Mission
Our mission is to bring together the PK-20+ community that are passionate about and dedicated to enacting pedagogies and practices in pursuit of ‘success for all’ in an evolving global STEM education landscape.
Vision
Our vision is to establish and sustain an international, Transdisciplinary community of practice that enhances the PK-20+ STEM education landscape.
9th Annual STEM ED Conference
The 9th Annual STEM Education Conference will be held on February 12 - 14, 2026.
Call for Proposals
Proposals are now being accepted for the 9th Annual STEM Education Conference. To receive full consideration, proposals must be submitted by Sunday, October 26, 2025.
This year’s conference theme is Fostering Scholars and Leaders in the Pursuit of STEM For All. As we continue toward transformative practices in STEM education, we seek to embrace learning for all learners. Building on past conference themes that used the domesticated tree as a metaphor for STEM education, we now highlight how, in our first eight years, we have planted the seeds of equity. The conference is now a seedling, with healthy leaves and roots, because of careful and intentional planting in a soil and environment in which it can thrive. The purpose of this conference is to build foundations that lead to transformative practices and outcomes in STEM education and create environments where everyone thrives. This conference is unique in that it brings together stakeholders across all P-16+ STEM learning environments. This includes, but is not limited to formal and informal educators, and K-12 students. Thus, proposals from practitioners and researchers are welcome.
If you have any questions, please contact rgvstemed@utrgv.edu.
- Practitioner focused: This strand shares disciplinary core, content, or curricular ideas in STEM practices, and/or crosscutting concepts that can be implemented in formal or informal settings. All proposals must include a clear conceptual framework and evidence of positive student outcomes, as applicable.
- Research focused: This strand disseminates theoretical, empirical, or positional research findings. This might include teaching and learning in P-16+ STEM, context, and learning.
- STEM learning as it relates to the development of student understanding, conceptual understanding, technology applications, learning environments, interactions among students and teachers as well as factors, including sociocultural, related to and/or affecting learning. This can include research in formal or informal settings for any age or grade level.
- STEM teaching related, but not limited to, teacher understanding, pedagogy, content knowledge, and/or instructional approaches. This can include research in formal or informal settings for any age or grade level.
- STEM teacher education research related to pre-service and/or in-service teacher education. This can include research in formal or informal settings for any age or grade level.
- STEM curriculum and assessment research related, but not limited, to curriculum development, change, implementation, evaluation, standardized and/or authentic assessments. This can include research in formal or informal settings for any age or grade.
- STEM education research related to policy, reform, and implementation. This can include research in formal or informal settings for any age or grade.
- Showcase session: a student- or community-focused STEM education session where student learning and engagement are presented and celebrated. This can be through an interactive display, presentations, or demonstrations. PK-12 student-led or focused sessions are strongly encouraged.
- Paper Presentation: Each 60-minute session consists of 2-3 individual papers related to the same thread as determined by the steering committee. Each presenter will discuss their research study, theoretical paper, position, or innovative idea related to strand I, II, or III.
- Deeper Dive Sessions: Each session will be 60 minutes and allow for an in-depth exploration of a topic. This might be organized as a roundtable discussion or panel discussion. Other formats will be considered.
- Poster Presentation: Each presenter will prepare and display a representation of research (completed or in-progress), issue, or practice related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education.
- Interactive workshop: Each 60-, 90-, or 120-minute session will allow for sharing research and emerging practices in a way that is more informal and intimate. This can include panel discussions, roundtable discussions, simulations, modeling curriculum, or other interactive formats. Practitioner presentations are encouraged to include data that support its success or promising practice. Discussion, interactive, and other formats will be considered.
- Author(s) information: Name(s), title(s), professional organization (if any), email address.
- Session title (25 words or less)
- Intended audience (indicate all that apply):
- Early child/P-2
- Elementary (3-5)
- Middle school (6-8)
- Higher Education
- High school (9-12)
- Informal educator
- Other (please indicate)
- Keywords (minimum of 3, maximum of 5)
- Short description (50 words or less) as it will appear in the program.
- Proposal (1,000 words or less not including references)
- Clear focus/problem statement: The proposal has a clear focus and/or challenges that the workshop aims to address.
- Conceptual framework: The proposal is grounded in appropriate conceptual framework(s) and is connected to the learning objectives.
- Design/method: Describe the pedagogical strategies (e.g. - inquiry based, collaborative activities, 5-E) that will be used during the workshop.
- Contributions: The work contributes to the knowledge base in STEM education through the implications for practitioners, and/or by providing evidence of the effectiveness (e.g. - data on student learning outcomes).
- Special requests: (AV equipment, room or table set-up, etc.)
- Author(s) information: Name(s), title(s), professional organization (if any), email address.
- Session title (25 words or less)
- Intended audience (indicate all that apply):
- Early child/P-2
- Elementary (3-5)
- Middle school (6-8)
- Higher Education
- High school (9-12)
- Informal educators
- Other (please indicate)
- Keywords (minimum of 3, maximum of 5)
- Short description (50 words or less) as it will appear in the program.
- Proposal (1,000 words or less not including references)
- Clear focus/problem statement: The proposal has a clear focus and/or addresses a problem that is relevant to objectives of the STEM Education Conference.
- Theoretical or conceptual framework: The proposal is grounded in an appropriate conceptual and/or theoretical framework(s).
- Methodology/design of the study or organization: For research studies, describe the methodology and research design. For philosophical viewpoints, describe the logic and coherence of arguments as it relates to the theoretical or conceptual framework. For position papers, the position is well-grounded in relevant literature.
- Findings/conclusions (for research study) and contributions (for philosophical, theoretical, position paper, or practitioner): The work contributes to the knowledge base in STEM education either through using evidence to answer one or more research questions, communicating a philosophical viewpoint, or synthesis of existing literature.
- Special requests: (AV equipment, room or table set-up, etc.)
- Author(s) information: Name(s), title(s), professional organization (if any), email address.
- Session title (25 words or less)
- Intended audience (indicate all that apply):
- Early child/P-2
- Elementary (3-5)
- Middle school (6-8)
- Higher Education
- High school (9-12)
- Informal educators
- Other (please indicate)
- Keywords (minimum of 3, maximum of 5)
- Short description (50 words or less) as it will appear in the program.
- Proposal (1,000 words or less not including references)
- Clear focus/purpose/problem statement: The proposal clearly describes the STEM education challenge(s) your showcase attempts to solve.
- Program/project design: The proposal includes a description of the goals, objectives, innovations, and activities to help the audience understand what your showcase is about.
- Evaluation: The proposal provides evidence of how progress and success were measured. This might include surveys, participant feedback, observations, and/or data analysis.
- Sustainability and community engagement: Will the program or project being showcased extend, continue or lend itself to being scaled up? If so, describe. Also, describe how the program or project engages the community.
- Special requests: (AV equipment, room or table set-up, etc.)