This article explores the challenges of enacting reform-oriented curriculum in science classrooms. We use the concept of figured worlds to analyze a case study of an eighth-grade science class where the teacher reported that the students were resistant to changes she was trying to make. By examining stimulated recall interviews with the teacher…

Amidst increasing concerns about children's mental health, this paper explores the integration of interdisciplinary nature journaling within a middle school English Language Arts classroom as a method to enhance student well-being and environmental literacy. 61 5th-7th students in Garrison, NY engaged in a 75-minute nature journaling activity. We…

Schools are focusing more on promoting physical activity (PA) before, during, and after the school day, to combat the risk factors associated with sedentary behaviors. Since attitudes impact decisions to be physically active, identifying how PA attitudes relate to established attitudes toward physical education (PE), as well as PA intentions and…

This study aims to develop guidance materials on the topic of evaporation and boiling within the Science course, to use the materials with 5th grade students, and to find out the students' opinions about the implementation of these materials. The participants consist of 10 students studying in a public middle school in the 2020-2021 academic year.…

The objective of this project was to address design gaps in previous programs that address scientific argumentation in middle schools. We adopted gamification mechanics (e.g., stimulus and response and progression) to design a computer-assisted program to better support students' development of scientific argumentation. In this paper, we describe…

Over the past decade, the arts' potential role in advancing mainstream transdisciplinary curriculum models, like STEM, has been more overtly recognized, both within arts and STEM communities. In this study, we explored STEAM curricula centered around data visualization, a transdisciplinary practice commonly utilized in design and STEM fields and…

Guiding teachers to customize curriculum has shown to improve science instruction when guided effectively. We explore how teachers use student data to customize a web-based science unit on plate tectonics. We study the implications for teacher learning along with the impact on student self-directed learning. During a professional development…

The purpose of this collaborative action research project was to examine eighth- and ninth-grade female (assigned at birth) students' perspectives of their singing voice when implementing a practitioner/researcher designed curriculum titled "Supporting Adolescent Female Vocal Development: Teaching Anatomy and Physiology in the Middle School…

I developed a new global curriculum, Schoobio, in which middle and high school students become citizen scientists and change agents as they engage in transdisciplinary activities culminating in their advocacy for biocultural diversity on their school grounds. The foundation for this place-based learning curriculum is pragmatic constructivism, a…

Pre-service teachers (PSTs) often lack the self-efficacy necessary to effectively implement STEM education into their classrooms. Undergraduate research experiences (URE) can help fill this void by providing opportunities for PSTs to engage with STEM content and K-12 students in a field-based research context. This case study details the impact a…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore middle school students' and teachers' perceptions of integrating social and emotional learning into curriculum. Researchers recognized the importance of delivering social and emotional learning skills in the classroom as the foundation for the formation of creating students who are caring…

Health is a resource for pupils' learning. Including health in the curriculum and teaching will enable pupils to understand the connection between health and learning. Action research has proved to be effective from a learning perspective. Our purpose was to explore whether, and how, using action-oriented research methods in a middle school-based…

This study examined student learning outcomes from a middle school computer science (CS) curriculum developed through a researcher and practitioner partnership (RPP) project. The curriculum is based on students creating mobile apps that serve community and social good. We collected two sets of data from 294 students in three urban districts: (1)…

Indigenous storytelling is a transaction between narrators and audiences that can be expressed through Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK). TEK narratives, such as those of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), can demonstrate ecological literacy by empowering audiences to co-create their engagement with the local environment of that…

STEM has been integrated into science curriculum with recent changes. However, teachers are in need of resources to effectively apply STEM in their classrooms. This study aimed to prepare STEM activities and to find out the students' opinions about these activities. Case methodology was used. First, 5 activities were developed by the researchers…