pressing public health issues in both states. Nearly half of the population of Maine and New Hampshire derive their drinking water from private…

Data increasingly mediates how we understand the world. As such, there is growing interest in designing initiatives to help young people learn about data--not only the techno-mathematical skills necessary to work with data, but also the dispositions needed to participate in data-centric ways of knowing and doing. In this article, we argue that as…

COVID-19, the most severe global pandemic since the Spanish flu that followed World War I, threatens nearly every country, from global powers to developing nations. This threat presents a concurrent challenge for educational systems. With schools closed during the pandemic, students and teachers have had to stay at home worldwide. This shift has…

The WaterCircle (WC) project was implemented in a school, with young adolescents, to address environmental problems. Framed in a participatory research (PR) approach, this school-and-community based intervention includes the use of online tools through which environmental problems in the community are discussed within and by a group of students.…

Social support and face-to-face learning may enhance outcomes for students who face barriers in accessing Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). This study investigated how self-identified volunteer leaders guide and foster interactions among small groups of students who face technical and conceptual barriers in accessing MOOC content. Several…

This paper reports on an experimental multimedia project in a preservice teacher education course at the University of Guam. The multimedia project was aligned with the critical pedagogy in cultivating transformative intellectuals. Participants of the project investigated critical issues in their communities and presented their projects by using a…