Drawing on data from a study of learning, race, and equity in an urban high school organized around specialized learning academies, we examine the ways in which the design, framing, construction, and organization of learning spaces deeply influences the types of access to rigorous learning that students experience. We draw on the notion of…

This research project examined the impact on student engagement of a makerspace approach in an all-First Nations high school. First Nations learners have many factors limiting their success in the K-12 system such as lack of connection to the curriculum, limited cultural relevance of course content, and poor attendance. A common concern for those…

An upper-division undergraduate polymer chemistry course was developed as a blended/hybrid course. The students met face-to-face once a week for 75 min with all other components being available online. Face-to-face meetings were used for class discussions/problem-based lectures, student presentations, hands-on activities, and examinations. Online…

This study examines whether and how an adaptive equity-oriented pedagogy can address diverse college students' needs and preferred modes of learning. Using a mixed-methods approach, we evaluated this pedagogical intervention that synthesizes democratic, assessment-driven, strengths-based, multimodal, and game-based instructional strategies. This…

Purpose: This paper narrates a case study on design thinking-based education work in an industrial design honours program. Student projects were developed in a multi-disciplinary setting across a Computing and Engineering faculty that allowed promoting technologically and user-driven innovation strategies. Design/methodology/approach: A renewed…

Many factors cause student disengagement from school that subsequently result in high dropout rates. Alternative education (AE) programs provide a different pathway for at-risk youths who do not meet the goals, standards, and requirements of traditional educational settings. However, educational agencies have vastly different interpretations…

A chemometrics course is offered to students in their fifth semester of the chemistry undergraduate program that includes an in-depth project. Students carry out the project over five weeks (three 8-h sessions per week) and conduct it in parallel to other courses or other practical work. The students conduct a literature search, carry out…

Research in team science suggests strategies for addressing difficulties that groups face when working together. This dissertation examines how student teams work in project based learning (PBL) environments, with the goal of creating strategies and technology to improve collaboration. The challenge of working in such a group is that the members…

This article describes a project related to babies undertaken by preschoolers in a university-affiliated child care center in the Midwest. Following a description of the class, the author discusses the three phases of the project. Photographs taken during the project are included throughout the article. The article concludes with the author's…

One of the things that many post-secondary graphic-design schools look for in student portfolios is one or two typography projects with hand-rendered type. At Merivale High School, junior graphic-design classes work with traditional media, and every year they receive an assignment that encourages them to play with letter forms. In this article,…

The University of Mary Washington (UMW) in Fredericksburg, Virginia, was founded in 1908. This article describes the process that led to the UMW preservation plan. Unlike most preservation plans, the UMW plan was developed in-house with limited funds. Furthermore, the catalyst for the plan was a grassroots effort on the part of students and alumni…

A solar power collector optimization design project has been developed for use in undergraduate classrooms and/or laboratories. The design optimization depends on understanding the current-voltage characteristics of the starting photovoltaic cells as well as how the cell's electrical response changes with increased light illumination. Students…

A design challenge is all about planning first and understanding the problem before diving in and looking frantically for a solution. Any experienced engineer or designer will tell one to think first and plan the steps before acting. An experienced carpenter friend of the author always said to "take many measurements and cut once." There is great…

'PhotoVoice' is a participatory documentary photography tool that empowers youth with little money, power, or status by providing them with opportunities to voice their critique and act for enhancing their realities. Grounded in critical literacy theory, this research tool has the potential to raise students' awareness to problematic issues in…

In contemporary educational contexts, technology, globalization, and mobility have brought about a blurring of the boundary between language learning and activation in and beyond the classroom. (We prefer the term "activation" to "use" as it has a more dynamic connotation.) This contrasts with the pre-globalized, pre-Internet…