Teaching and learning about geospatial aspects of energy resource issues requires that science teachers apply effective science pedagogical approaches to implement geospatial technologies into classroom instruction. To address this need, we designed educative curriculum materials as an integral part of a comprehensive middle school energy resources science curriculum. We examined teachers’ perceived impact of the curriculum materials to support their pedagogical content knowledge related to teaching science with geospatial technologies. Results indicated that the educative curriculum materials

Computational thinking (CT) is broadly defined as the mental activity for abstracting problems and formulating solutions that can be automated. In an increasingly information-based society, CT is becoming an essential skill for everyone. To ensure that students develop this ability at the K-12 level, it is important to provide teachers with an adequate knowledge about CT and how to incorporate it into their teaching. This article describes a study on designing and introducing computational thinking modules and assessing their impact on preservice teachers’ understanding of CT concepts, as well

This case study described teachers with varying technology skills who were implementing the use of geospatial technology (GST) within project-based instruction (PBI) at varying grade levels and contexts 1 to 2 years following professional development. The sample consisted of 10 fifth- to ninth-grade teachers. Data sources included artifacts, observations, interviews, and a GST performance assessment and were analyzed using a constant comparative approach. Teachers’ teaching actions, beliefs, context, and technology skills were categorized. Results indicated that all of the teachers had high

Driven by scholarly work that promotes incorporating the study of social justice issues in the engineering curriculum, this work-in-progress paper focuses on teaching social and critical consciousness in engineering. The purpose of this study is to discuss and compare the implementation of social and critical consciousness in a first-year general education engineering course and a senior design engineering course.

There is growing concern in the United States about the lack of interest and aptitude in science, math and, in particular, technology and engineering disciplines. Certainly one reason for this could be the lack of true engineering experiences available to students when they are in junior high and high school. This is in part due to the fact that while most teachers are well versed in math and science through their formal education, very few have experience and/or educational backgrounds in engineering and technology. To promote STEM careers, a partnership among university engineering faculty

Going Green! Middle Schoolers Out to Save the World (MSOSW) focuses on students using energy monitoring equipment to assess the amount of standby power consumed by their home entertainment devices and appliances when not performing any useful functions. This program focuses on improving the STEM pipeline by preparing both teachers and students in engaging activities aimed at creating and increasing interest in STEM careers for students. Teachers who participated in this hands-on, real world curriculum project, that included professional development, project tools and resources, gained in their

A central way in which FUSE provides powerful learning affordances is by breaking down the silos of A key way in which FUSE provides powerful learning affordances is by breaking down the silos of traditional STEM disciplines, and engaging learners in more authentic, interdisciplinary, and personally meaningful experimentation ICLS 2016 Proceedings 1029 © ISLS and making (e.g., Dewey, 1897; Resnick et al., 2009). Consequently, FUSE activities have the potential to not only motivate students to engage in future STEM learning, but also to provide them with a toolkit of knowledge and practices to

This paper explores how FUSE Studios are organized, describing key design elements, the ways these differ from a traditional classroom model, and the types of diverse learning arrangements that emerge. Data in this paper was primarily collected from five classrooms in the 2013-14 school year and the analysis was refined through discussions within the research team about ongoing data collection during the 2014-15 (one classroom) and 2015- 16 (seven classrooms) school years. [See pages 1025-1032]