Background: STEM education and research are increasingly emphasized by governments worldwide to foster national development and productivity, economic competitiveness and societal wellbeing. There is no exception in Hong Kong, with its desire to promote STEM education and to strengthen Innovation and Technology development in the future. Purpose:…

The Flipped Science Fair (FSF) transforms the traditional science fair format by having middle-school students judge the research of early career scientists. At the FSF, students learn about cutting-edge research in a small group setting, with opportunities to ask questions and participate in hands-on demonstrations. By placing the students in the…

This article presents findings from a secondary study of science capital within the context of U.S. science festivals. Drawing on attendee survey data from eleven science festivals across the United States (n = 1,645) and evaluation surveys from a statewide school-based festival program (n = 2,320), we explore the concept of science capital (i.e.…

Science education in the United States has endured substantial reform due to national needs for a bolstered, more diverse science, technology, engineering, and mathematics workforce. Recent reform efforts call for students to be engaged in scientific inquiry through the practices of scientists and engineers. Opportunity gaps exist in science…

As innovation has gained importance worldwide, educating students as individuals with innovative qualities has become imperative. Therefore, identifying students' perceptions of innovativeness in science lessons has become an issue of concern. The aim of this study was to determine secondary school students' perceptions of innovativeness. The…

Founded in 2011, the Bay Area Science Festival (BASF), led by the Science and Health Education Partnership (SEP) at UC San Francisco, brings together academic, scientific, corporate and civic groups to develop and lead STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) events for all ages. From 2011-2019, the Festival hosted over 50 events…

The Hatchery is a unique wildlife experience hosted by the Queensland Museum for the World Science Festival Brisbane (WSFB). It is a collaborative venture between the Queensland Museum and the Department of Environment and Science, with support from SEA LIFE Sunshine Coast. The event, which runs for four to five days, was initially conceived as…

While much work has been done to promote and advance convergence education over the past decade, a distinct and common framework is beneficial to the concept of convergence education being adopted and universally recognized. Therefore, based on extensive literature review and stakeholder engagement, the IWGC developed a definition and overarching…

Out-of-school time (OST) science research can be an important part of a student's decision to pursue a career in STEM. This article reports on the findings from a transformative phenomenological study of what secondary students experience while completing OST scientific research. The purpose of this study was to use an emic research lens to better…

Science fairs offer potential opportunities for students to learn first-hand about the practices of science. Over the past six years we have been carrying out voluntary and anonymous surveys with regional and national groups of high school and post high school students to learn about their high school science fair experiences regarding help…

COVID-19 changed not only the way we live but also the way we teach and prepare pre-service teachers. The purpose of this paper is to describe the shift from a conventional STEM fair to an online teaching environment prepared by elementary pre-service teachers after the closure of the educational system in Cyprus as of March 2020. We describe a…

The purpose of this present action research study was to describe secondary students' feelings of self-efficacy in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Through a curriculum linked to a science fair project, the teacher-researcher focused on student-participants' perceptions of perseverance and task completion linked to STEM…

We describe two established STEM camps that went virtual following the outbreak of COVID-19 during the summer of 2020. Our Summer Research Opportunity (SRO) camp engages middle school science fair winners in a forensic research opportunity, while The Immokalee Foundation (TIF) camp introduces middle school students from historically…

Using social cultural career theory (SCCT) linked with tenets of equity, we examined the role of participation in science and engineering fairs (SEFs) on youth's science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) educational and career choices. We analyzed data for evidence of the SCCT constructs of self-efficacy, interest, and learning…

Recent trends show the number of students studying geography in upper secondary school is declining. Among the reasons identified is that geography is perceived as a very tedious and difficult subject to study. With the rapid development of technology in the twenty-first century, the use of multi-media tools and technologies in education have…