This critical ethnographic case study explores the impact of Performance-Based Assessment Tasks (PBATs) on high school dynamics and instructional practices, particularly in schools serving immigrant communities. PBATs, considered alternatives to standardized testing, have shown promise in enhancing student engagement, critical thinking, and…

Background: Designed in 2012 with a first implementation in 2013, NE STEM 4U is a professional development program for post-secondary students/undergraduates, and serves as a source of outreach, content knowledge generation, and STEM literacy for youth in grades kindergarten through 8th grade (ages 5-14). The model empowers post-secondary students…

Science teachers' beliefs about teaching and learning are a vital component of teachers' professional competence and are often assumed to impact classroom practice. To date, these beliefs have been predominantly investigated regarding teaching and learning in general or for a particular science subject (e.g., physics). It remains to be determined…

This article analyses the perceptions of adult learners towards the use of constructivist approach in teaching and learning in non-formal education (NFE) centres of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The analysis is based on five principles of the constructivist theory of learning-interactive learning, collaborative learning, facilitating learning,…

Pre-college engineering education has gained traction in U.S. schools over the past twenty years. This growth is evident with engineering emerging as a crosscutting discipline in the Next Generation Science Standards. However, the scarcity of professional development (PD) for K-12 teachers who want to teach engineering and the few PD opportunities…

In the United States, reform movements have been a part of the science education community for decades. Inquiry-based instruction has a long history in reform documents and while it is not explicitly used in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), the underlying tenants of this instructional strategy are still evident. Thus, inquiry-based…

In a study on digital game-based learning in five high-poverty elementary schools in the Philippines, the teachers' professional development experiences were investigated. Research conducted for the study was part of a university-industry partnership with the developer of a new platform designed to give teachers and students experience of…

Given the widespread adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards in the United States, there is a need to study new models of professional development to prepare teachers to enact practice-based visions of science learning and to address problems of access to reach teachers nationwide. While studies of online professional development offer…

Using an interpretive epistemology to explore the perceived benefits of using co-creation as a pedagogic tool with undergraduate students, this research focuses on a collaborative project between some first year undergraduate Education Studies students, a university Senior Lecturer and an Education Coordinator from a regional social enterprise…

Flipped classroom models allocate more time for active learning approaches compared with more traditional pedagogies, however what is less clear with the utilisation of flipped learning is evidence to support whether students in flipped classes are given more opportunities to develop higher order thinking skills (HOTs) to effect deep learning…

In an effort to address K-8 teacher confidence in STEM and increase basic genetics knowledge to a level consistent with its importance in society, we have developed, implemented, and evaluated a 7-day teacher professional development workshop. The overarching goal of our workshop is to facilitate the implementation of innovative DNA-based…

While much of the recent academic literature into university seminar teaching has focused on collaborative learning involving student-student interaction, little research has been done into tutor-student interaction and how tutors interact with students during whole class, group-based and one-to-one teaching. In response to this finding, this…

"Foundations for Critical Thinking" explores the landscape of critical-thinking skill development and pedagogy through foundational chapters and institutional case studies involving a range of students in diverse settings. By establishing a link between active learning and improved critical thinking, this resource encourages all higher…

Sustained professional development can support STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) reform. The authors describe a 3-year study of sustained professional development for 3 diverse urban schools across the salient factors of fidelity of implementation of project-based learning, development of professional learning communities,…

This study explored practicing elementary school teacher's conceptions of teaching in ways that foster inquiry-based learning in the science curriculum (inquiry teaching). The advocacy for inquiry-based learning in contemporary curricula assumes the principle that students learn in their own way by drawing on direct experience fostered by the…