Abstract
It is exciting and rewarding to see the fruits of many months of labor. Contributions for this special science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) issue have come from various constituents representing multiple perspectives in STEM education. In the forthcoming paragraphs, a concise review of all manuscripts in this issue is mentioned.
First, Juliana Tay, Allisa Salazar, and Hyeseong Lee focused on parental perceptions of STEM enrichment for young children. This is a particularly valuable contribution in the respect that much of the literature in STEM education appears to pertain to upper elementary and secondary grades. In this piece, the authors discuss parental perceptions of an out-of-school (OOS) program called Super Saturday. Parental perceptions were generally positive and three themes emerged from the data analysis. The themes were children’s reactions to STEM learning, meeting the needs of young gifted learners, and learning beyond the classroom.
Second, Lori Ihrig, Erin Lane, Duhita Mahatmya, and Susan Assouline discuss another oft-neglected area of STEM, which is opportunities for students in rural areas. Specifically, they address levels of challenge and engagement among such students as many such opportunities historically may have been offered through online venues. After participating in the STEM Excellence and Leadership program, participants were surveyed to gage their perceptions of the program. Results suggest satisfaction with the offerings, and participants reflected that the program helped encourage creative and critical thinking.
Third, Jamaal Young and Jemimah Young provide data in a study that pertain to the relationship between OOS time enrichment and Black student participation in advanced science courses. Their research revealed that Black students who participated in OOS activities engaged in advanced science courses at a statistically significantly greater rate than peers who did not engage in such opportunities. With an N of more than 3,000 students, this finding shows considerable promise for ameliorating problems with Advanced Placement (AP) course success rate among Black students.
Fourth, Diana Mullett, Todd Kettler, and AnneMarie Sabatini discuss gifted students’ conceptions of their high school STEM education. This phenomographic study helped the researchers look carefully at the experiences that seven students had in a high school STEM program. Data were collected in undergraduate years and findings were separated into six categories including STEM learning environment, institutional supports, social supports, teacher qualities, active involvement in learning, and students’ self-perceptions of their STEM capability. Findings may be utilized by stakeholders in similar STEM specialty programs.
Fifth, Debbie Dailey, Alicia Cotabish, and Nykela Jackson provide a comprehensive review of the literature that pertains to increasing early opportunities for gifted students in elementary classrooms. In this article, the authors focus on how to increase engineering practices into science education and the approach of problem solving and critical thinking as tools to accomplish educational objectives. They also highlight the integration of STEM at what may be considered the most optimal time, elementary grades, because students’ affective ratings may be the highest at this age.
In total, this special issue comprised various perspectives, all with the intent to forward STEM initiatives in K–12 grades for advanced students. Hopefully, you will enjoy and be engaged as much as the Journal for the Education of the Gifted staff and authors were in assembling this issue. A special thank you is offered to Jenny Robins for serving as a coeditor and for handling many of the administrative duties.