After more than three decades of educational adventures from my early days as an educator at Wolf Haven International, the high mountains of Colorado, beautiful coastal schools of Mexico and the Pacific Northwest, and educational adventures in the red deserts of Utah, I am settling back into my home on Vancouver Island to focus on writing, art, and public service. Before starting this new chapter on Vancouver Island, I took some time focus on re-discovering my family history and future path as an educator. These two giraffes I discovered on the streets of Edinburgh along with the upcoming Artemis 2 mission helped spark new ideas for 2026 and beyond. Super excited for this future I am crafting and all the friends and family supporting me along the way.  

Congratulations to my 2024-2025 students, researchers and graduates! Over the course of the past year one of my student researchers and I worked with a group of pre-service teachers to learn about how they might use AI to assess children's science ideas, transform lesson plans to meet university/district guidelines and incorporate safety plans and accommodations for their diverse learners. See the poster below for more information. My 1010 students helped run a science night at a local elementary school. 

I had the pleasure of sharing some educational research I completed this year with a phenomenal undergraduate student, Rylynn Peters, and colleague, Mary McFadden. You can see photos of their work below. 

I have been working on my podcast which I will write about more in a future post (see posts below or my LinkedIn for more on the podcast. While getting it prepared for release this month, I have been exploring the role of ChatGPT in elementary science education. As you may know ChatGPT is a an AI writing program (click here to learn more and try it) and I thought I would give it the challenge of writing a story about about two first graders named Ruby and Skye learning about the sun. Below is the AI story. I used to write stories for struggling and hesitant readers with their names. Does ChatGPT have that potential in STEM Education? You be the judge. 

Ruby and Skye Learn About the Sun by ChatGPT

Once upon a time, there were two best friends named Ruby and Skye. They loved to play outside and explore the world around them.
One day, as they were playing, Ruby looked up at the sky and said, "Skye, have you ever wondered where the sun comes from?"
Skye replied, "No, I haven't. Why do you ask?"
Ruby said, "I heard my teacher talking about it in school and I'm curious. Let's go find out!"
So, they set out on a journey to find the sun. They asked everyone they met if they knew where the sun came from, but no one seemed to know the answer.
Just when they were about to give up, they met a wise old owl who said, "The sun comes from a place far away in space, where it was born as a giant ball of gas and fire."
Ruby and Skye were amazed. They thanked the owl for his help and continued on their journey, eager to learn more about the sun.
As they walked, they noticed that the sun was getting warmer and warmer. They realized that the sun was not only a ball of fire, but it also provided light and heat for the Earth.
When they finally returned home, Ruby and Skye were full of knowledge about the sun. They shared their adventure with their families and friends, and everyone was amazed by what they had learned.
From that day on, Ruby and Skye never forgot the incredible journey they had taken to find the sun. They knew that the sun would always be there to light up their days and warm their hearts.

I launched a new STEM podcast series that looks at science, technology, engineering and mathematics from the perspective of teaching and learning. I Series 1 we explore the (STEM)2 learning framework within the context of NASA and the Canadian Space Agency's Artemis 1 Mission. Check out the entire series on my website (click here) for Spreaker, Apple Podcast, YouTube or coming soon on Spotify. 

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My students, colleagues and I had a great night co-hosting a STEM Night at Coral Cliffs Elementary School. Learn more about our event in the local new story (click here). ​Students and families explored the following STEM Theme:  Diverse Living Communities – Past, Present and Future through a variety of activities. The Dinosaur Discovery Site shared their fossils and artifacts from Utah’s ancient past. The Red Cliffs Desert Reserve program presented a  programs on plants and animals in this region. We also had several programs from Utah Tech University sharing their programs on robotics (K-12 STEM K-12 Outreach Center) and STEM mapping technology (UT GIS Program). Charline Para (Navajo Nation) with the District’s Title VI program provided information on the history of the region’s land and people. Students constructed a paper village and programmed miniature robots to navigate streets and paths in a series of challenges. The College of Education’s future teachers had a variety of math and science activities for elementary students to explore as well. We had a fun night of STEM!

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While we are still in the midst of the pandemic, many public health and medical professionals have begun to reflect on the government response to the pandemic in order better understand how to more affectively plan for future pandemics. In the United States, Dr. Sanjey Gupta interviewed conducted an "Autopsy of a pandemic" by interviewing six of the leading doctors involved in the Covid-19 response. The same reflective processes should also be utilized in education where educational systems struggled with the challenges of greatly revised, dispersed, and remote/online learning. Like the public health response in many different countries around the world, initial research would suggest that educational processes and school districts in some nations were less impacted than others. For educators we must ask: Why did this occur and how might we be more effective with future disruptions to educational systems? 

This is a particularly important question within STEM/STEAM education where students and community members must better understand the history and science between how different societies experience and respond to pandemics and other natural disasters. Here are four areas where educational research is needed as it relates to STEM education and pandemics:

Challenge #1 - Increasing student understanding of the history and nature of pandemics: While disease outbreaks and pandemics are still a regularly occurring phenomenon in many parts of the world, the 2020 Pandemic was relatively novel for many parts of Europe and North America compared to other parts of the world that have experienced massive outbreaks and or pandemics. What is he role and relationship between a culture's lived experience/memories/stories with outbreaks/pandemics and its educational processes? 

Challenge #2 - Better understanding student misconceptions about microscopic illness and their prevention: The pandemic has illuminated significant student (and public) misconceptions about viruses and other microscopic diseases. What are the most significant misconceptions students at different levels have and how should STEM educators address them in future teaching and learning about pandemics and other natural disasters?

Challenge #3 - Understanding the challenges and innovations that emerged in STEM education: The pandemic brought unprecedented challenges to educational systems whereby formal STEM programs (schools & universities) and informal STEM programs (museums & science centres) were converted to online programs and remote learning. Many schools and museums were idled by necessary closures as educators reoriented teaching with educational technologies and platforms many likely never used such as Zoom. What were the most significant challenges, innovations and take-aways for STEM educators during this period that enhance the future of formal/informal STEM education at schools, museums, science centres, parks, etc.?

Challenge #4 - ​The pandemic's effect on the STEM gap within multicultural and inclusive education and need for revised plans for addressing it: Educational research is beginning to illuminated the significant effect the pandemic had on student learning within different contextual factors within diverse multicultural identities and other socioeconomic factors. It is evident that inclusive and culturally responsive STEM educational practices will likely have to be revisited and reimagined in many important areas in order to address growing gaps and divides previously existing in STEM education. How do educators work with students, their families, communities and STEM organizations to provide additional and enriched STEM opportunities that build upon and address these important social inequities in education? 

While many other questions exist, I believe we will begin seeing quite a bit of educational research within the four areas identified above. Feel free to contact me with your thoughts on these questions and what I have missed. Science is a dynamic ongoing reflective and iterative process. In this case, STEM/STEAM education must also be.