Problem solving requires the application of critical reading and thinking skills and the use of relevant strategies to reach a solution. Independent learners are able to apply taught strategies across contexts and often complete challenging tasks unassisted. The purpose of this paper is to explain how a process of analysis of assignments and…

Situated in an elementary afterschool Engineering Literacies Club framed around multiliteracies and the engineering design process, this article explores engineering habits of mind and disciplinary literacies. Disciplinary literacies encourage students to read, write, think, and act like historians, mathematicians, scientists, or engineers by…

This article proposes an interconnected framework, "Ways of thinking in STEM-based Problem Solving," which addresses cognitive processes that facilitate learning, problem solving, and interdisciplinary concept development. The framework comprises critical thinking, incorporating critical mathematical modelling and philosophical inquiry,…

Design education has moved towards a collaborative practice where designers work in teams and with other disciplines to solve unstructured problems. Along with the cognitive skills involved in the execution of the design process, designers also need skills to work in teams, share information, negotiate common ground and reach consensus.…

Supporters of K-12 arts education often make the case that when students study music, dance, theatrical performance, and the visual arts, they tend to improve in the academic subjects as well. But, as Lois Hetland explains, that's not the best way to advocate for greater investments in arts instruction. In fact, a careful analysis of a vast amount…

Technology is becoming more integral across professional fields and within our daily lives, especially since the onset of the pandemic. As such, opportunities to learn computational thinking are important to all students--not only the ones who will eventually study computer science or enter the information technology industry. However, large…

Chemical kinetics is a highly quantitative content area that involves the use of multiple mathematical representations to model processes and is a context that is under-investigated in the literature. This qualitative study explored undergraduate student integration of chemistry and mathematics during problem solving in the context of chemical…

Engineering design activities offer the promise of enhanced learning and teaching in pre-college science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) settings. The wide variation and lack of coherence in research and practice concerning pre-college engineering design challenges necessitates an investigation of the literature. The overarching…

In order to maintain the United States' global competitiveness and create new and innovative solutions to solve global challenges, more and diverse numbers of STEM graduates need to be attracted and retained in technical disciplines (Committee on Prospering in the Global Economy of the 21st Century: An Agenda for American Science and Technology,…

The identification of conflict and development of common ground, important steps in the interdisciplinary research process, become challenging when applied to solving complex real-world problems that involve opposing interest groups, especially those whose members do not possess academic or interdisciplinary training. This article examines…

These proceedings contain papers of the 4th International Baltic Symposium on Science and Technology Education (BalticSTE2021) held in Šiauliai, Lithuania, June 21-22, 2021. This symposium was organized by the Scientific Methodical Center "Scientia Educologica" in cooperation with Scientia Socialis, Ltd. Lithuania. The proceedings are…

The article studies a way of enhancing student cognition by using interdisciplinary project-based learning (IPBL) in a higher education institution. IPBL is a creative pedagogic approach allowing students of one area of specialisation to develop projects for students with different academic profiles. The application of this approach in the Ural…

This study was undertaken to investigate the progress in operational scientific literacy skills through demonstrating cognition associated with undertaking scientific processes. Scientific literacy is taken here to mean utilising science knowledge and skills, particularly with relevance to creative problem solving and making reasoned decisions in…

Loyola University Chicago's Teaching, Learning, and Leading With Schools and Communities (TLLSC) program is an ambitious break from traditional university-based teacher preparation models. This clinically based initial teacher preparation program, fully embedded in local schools and community organizations, takes an ecological perspective on the…

This study investigates problem-solving difficulties of novices in a classroom setting, using a German instructional tool, the Fischertechnik kit of approximately 400 parts. In order to analyse the students' thinking processes as they solved the problems, verbal protocol analysis (VPA) was used to record the students'' thinking processes and…