In low-income communities, schools often lack the resources to provide children with robust, hands-on science experiences, especially those that utilize green spaces and natural phenomena outside their doors. Out-of-school-time programs are well-positioned to fill this gap, but to do so must address constraints that prevent educators and parents…

Seagrass ecosystems are widespread, valuable, and threatened. We have used this system as a model to teach 3rd-7th grade students about food webs, the interconnectedness of ecosystems, ecosystem services, and the effects of human activity on coastal systems. Our objective was to increase student understanding of seagrass ecosystems and other key…

We explore the understudied role of program staff in an out-of-school time (OST) program at a large science museum, which may be especially relevant for supporting underrepresented minority (URM) youth's interest in science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) careers. Using a sequential explanatory mixed-method design, we surveyed 167 program…

This three article dissertation focuses on the teachers' perceptions regarding STEM education. Article 1 consists of a literature review that includes an overview of the type of STEM education that takes place at the secondary level. The review explores what the literature says about after-school STEM programs, diverse students and their…

We describe a pair of fully integrated courses designed to teach biology to non-majors in a manner that connects authentically to the liberal arts. The co-taught courses were organized around the question: What does it mean to be human? Students investigated this question in the context of three topics: dis/ability, race, and sex and gender. In…

Growing evidence shows that participation in out-of-school time (OST) activities positively supports youth development in general. However, simply participating in a self-identified STEM program is not sufficient. Youth will benefit more if they participate in "quality" afterschool programs. Therefore, a common understanding of quality…

Middle school is a critical period in the cognitive and academic development of young women, and a time when their performance and interest in science may decline. After school programs play a key role in engaging youth in learning by providing opportunities to increase health and wellness, set goals, and strategize problem solving. Skills…

This study sought to explore qualitatively how participation in an informal science program might affect the following aspects of upper elementary school children's scientific thinking: conceptual understanding, epistemology of science, and the formation of their identity as science learners. A purposefully selected, maximum variation sample of…

The Exploratorium is home to XTech, a science education program which began in 2006 and was primarily funded by a three-year National Science Foundation grant (Award # 05-25217) through its ITEST (Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers) initiative. XTech provided project-based afterschool activities in science, engineering,…