Algebra has been identified as a gatekeeper to careers in STEM, but little research exists on how algebra appears for practitioners in the workplace. Surveys and interviews were conducted with 77 STEM practitioners from a variety of fields, examining how they reported using algebraic functions in their work. Survey and interview reports suggest…

Engineering and technology teachers have advocated using robotics and coding to cultivate students' computational thinking and problem-solving skills at PreK-12 levels. Understanding teachers' perceptions of how preschool children develop strategies and skills for engaging in robotics and coding activities is crucial for promoting the early use of…

Research explored the change in perspectives of PK-12 social studies teachers regarding coding as a useful instructional tool. Using exploratory methods, researchers examined to what extent participants (n = 26) were willing to embrace coding as a teaching and learning strategy. Findings suggest that participants' perspectives on the utility of…

Many education systems have recognized the importance of computational thinking and coding skills and are implementing curricular changes to introduce coding into formal school education. A necessary and critical success factor involves the preparation of and support for teachers to teach coding. Thus, understanding the perceptions of teachers…

While increasing emphasis has been placed on computer science (CS) and computational thinking (CT) little is known about these topics in elementary classrooms. Significant equity gaps exist within CS/CT at the elementary level, with a major contributor being the lack of highly qualified CS/CT elementary teachers. Professional development (PD) for…

Background: In recent years, computer science education has emerged as a necessary part of school curricula for students of all ages. With such momentum in this direction, it is essential that program designers, educators, and researchers ensure that computer science education is designed to be inclusive, effective, and engaging for all students.…

Developing computational thinking (CT) skills at an early age can help develop literacy, science, and mathematics skills; however, CT instruction in grades K-2 remains limited. This study examined the perceptions of 45 K-2 teachers from 30 school districts before and after a CT professional development (PD) experience. The PD included two online…

In this paper we report our experiences from a University outreach program with primary and secondary education teachers of various specialties. Our goal was to improve the coding abilities of teachers through Scratch activities. The participants can in turn teach their students, multiplying that way the benefitted population. To increase the…

Rural students often face challenges in receiving high-quality education in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Yet without meaningful STEM educational opportunities, rural students might not develop the knowledge and skills needed to compete in a technology-driven workforce. The Learning by Making program (LbyM), an innovative…

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…

The authors of this article strongly advocate for a change to the current Australian model of primary education in order to, among other things, establish the concrete practicalities of systematic mathematics thinking thereby limiting the "re-teaching" time required of secondary school mathematics teachers; bring a clear focus to the…

Current approaches to gifted identification suggest collecting multiple sources of evidence. Some gifted identification guidelines allow for the interchangeable use of "performance" and "nonperformance" identification methods. This multiple criteria approach lacks a strong overlap between the assessment tools; however,…

The aim of the 2018 International Association for Development of the Information Society (IADIS) Cognition and Exploratory Learning in the Digital Age (CELDA) conference was to address the main issues concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and applications in the digital age. There have been advances in both cognitive…