To prepare K-12 students for the globalizing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) workplace, teachers must utilize pedagogies to improve students’ 21st century skills, specifica...

Virtual presence describes a users’ perception of a virtual reality (VR) environment (VRE), specifically, of their involvement (sense of control within a virtual environment with minimal distractions) and immersion (multi-input sensory engagement providing apparent realism of objects and interactions). In education, virtual presence is a significant construct as highly immersive VREs have been linked to users reporting memorable and exciting teaching experiences. Prior research has described that adults and children report different levels of presence when subjected to identical VREs, suggesting cognition may play some role in users’ perceptions of presence. According to Piaget, concrete operational development is a watershed moment when adolescents develop the ability to understand abstract concepts and make assessments what is and is not reality. This period in cognitive development may influence children’s and adolescents’ perceptions of presence. This is an exploratory study of seventy-five 6th-grade and seventy-six 9th-grade students who participated in an instructional module about cardiac anatomy and physiology using a 3-D, haptic-enabled, VR technology. When surveyed on their perceptions of virtual presence, there were no reported differences between grade levels. When assessed using a Piagetian inventory of cognitive development, the analyses indicated that the sixth-grade students’ understanding of spatial rotation and angular geometry was positively correlated with the reported perceived control and negatively correlated with distraction. This study suggests that the spatial acuity of younger learners plays an important role when using VR technologies for science learning. This research raises questions about the relevance of users’ cognitive development when using emergent VR technologies in the K–12 science classroom.

Creating citizens interested in science and able to participate in science discourse and decisions is one of the goals of science education. Science hobbyists embody this goal through their life-long leisure interests and engagement in science. This study compared the motivations, perceived hobby benefits, and factors that influenced their hobby development for citizen-scientists and non-citizen scientists. A deeper understanding of factors that relate to involvement in both citizen science and science hobbies may inform efforts to encourage such participation. Data were collected through open-ended interviews with 107 amateur astronomer and birder hobbyists (67 citizen scientists and 40 non-citizen science participants) and an online survey. The results of the interviews informed the development of the online survey that was distributed nationally; participants included 2119 non-citizen scientists and 745 citizen scientists. Citizen scientists reported different hobby-related motivations, interests, and experiences than non-citizen science hobbyists. Male citizen scientists were more likely than male non-citizen scientists to report sharing information with others and educating youth as important motives to their hobby participation. As compared to non citizen-scientists, citizen scientists reported being more influenced in their hobby by formal and informal educational institutions, were more likely than non-citizen scientist hobbyists to report publishing articles for the public and using electronic media to communicate with other hobbyists. Citizen scientists reported improved science process skills and a better understanding of the nature of science. The implications of the results for a deeper understanding of what encourages individuals to participate in citizen science and science hobbies are discussed.

Recent reports from federal agencies and legislation call for explicit avenues to incorporate K–12 STEM master teacher voice into the policy space. National initiatives, federal legislation, and teacher recognition programs have sought to identify K–12 STEM master teachers and harness their potential. These efforts warrant a conceptual framework to quantify attributes of K–12 STEM master teachers, to foster pathways for the development of current and future leaders. Using a sample of 10 individuals from two extant programs of K–12 STEM master teachers (Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship and Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching), data from their career trajectories (sourced from Curriculum Vitae) were sequenced to construct and confirm the STEM Master Teacher (STEMMaTe) conceptual framework. This framework may be used to guide programmatic development to increase national capacity for K–12 STEM master teachers. Recommendations are discussed for the creation of pathways to develop STEM master teachers and increase their participation in the broader education system.

Students from Eastern countries score well on international assessments in science yet lack interest in pursuing science careers. Several factors play into students’ perceptions of science and scientists, including their home life and attributes of the society in which they live (habitus and capital). One understudied means of examining this issue is exploring the extent to which these perceptions relate to students’ role model ideations of scientists, especially among non-western student populations. This paper explores 159 South Korean students’ perceptions of science and scientists at two private K-12 schools in South Korea using an adapted form of the Draw-a-Scientist Test. Using the motivational theory of role modeling (MTRM) as a theoretical framework, data was coded from surveys using the three MTRM constructs: goal embodiment, attainability, and desirability. Comparisons were made between schools, genders, across age ranges, and from their direct and indirect knowledge sources of scientists using thematic coding and chi-square analysis. Reported sources of scientists were predominantly sourced from popular media. Although the results suggest no significant difference between how science role models were perceived or ideated between schools or genders, sampled students viewed scientists as embodying goals of intelligence with low ideations of attainability and desirability.