Faculty, doctoral students, and postdoctoral researchers from the MST Department’s Science Education program recently presented their work at the 2026 Association for Science Teacher Education (ASTE) Conference in Chicago. This year’s theme, “Science for All: Bridging Equity Gaps in STEM Education,” called on scholars to dismantle barriers to access, center culturally responsive teaching, and reimagine science education as a pathway to justice. The conference brought together researchers from around the world who are committed to transforming how science is taught and who gets to participate.
The 2026 ASTE Conference’s theme reflects the core commitments of MST’s Science Education program, where our work is grounded in justice, care, and cultural responsiveness. Faculty and students examine how science learning is shaped by language, identity, technology, and power, and how educators can create classrooms that affirm students’ lived experiences. From elementary through secondary education and teacher preparation, the program emphasizes science as a human, relational, and socially embedded field. ASTE consistently provides a space to showcase how our work contributes to a more equitable STEM landscape.
One of the program’s most significant contributions was a featured roundtable session titled “New Perspectives in Science Teacher Education: Emerging Graduate and Postdoctoral Researchers’ Showcase,” composed entirely of MST-affiliated scholars. The session highlighted a wide range of research addressing topics from teacher well-being and AI in science teacher education, to teacher professional development around the globe and emerging challenges in science education. Together, the presentations demonstrated how MST scholars are pushing the field forward by rethinking what it means to teach and learn science in today’s world.
Several projects from the session captured the spirit of Science for All. Dr. Tasnim Aziz’s work on environmental justice and youth digital activism, for example, analyzes how high school students reclaimed their identities and used social media to advocate for climate justice. Doctoral student Joyce Chen presented work that investigates how high school science teachers navigate the promises and risks of generative AI. And, Elisa Vélez-Thobois’s study of second graders’ engagement in science and engineering practices reveals how even young learners develop nuanced views of science as creative and human.
Collectively, these scholars reflect MST’s deep commitment to bridging gaps in STEM education. Their work illustrates how science education can honor students’ identities, foster critical consciousness, and empower learners to see themselves as knowledge producers. By sharing these projects at ASTE 2026, MST faculty and students affirmed their role as leaders in shaping a more just future for science education.