Sayuri Tanabashi

STEAM education at Japanese University museums: case studies in sericulture and silk technologies

Contact Author: Sayuri Tanabashi (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-8654, Japan

BACKGROUND

Science museums offer learners multisensory activities that inculcate scientific thinking and creativity within them and facilitate the increase of science specialists who can innovatively resolve sustainability issues in the context of STEAM education. The present study explores object-based pedagogy at Japanese science university museums, posing the following question. What features of university museums contribute to the problem-solving of sustainability issues?

Conan Chung Man Lee, Marina Milner-Bolotin, Eric Meyers

Knowledge construction in YouTube comments on science videos: embedding popular culture in STEM

Contact Author: Conan Chung Man Lee (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy, University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

BACKGROUND

Popular culture (e.g., movies) used in lessons, may increase student interest in science. We examine how YouTube science videos incorporating popular culture might facilitate informal STEM learning.

Dan Zhu^a, Zhonghua Tang^a, Feng-Kuang Chiang^ab

An analysis of girls’ participation in the world robot Olympiad

Contact Author: Feng-Kuang Chiang (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

^aSchool of Education, Shanghai Normal University, 200234, China

^bSchool of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 200240, China

BACKGROUND

Robotics competitions play an important role in promoting STEM education, but the gender differences in this field have received relatively little attention, especially the research that lacks students' participation. This study focuses on the World Robot Olympiad (WRO), which aims to promote robotics in STEM education worldwide, explores the participation of girls and tries to understand the reasons behind it.