One of the goals of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is to promote students' understanding of and interest in STEM careers. However, young students often hold stereotypical perceptions of STEM professionals. This study aimed to apply two newly developed checklists to explore upper elementary students' perceptions…

Current U.S. science education reform efforts call for engineering to be included as part of science instruction at all grade levels. As students experience engineering instruction alongside science, an important question is how students conceptualize the nature of those two fields, and especially the extent to which they differentiate science and…

Media play an important role in young people's lives as an agent of socialization, both generally and with regard to mathematics. To understand the mathematics-related messages disseminated to young people via popular media, we analyzed portrayals of mathematics and mathematicians in over 40 media examples (television shows, movies, websites,…

Inventing is fundamental to mathematical activity, should one be a professional mathematician or a primary school student. Research on mathematical creativity generally is organized along three axes according to its focus on the final product, the overall process, or the individual person. Through these conceptualizations, however, research rarely…

Despite decades of research on the importance of engagement and interaction in learning experiences, programs produced for planetarium audiences are primarily passive in nature. Planetarium professionals were interviewed with regard to their goals and beliefs for planetarium experiences, specifically focusing on goals for children, and their…

Rural schools in high-poverty areas are often understaffed. This descriptive phenomenological study examined fourth-grade state research projects in high-poverty rural Iowa schools to reveal the influence of school librarians' staffing levels on student learning of research skills. To determine evidence of students' critical literacy, ethical use…