The purpose of this study is to present students' experiences, interest in engineering, and personal narratives while participating in a robotics summer camp in a metropolitan city in Turkey. In this study, I used qualitative data collection methods such as interviews, field notes, and observations. I used the four principles of Engle and Conant…

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are a key piece of current reform efforts to reshape the U.S. educational system. Critics contend that the related Revised Publishers' Criteria (RPC), coupled with the authoritative power of the CCSS, will de-professionalize teachers, directing their practice from a distance. The purpose of this qualitative…

Digital games can be powerful learning environments because they encourage active learning and participation within "affinity groups" (Gee, 2004). However, the use of games in formal educational environments is not always successful (O'Neil et al., 2005). There is a need to update existing theories of motivation and engagement in order…

The experiences of black women offer a unique perspective on how life is lived at the juncture of race and gender in the United States. This case study of an online community for black women centers on the site's potentiality as an online learning community as well as a uniquely black woman's space. It also explores interrelated aspects of…

Scope and Method of Study: The purpose of this study was to develop a model of informal online learning communities based on theory, research and practice. Case study methodology was used to examine the NASA Interdisciplinary National Science Project Incorporating Research and Education Experience (INSPIRE) Project as an example of a successful…

During the affluent noughties it was sometimes said of government that it had "more visions than Mystic Meg and more pilots than British Airways". In 2011, the pilots, the pathfinders, the new initiatives are largely gone--implementation is the name of the game--but the visions remain. The latest one, as it affects adult learners, is in…

To investigate how parents support children's learning at an exhibit on evolution, the conversations of 12 families were recorded, transcribed, and coded (6,263 utterances). Children (mean age 9.6 years) and parents visited Explore Evolution, which conveyed current research about the evolution of seven organisms. Families were engaged with the…

Scientific proficiency is important, not only for a solid, interdisciplinary educational foundation, but also for entry into and mobility within today's increasingly technological and globalized workplace, as well as for informed, democratic participation in society (National Academies Press, 2007b). Within the United States, low-income,…

When it comes to STEM education, the nation's K-12 public schools cannot do it all. The nature of 21st century proficiency in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics is too complex for any single institution. The good news is that schools do not have to do it alone. Museums, zoos, nature centers, aquariums, and planetariums are among the…

Aiming to extend sociocultural theory about the teaching and learning of literacies, this article reports on data from a qualitative study underpinned by a sociocultural framework (Rogoff, 1990; Vygotsky, 1986). Conducted in an Australian university community, the project tracked a group of pre-service teachers engaging in scaffolded literacy…

This article takes as a starting point the segregation of urban areas and discusses schooling in the neighbourhoods typically associated with problems and challenges, in order to explore young people's responses to their schooling and social positions. Such responses include individual acts, such as rejecting further schooling or dismissing the…

With the rise of Web 2.0, a multitude of new possibilities on how to use these online technologies for active learning has intrigued researchers. While most instructors have used Twitter for in-class discussions, this study explores the teaching practice of Twitter as an active, informal, outside-of-class learning tool. Through a comparative…

Introduction: Continuing education is one of the means by which professionals maintain and increase their level of competence. However, the relationship between continuing education and the professional's sense of personal competence and other practice-related variables remains unclear. This study examined practicing psychologists' continuing…

This study investigated whether listening to spontaneous conversations of elementary students and their teachers/chaperones, while they were visiting a zoo, affected preservice elementary teachers' conceptions about planning a field trip to the zoo. One hundred five preservice elementary teachers designed field trips prior to and after…

Recently, schools nationwide have expressed a renewed interest in school gardens (California School Garden Network, 2010), viewing them as innovative educational tools. Most of the scant studies on these settings investigate the health/nutritional impacts, environmental attitudes, or emotional dispositions of students. However, few studies examine…