This article analyzes a Participatory Action Research (PAR) Project focused on improving public safety and community lighting in one Latinx immigrant community in California as a case example to better understand the possibilities for university-community-government partnerships. The article explores residents' motivations for their sustained…

This brief informs California's LEA leaders about approaches to sustainably modernizing school facilities to advance educational and health equity for students and briefly explores associated funding strategies.

The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized the importance of designing effective methods for remote teaching. At the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of California, Santa Cruz, instructors adapted to the necessity of remote laboratory instruction by creating choose-your-own-adventure-style video-based online experiments introduced…

Although studies examining student understanding of key concepts are common throughout the science education literature, few have examined science concepts linked to conservation or environmental issues such as global warming and alternative energy. How students make sense of these complex concepts has the potential to influence their role as…

The increasing use of interactive learning [IL] strategies in Astro 101 classrooms has led some instructors to consider the usefulness of a textbook in such classes. These strategies provide students a learning modality very different from the traditional lecture supplemented by reading a textbook and homework and raise the question of whether the…

Two classrooms on opposite sides of the world happened to be working on a very similar project at the same time. In both Shanghai, China, and Palm Springs, California, students were learning how to turn their flashlights and other light-emitting objects into paintbrushes. Light painting is a form of long-exposure photography in which the shutter…

A clear view of the ocean may be used to measure the radius of the Earth. To an observer looking out at the ocean, the horizon will always form some angle [theta] with the local horizontal plane. As the observer's elevation "h" increases, so does the angle [theta]. From measurements of the elevation "h" and the angle [theta],…

Numerous studies have demonstrated the benefits of daylight on the learning environment. Enhanced student performance and mood, increased teacher and student attendance, reduced energy costs, as well as a positive effect on the environment are some of the improvements seen in school buildings that use well-planned daylighting concepts. Looking at…

This course of study is aligned with the California State Science Framework and provides students with the physics content needed to become scientifically and technologically literate and prepared for post-secondary science education. Framework themes incorporated into the course of study include patterns of change, evolution, energy, stability,…