Background: Based on the embodied cognition perspective, interdisciplinary hands-on learning combines several disciplines, such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), to improve students' capacity to solve real-world problems. Despite the popularity of interdisciplinary hands-on learning, particularly the six-phase 6E model,…

High school students often complain of boredom and are disengaged from learning. This qualitative action research study sought to make improvements in teachers' understanding of Kolb's experiential learning cycle, in particular, opportunities for student reflection, and how to increase usage of both constructs in high school classrooms to engage…

Purpose: This paper aims to propose and evaluate an innovative approach to education for sustainable consumption (ESC) which empowers teenagers and young adults to improve sustainable consumption competences. This approach combines pedagogical learning approaches such as real-world learning (e.g. experiential learning and research-based learning)…

In an effort to clean up the Chesapeake Bay, Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) members use hands-on experiential learning opportunities to train teacher ambassadors throughout the bay's jurisdictions. Teacher ambassadors use the skills they learn to develop a Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE) for their students to raise awareness of…

This paper deals with an integration of STEM education and project-based learning (PBL) by introducing a hybrid hardware/software-based learning platform covering eight learning units. PBL not only bridges the gap between theory and practice, but also focuses on improving students' soft skills, which is important as they prepare for further…

The team at Nokomis Regional High School in Newport, Maine, has spent over a decade laying the groundwork for multifaceted reforms--including interdisciplinary curriculum, project-based learning, education outside of the classroom walls, and meaningful career exploration--all of which are student-centered and aim to deepen rigorous academics into…

Decades of research have produced profound insights into how student learning and motivation can be unleashed--and it's not through technology or even the best of lectures. In "Super Courses," education expert and bestselling author Ken Bain tells the fascinating story of enterprising college, graduate school, and high school teachers…

In a case study of a Canadian urban high school, with mainly Aboriginal students that were non-traditional learners, teachers reported that student-centered learning within a culturally-responsive atmosphere contributed to educational success. The school and teachers provided wholistic, experiential, and relational instruction, deeply-steeped in…

Charrettes have a long history of use in medical, architectural, and planning professions. An extensive literature search found little application of the charrette model implemented to advance, support, and identify transdisciplinarity (TD) research, transdisciplinary teaming models (TDM), transdisciplinary learning (TDL) supporting transformative…

This article centers sociocultural and sociopolitical considerations of how young people understand, represent, and use data by presenting findings from a social design research study about how students in a public urban high school authored "data stories" using personal data they curated, collected, and visualized. The study contributes…

This study explores the role of geospatial education in P20 classrooms; offers creative strategies and possibilities for integrating mobile technologies such as Global Positioning System (GPS) into the curriculum; promotes global competences and media literacy education among youth; and GPS and SIS technologies with limited resources; global…

Educating future scientists and citizens is more effective if students are guided to correctly apply what they learned in school to their daily lives. This experience-based work is focused on the study of a well-known commercial product: cat litter. This material offers different starting points for a critical examination. Questions related to…

Electronic textiles are a part of the increasingly popular maker movement that champions existing do-it-yourself activities. As making activities broaden from Maker Faires and fabrication spaces in children's museums, science centers, and community organizations to school classrooms, they provide new opportunities for learning while challenging…

In this research project, we examine how human rights education can go beyond the symbolism and rhetoric of rights and, instead, be understood in a way that critically considers the continued social, economic, and political inequalities that persist. Learning about rights should be informed by the lived experiences of those whose rights have been…

Young adolescents have unique basic and developmental needs. Middle level educators are best able to reach and teach young adolescents when they understand students' needs and when the school environment, including its organizational structures and teacher practices, are responsive to these needs. Findings from a recently conducted qualitative…