National reform documents all around the world issue an urgent need for the development of integrated STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) curricula. With the emphasis on the development of STEM curricula, there is also a need for improving teachers' and future teachers' conceptions of the integrated STEM approach. This study…

This study describes how 19 middle-school science teachers responded to an engineering design task in the context of water quality and environmental science professional development (PD). The study relies on teacher created prototypes, presentations, graphic organizers, and qualitative memos to illustrate the challenges and successes of the PD. In…

There is limited research about teaching elementary students in the field of engineering. Few articles and research address engineering in kindergarten through fifth grade classrooms. The literature that does exist falls under broader topics and/or are encompassed by a larger umbrella such as Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics…

The authors find justification for integrating science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in the complex problems that today's students will face as tomorrow's STEM professionals. Teachers with individual subject-area specialties in the STEM content areas have limited experience in integrating STEM. In this study, the authors…

Science standards in the U.S. have shifted to emphasise science and engineering process skills (i.e. specific practices within inquiry) to a greater extent than previous standards' emphases on broad representations of inquiry. This study examined the alignment between second-career science teachers' personal histories with the latter and examined…

The research reported on in this paper addresses the problem of preparing Massachusetts middle school mathematics, science, and computer teachers to teach engineering. The results presented here are part of a larger dissertation study investigating six urban public school teachers and their subject matter and pedagogical content knowledge teachers…

With the rapid advances in civilization, technological breakthroughs, and a globally growing workforce, there is a strong need for engineers capable of working in the 21st century environment (Galloway, "The 21st century engineer: A proposal for engineering education reform." ASCE, Washington DC 2008). To help increase the quality and quantity of…