The app 'Roteiro Entre-Marés' offers digital itineraries for exploring intertidal zones, such as the rocky platform of the Avencas Marine Protected Area. As users travel through the intertidal area, several challenges emphasising the biodiversity and environmental issues are presented. Eighth-grade students (n=63) used this application and were…

This chapter provides an overview on how the use of Virtual Reality apps and related activities enhanced student learning in conjunction with a low-tech, team-based, active learning assessment. Our approach for integrating emerging immersive technology in a Cell Biology class, a first of its kind at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio, was…

This paper draws upon the theory of embodied cognition to provide a robust account of how gestural interactions with and around multi-touch tabletops can play an important role in facilitating collaborative meaning-making, particularly in the context of science data visualizations. Embodied cognition is a theory of learning that implies that…

The iNaturalist application has been gaining traction in both biodiversity research and education. Increasingly more research is being carried out, looking into using the iNaturalist application in biology education, to promote biodiversity and educate students about this topic. We used the PRISMA systematic literature review method to examine…

Limited knowledge exists on participant outcomes relating to citizen science programs. Using the ClimateWatch: Scientist for a Day program as a case study, we sought to understand participant behaviors and attitudes post-program, and evaluated the program's post-engagement initiatives. Phone interviews were conducted with 15 former participants.…

Augmented Reality (AR) has become an emerging educational technology in classroom practice and science education. While most research and contemporary meta-analyses reveal benefits with regard to knowledge acquisition and motivation of Augmented Reality-based learning environments, most of the studies lack a clear and fair control condition. In…

Cognitive processes such as learning and thinking are theorized to be an interaction between the mind, body, and environment in four ways: embodied, embedded, enacted, and extended. Collectively, these four types represent the four "E"s of cognition. The "Next Generation Science Standards" has called for curricular reform that…

Objectives: To describe the implementation of a hybrid and an online active-learning-based science activity originally designed for face-to-face instruction. The goal was to verify if students used appropriate science practices while engaged in a problem solution through hybrid and fully online modalities. Epistemic practices are important markers…

As the COVID-19 pandemic became widespread in early 2020, people around the world felt scared, confused, and at a loss for how to help their fellow humans. Suddenly, young and old alike needed to understand the science of virology and how to protect themselves and others, while the world's scientific understanding of the specific COVID-19 virus…

In Africa, Science education curricula have been instrumental in promoting Western worldviews as being universal. An educational transformation and decolonisation of the school curriculum is required. A focus on an African worldview and an integration of the local context and community-based information is necessary for survival, i.e., Indigenous…

This book brings together a collection of work from around the world in order to consider effective STEM, robotics, mobile apps education from a range of perspectives. It presents valuable perspectives--both practical and theoretical--that enrich the current STEM, robotics, mobile apps education agenda. As such, the book makes a substantial…

Digital games for learning have quickly transitioned from a theoretical possibility, to a hyped technology, to an idea that almost seems quaint compared to advances in Biochips, Smart Robots, and self-driving cars. As a field, it is now better understand what games are good for, what they are not, and in what kinds of situations they can be…

This article provides an overview of several studies in which the authors draw on social media, storytelling, and mobile apps to help children playfully develop their own approaches to science. The authors detail their efforts to strike a balance between the structure needed to promote science learning and the flexibility needed to nurture…

As state boards of education and other state policymakers consider the future of schools, sorting fad technology from technology that accelerates learning is key. Virtual reality (VR) is one such technology with promise that seems unlikely to fizzle. Hailed as potentially transformative for education and still in the early stages of application,…

Augmented Reality (AR) technology and games can enhance motivation for learning. When combined with mobile devices, AR technology can promote authentic learning in outdoor environments, such as urban parks. These spaces can be used for Science Education, particularly, for environmental education and nature conservation. The EduPARK project…