Chapter 11 focuses on EC STEM education. It describes what STEM looks like in EC settings and identifies ways in which STEM elements can be incorporated into children’s learning. The chapter describes how STEM-related play can enhance young children’s appreciation of the world and provides a range of examples that have potential for STEM learning. Digital tools and applications for STEM learning are featured in this chapter.

This chapter focuses on mathematics and computational thinking. In each chapter, the practice is dissected into distinct and clear learning tasks that serve as process goals for learning the practice. These tasks are then examined within the context of a self-regulated learning cycle and coaching strategies for instruction and assessment are emphasized. The instruction and assessment strategies are contextualized for students in grades 9–12 and focus on conducting an investigation on the factors influencing the period of a pendulum. The data practices for the investigation are infused with computational thinking. The tasks are reassembled into two case studies focused on the heating curve of water– one positive and one negative – to demonstrate how the learning tasks can be used by students and how teachers can support students learning how to plan and carry out investigations.

The rise of interdisciplinary and no-boundary engagement has created a need to train the next generation of No-Boundary Thinking (NBT) scholars and practitioners. So it is essential that students be provided with NBT experiences in the classroom and through group-based research experiences. Our no-boundary community has offered a first generation of classes to provide an environment where students can engage in no-boundary projects and exercises, and reflect upon the nature of this type of thinking and problem solving. The following five classes were first offered in fall 2015 through spring 2018 at four institutions for undergraduate and graduate students. The experience has been enriching for both students and faculty. In all cases the courses have been well received by the students and institutions, and most instructors plan to continue to provide the classes as permanent offerings. We describe the early offerings of each class.

This is a reflection on the international computing community’s efforts to define itself as a discipline and inject computing into the core education of everyone. Their aim is to prepare us for the technology-based society in which we work and live. Scholars who aim to explore the nature of No-Boundary Thinking can learn from the self-reflection of the computing discipline, and No-Boundary Thinking might be an essential solution for the effective integration of computing into the core body of knowledge needed by every educated individual. These connections might also assuage the recent frictions between STEM and liberal arts scholar educators.

Research suggests that learning and engagement are enhanced when students are presented with design challenges that enable them to apply their knowledge and skills of coding to create tangible products. In contrast, when coding concepts are taught in isolation, the intended outcomes are not delivered as anticipated. Researchers have reported that connecting coding with social sciences and the arts results in significant improvements in students' understanding of computational practices and concepts, and enhanced levels of motivation.This chapter presents three integrated STEM projects for Years F–2, 3–4 and 5–6 where students are encouraged to develop their coding skills within a STEM context. These projects showcase how tangible outcomes can be delivered by integrating knowledge and understanding from science, mathematics, and design and technologies into coding activities.