Garden-based learning, a key component of Farm to School (FTS), continues to grow in popularity as a tool for engaging students in hands-on learning. Recent literature calls for professional development to help educators overcome barriers - including a lack of horticulture skills, curricular connections, and time - that often hinder program…

Experiential learning is not a new concept to education. Experiential learning continues to empower learners to construct knowledge through the exploration of activities based on their physical and social environment, as well as individual's inner world and intuition. In this age of extreme climate change and environmental concerns, one important…

Background: Critical reflection is an essential curricular component for learning from experience that determines placement quality in postsecondary experiential learning placements. However, there are poor empirical connections between the use of critically reflective processes and learning outcomes. Purpose: This research explored reflective…

In this study, the authors investigate the written feedback provided to primary and secondary pre-service teachers studying a specialisation in mathematics. The analysis focuses on 16 written reports completed by mentor teachers during the penultimate year placement of pre-service teachers. The evaluation employs a framework informed by the…

Background: Based on the literature review, shared characteristics of integrated STEM (I-STEM) curriculum includes an engaging and motivating context, student participation in engineering design activities, opportunity to redesign, engaging in mathematics or science content, having student-centred pedagogies, and teamwork and communication. These…

Poverty continues to be a significant public health crisis across the United States, and its impact is particularly prevalent among school-aged youth and their families. Many K-12 educators do not fully understand the realities associated with living in poverty. Such a lack of understanding impacts teachers' ability to meet the unique educational…

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) approved the first nationally registered K-12 Teacher Apprenticeship Program in January 2022, opening the door to a rapidly growing pathway for prospective teachers. DOL approved Arkansas' registered teacher apprenticeship program in November 2022, and has now approved registered teacher apprenticeships in more…

Hands-on activities help spark student curiosity and deepen understanding for better learning outcomes. This Spotlight will help readers learn more about reducing student ambivalence towards math class; examine proven strategies for reengaging students; examine how coding and social-emotional learning (SEL) can improve engagement and deepen…

Playful learning has immense potential and relevance across all educational levels, from early childhood to university settings. However, play is often dismissed as an activity reserved only for young children and is ignored in higher education The purpose of this practitioner article is to share instructional strategies and insights in order to…

The importance of coding in K-12 classrooms has been taken up by both scholars and educators. "Voicing Code in STEM" offers a new way to think about coding in the classroom--one that goes beyond device-level engagement to consider the interplay between computational abstractions and the fundamentally interpretive nature of human…

This paper, based on the contributions of researchers in maker movement as one of the most important modern educational innovations in the last decade, explained the promising prospects of makerspace for K-12 Education, and identified what key direct drivers of change that should be considered when exploring possible futures of makerspaces as an…

The increasing role of artificial intelligence (AI) in daily life has led to the emergence of numerous skill sets associated with AI. AI literacy, which is becoming an important citizenship competence, has become a skill that has gained importance in recent years. It is thought that the aim of social studies to prepare students as active citizens…

Teacher apprenticeship programs are a new and exciting structure that help strengthen and diversify the educator workforce by offering an alternative approach to teacher licensure. Often providing financial assistance, mentorship, and classroom experience, these programs help pave the way for high-quality candidates, benefitting schools, students,…

Elementary and secondary district leaders seeking to recruit teachers and diversify their teaching workforce will find useful, research-based strategies in this brief from the Region 4 Comprehensive Center. The brief focuses on ways to develop work-based learning programs in secondary schools that engage students in considering teacher careers.…

This study investigated the efficacy of the Beyond Rubrics Toolkit (BRT) as an embedded assessment instrument within makerspaces. Conducted as a pilot study at two Boys & Girls Club sites during afterschool programming, the research aimed to address the following research questions: (1) What skills are Youth Development Professionals teaching…