All Informal Education resources

Journal Article

Inspiring Middle School Young Women to Achieve STEM Careers Through a Nature-Based Summer Mentorship Program

Innovation and progress in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) workforce is critical to the growth of the United States in the global economy (NRC 2007). Men are more likely to pursue a degree in STEM fields, with almost 27% of ma...

By Sarah Rhodes-Ondi, and Maryam Ghadiri

Middle School Informal Education Earth & Space Science STEM

Journal Article

Using Virtual Reality in the Classroom for Students on the Autism Spectrum

Virtual reality has seen rapid development in the first part of the 21st century, although it has been around for many years. Remember the old ViewMasters? And who could forget the first time a sea monster reached out to grab you while you were wea...

By Wyayn Rasmussen, and Kate Drechsler

Informal Education Disabilities Inclusion Teaching Strategies Technology

Journal Article

The BEST Partnership Program

People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) become more widely recognized as part of our population every year. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, about 1 in 59 c...

By Katie Slivensky, Ellen Cohn, Alexander Lussenhop, and Christina Moscat

Informal Education Disabilities

Journal Article

Making On and Off the Spectrum

People have been making since the first human used a tool, and have continued to create things for both fun and function. From building model trains to quilting, from woodworking to baking, people have for centuries been enriching their own lives by ...

By Wendy Martin, Regan Vidiksis, Kristie Patten Koenig, and Yu-Lun Chen

Informal Education Disabilities Engineering Technology

Journal Article

Design an Amusement Park

In the last two decades, precollege engineering education has become more prevalent. At the same time, the number of children diagnosed with autism is rapidly growing. Over half a million children with autism will enter adulthood in the next decade...

By Hoda Ehsan, Elizabeth Gajdzik, and Monica Cardella

Informal Education Disabilities Engineering Interdisciplinary

NSTA Press Book

Supporting Emergent Multilingual Learners in Science, Grades 7–12

Many middle and high school teachers are educated to teach science content—they don’t anticipate that one day they may be teaching it to students who need to learn both content and English. If the day has come when you’re facing that two-pronge...

By Molly Weinburgh, Cecilia Silva, Kathy Horak Smith

Elementary High School Informal Education Middle School Curriculum Multilingual Learners Instructional Materials Pedagogy Teaching Strategies Careers Equity Inclusion Multicultural New Science Teachers Preservice Science Education Professional Learning old Research Teacher Preparation

NSTA Press Book

A Head Start on Science, Second Edition: Encouraging a Sense of Wonder

Imagine what fun it could be for 3- to 7-year-olds to engage in a game of Prism Play or Magnetic Scavenger Hunt or Where Did the Shadows Go? Then imagine how convenient it would be for you if such activities came with the connections, standards, and ...

By William C. Ritz, William Straits

Early Childhood Elementary Informal Education Pre-service Teachers Preschool General Science Assessment Inquiry NGSS Phenomena Teaching Strategies Inclusion Literacy New Science Teachers Preservice Science Education Professional Learning old Teacher Preparation

NSTA Kids

Next Time You See a Bee

This book will get young readers buzzing about bees! Next Time You See a Bee reveals the big impact these little insects have on the world. It shows how the physical features of bees make them pros at collecting and spreading pollen. It explains how ...

Early Childhood Elementary Informal Education Middle School Pre-service Teachers Preschool General Science Life Science Multilingual Learners Instructional Materials Inquiry NGSS Phenomena Teaching Strategies Three-Dimensional Learning Interdisciplinary Literacy New Science Teachers Preservice Science Education Teacher Preparation

NSTA Kids

Next Time You See a Bee (Hardcover)

This book will get young readers buzzing about bees! Next Time You See a Bee reveals the big impact these little insects have on the world. It shows how the physical features of bees make them pros at collecting and spreading pollen. It explains how ...

Early Childhood Elementary Informal Education Middle School Pre-service Teachers Preschool General Science Life Science Multilingual Learners Instructional Materials Inquiry NGSS Teaching Strategies Three-Dimensional Learning Interdisciplinary Literacy New Science Teachers Preservice Science Education Teacher Preparation

Journal Article

STEMing the Flow for All

Students with special needs traditionally have fewer opportunities to engage in hands-on learning during science class (Melber and Brown 2008). The reasons for this vary, but typically stem from teacher misconceptions about the types of activities ...

By Brent Gilles, Tim Hawig, Ashley Sutton, and Stacey Britton

Informal Education Disabilities Environmental Science Inclusion

Journal Article

Youth With Disabilities

Bold innovations in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. Brilliant hacks for the digital divide. Breakthroughs in maternal health care to reduce infant mortality....

By Linda Kekelis

Informal Education Disabilities Inclusion STEM