Methodological Approaches to STEM Education Research Volume 5

Book excerpt: Education practitioners and researchers worldwide will benefit from engaging with this volume, and book series, which promotes critical consideration of and innovation in education research methodologies in the areas of science, mathematics, health, and environmental education. Each of the nineteen chapters in Volume 5 presents an account of methodological principles and practices and many attend directly to global challenges. For example, chapters explore philosophical underpinnings of STEM and environmental education, links between learning and workplace practices in mathematics education, engagement in STEM through Vygotskian and queer theory perspectives, a braiding of methodologies including arts-based and autoethnographic studies, the application of AI, literature mapping, as well as contractual evaluation research. An important theme is climate change education, explored through student agency, cosmetics, waste, and survey challenges as well as world-cafe and socioscientific-based methodologies. The book series is designed to raise the quality of methodological practice while considering the associated challenges that shape our educational research.