In recent years, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) approaches in education have received growing attention in the political arena and in educational research and practice. A concern consistently raised in the research literature regarding interdisciplinary STEM education is that the role played by mathematics is understated such that it may be overshadowed by the other disciplines. This study contributes to the discussion by presenting a review of 4,812 studies, of which 37 with descriptions of STEM activities were selected, analysed and synthesised to identify the various roles played by mathematics in these STEM activities. This process produced an analytical framework that captures the various roles mathematics can play, which can be categorised into two major categories: mathematics as the specific aim of the activity or mathematics utilised as a tool. Two cases selected from the review are presented in this study to demonstrate how the framework can be employed in analysing STEM activities. Furthermore, we propose using the framework when developing STEM activities as a tool to ensure explicit awareness of the various roles mathematics can play.

Reviews of literature often summarize research within a given field to provide succinct information about state of the art as well as gaps for future research to address. In educational research, such information includes different positions within a field; for example, theoretical positions underpinning empirical studies. Such theoretical positions may influence interpretations of research results and remain a challenge to map and present. Here, we show how to use thematic analysis and network analysis to construct maps, analyse and synthesize theoretical positions within educational research. We use early childhood inquiry-based science education (ECIBSE) literature as a case because of its historical roots in Dewey’s educational philosophy. This allows us to discuss findings in light of a well-known theoretical framework. Using our methodology, we analyse four theoretical positions for teaching and learning: (1) science should be learned through inquiry, (2) teaching should model scientific practices, (3) children should develop science-related competencies (4) child’s experience should take precedence. After discussing these positions, we turn to methodological possibilities and challenges of using thematic network analysis for literature reviews. R-code, data and instructions for reproducing our results are available at: https://github.com/jbruun/thematicDiscourseNetworkAnalysis/.

This paper contains data on intentionally deployed wrecks to serve as artificial reefs from 1942 to 2016. The deployment of decommissioned vessels and other available wrecks is a common practice in many coastal countries, such as the USA, Australia, Malta, and New Zealand. We obtained data of georeferenced sites of wrecks from the scientific literature, local databases, and diving web sites published in the English language. Furthermore, we included information regarding the type of structure, location, depth, country, year of deployment and estimated life span. Moreover, we provide information on whether the wreck is located inside one of the World׳s Protected Areas, key biophysical Standard Level Data from the World Ocean Database, distance to reefs from the Coral Trait Database, and distances to 597 aquariums that are members of the Species360 global network of Aquariums and Zoological institutions, in the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS). We provide data for wrecks with monitoring surveys in the peer-review literature, although these only comprise 2% of the records (36 of 1907 wrecks). The data we provide here can be used for research and evaluation of already deployed reefs, especially if combined with additional spatial information on biodiversity and threats.

New methods are needed to attract more interest to natural sciences among the public and young people. We established an underwater laboratory by placing cameras on an artificial reef (a sunken ferry) to create a new and inspiring way of teaching marine biology and showing science to the public. Here we describe the process and solutions to the technical challenges in designing the laboratory. Live-streaming from the underwater environment has great potential for teaching marine biology in new and exciting ways, and it could also be used more widely for stimulating interest among the general public in aquariums and museums.

The lack of interest among pre-university students to choose STEM subjects for their higher education is a heavily debated issue in many western-world countries. To boost Danish students’ interest in biology, a study event on artificial reefs was introduced when teaching marine biology in lower secondary school and upper secondary school (student age 13–20 years). The purpose was to investigate if the focus on artificial reefs could generate an increased interest in natural science and marine biology among the students. The students’ interest in science was evaluated using electronic questionnaires before and after they had completed the teaching programme. The students were significantly more interested in natural sciences and marine biology after than before the teaching program. The development in situational interest in science and in the oceans was different for males and females with females being most interested. Thus, it is possible to trigger a situational interest for science and marine biology by teaching about artificial reefs, but the way interest is triggered differs between different age groups and sexes.