A new body of research shows that project-based learning (PBL) can be effective in improving students' academic performance and attempts to define some of the key practices that are essential to PBL. Kristin De Vivo summarizes key findings of four studies that covered multiple grade levels and subjects. The studies found that PBL is effective…

Successful honors programs inspire and sustain a vibrant and committed faculty. This essay presents an established honors program which demonstrates, through varied faculty commitments over time, honors as a valuable asset in identifying, recruiting, supporting, and rewarding a strong, creative, loyal faculty that benefits the entire institution.…

This inspiring tool demonstrates how project-based learning (PBL) projects can be used in a variety of settings and provides coaching for educators who aspire to create their own projects. Madigan's book delivers flexible, interdisciplinary, learner-driven projects that support the "National School Library Standards." Readers will find…

Designing a mobile makerspace, the MakerBus, originated from our goal of bringing maker education to "all" students in K-12 schools, thus empowering students to believe they could create things and make social changes. This design case was guided by the human-centered design principles and the rapid prototyping instructional design…

In 2016 Georgia Southern University Institute for Interdisciplinary STEM Education (i 2 STEM e ) was approached by a collaborative group of educators from India now living in the US. They noticed a need for teachers in India to have access to the Interdisciplinary STEM Education pedagogical techniques through focused professional development. Over…

Creating learning environments that integrate arts, sciences, and computing in education can improve learning in these disciplines. In particular, transdisciplinary integrations of these disciplines can lead to expansive alterations or dissolutions of epistemological, ideological, and methodological boundaries. We wish to support teachers in the…

In this article, the authors examine their collaboration on a joint ELA-art-mindfulness project before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The following chronicles the impact of the pandemic on the project and on student engagement, key takeaways from teaching and collaborating during a virtual school year, and the implementation of said takeaways…

Supporters of project-based learning (PBL) argue that outcomes from the model include better performance in academic (Bell, 2010; Thomas, 2000) and non-academic outcomes (Saunders-Steward, Gyles, & Shore, 2010). The New Tech Network (NTN) is a school improvement network that provides training and development for high school faculty who commit…

The integration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, also referred to as integrative STEM education, is a relatively new interdisciplinary teaching technique that incorporates an engineering design-based learning approach with mathematics, science, technology, and engineering education (Sanders, 2010, 2012, 2013;…

This research investigated the potential for curricula at the intersection of the arts and the sciences to develop creative productivity of students. The purpose of this research was to develop a series of rubric assessments to evaluate the content and creative and higher order thinking on a variety of teacher-made lesson plans and student-made…

Since established by an Appropriations Act in 2006, the Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) competitive grant program in the U.S. Department of Education has supported human capital strategies "to ensure that students attending high-poverty schools have better access to effective teachers and principals, especially in hard-to-staff subject…

This study was designed to understand how a school can transform its instructional practices and collaborative structures to bring about rigorous, relevant, and engaging learning for all students. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to determine how a school can create a culture of innovation in teaching practices. This case study…

This paper examines the implementation practices of a 6th grade middle school teacher enacting STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) teaching in his classroom after participating in a 45-hour STEAM professional development. Case study is used to detail the process, successes, and challenges. Project-based learning, technology…

This research involves a multi-year study examining the perspectives and classroom practices of 21 middle school mathematics and science teachers, in the southeastern United States, participating in professional development (PD) exploring science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM) literacies. This study sought to understand…

Multilingual students, multidialectal students, and students learning English as an additional language constitute a substantial and growing demographic in the United States. But these groups of students tend to receive unequal access to and inadequate instruction in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM), with their…