Virtual Events and Webinars

Virtual Events and Webinars

Scheduled and Recent Events

Graduate Student Career Steps Webinar Series #10

Tuesday, April 24, 2026
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm ET

Navigating the transition from graduate studies to a fulfilling career can feel overwhelming. With countless possibilities - academia, industry, government, non-profits, and beyond - graduate students often find themselves uncertain about which path to pursue or how to begin.

The Graduate Student Committee recognizes this challenge and is proud to organize the Career Steps Webinar Series, an engaging, monthly webinar series designed to illuminate multiple career trajectories, offer practical guidance, and foster meaningful connections within the NARST community.

This webinar series features accomplished PhDs and seasoned NARST members who have traversed the journey you are beginning. By sharing their personal stories - complete with challenges, pivotal moments, and unexpected opportunities - our speakers bring to life the myriad routes to career success.

More than mere inspiration, these sessions provide concrete strategies, resources, and networks you can leverage as you craft your own path. After all, one meaningful connection can be the spark that redefines your career trajectory.

Meet Your Speaker: Dr. Micah Johnson is a Regulatory Medical Writer at Johnson & Johnson

STE²AM-X Model: The Missing Link Between Science and Ethics

Friday, May 1, 2026 
6:00 pm – 7:00 pm ET

STE²AM-X is a universal, experience-driven educational methodology, developed from doctoral research at the Faculty of Education, The University of Auckland, New Zealand. It combines enquiry, project-based learning, AI, and ethical reasoning to create meaningful, real-world learning experiences.

Designed for learners of all ages and contexts -- from schools and universities to workplaces, businesses, families, personal relationships, life challenges, and community programs -- STE²AM-X systematically integrates principles of scientific enquiry, ethical reflection, and mindful AI use. Participants engage in a dynamic learning cycle that fosters independent thinking, real-world problem-solving, and the responsible application of AI. The methodology provides practical strategies for embedding AI into projects, assessing learning outcomes, and cultivating ethical decision-making across disciplines.

Meet Your Speaker: Reynand Dumala-on, PhD Research Candidate Faculty of Arts and Education, The University of Auckland New Zealand

Registration Link: https://members.narst.org/event/STE2AM-XModel

Connecting Science Knowledge through Storytelling from Around the World, Part 2

Tuesday, May 5, 2026 
8:00 pm – 9:00 pm ET

Join science educators and researchers who are engaged in work focused on Indigenous science, knowledge, and community-based research. This series of four webinars is hosted by the Indigenous Science Knowledge Research Interest Group and is open to all NARST members.

This session is our second in a series focused on how Indigenous stories from around the world convey knowledge about science and engineering concepts and practices. In our first session, members of the ISK RIG shared a selection of global stories from their Indigenous communities, and speakers discussed themes and considerations of using stories within science education. In this proposed second session, we will build on ideas presented through this first session and our participants' reflections and discussion to share more about how we can ethically and responsibly connect to phenomenon-based science and engineering through stories. We will also focus on specific disciplinary content themes, such as foodways, sustainability, and earth systems within stories, and we will also highlight research projects that are incorporating storytelling either as methodology or as part of our understanding of how learning occurs. Finally, speakers will share their approaches for engaging with stories and storytelling in a way that honors the cultural property and data sovereignty of the communities in which they are from or with which they are engaged.

This interactive session will include presentations from speakers who are deeply engaged in the use of story within science education and research discussing their work and thoughts connected to these focus areas, followed by the opportunity for participants to reflect and collaborate around their own work, next steps, and continued opportunities for growth and learning.

Meet Your Speakers:

  • Julie Robinson, University of North Dakota
  • Pauline Chinn, University of Hawaii at Manoa
  • Stacy Potes, University of Hawaii at Manoa
  • Carley Malloy, Dartmouth College
  • Bhaskar Upadhyay, University of Minnesota
  • Piata Allen, University of Auckland
  • Peresang Sukinarhimi, National Sun Yat-sen University

Registration Link: https://members.narst.org/event/KnowledgethruStorytellingPart2 

The Future of Data and Computing in K-12: A National Academies Consensus Report

Wednesday, May 6, 2026 
11:00 am – 12:00 pm ET

The rapidly changing landscape of computing, information, and communications technologies have catapulted us into the computing revolution and era of big data. Currently, multiple, disconnected efforts in K-12 are attempting to address these new demands. However, there is a need to consider the similarity across computing-related disciplines to identify the core set of flexible, foundational competencies that will allow for adapting across changing workplace demands.

This project aims to advance national conversations by identifying the competencies students need to navigate and succeed in the changing computational landscape and the role that K-12 education can play in developing these competencies. This webinar will share an overview of this newly released National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine report, "Developing Competencies for the Future of Data and Computing: the Role of K-12." Presented by a writing committee member, this webinar will share the key conclusions and recommendations.

Meet Your Speaker: Janice Mak, Arizona State University

Registration Link: https://members.narst.org/event/FutureofDataandComputing

Expanding the Reach of Science Education Research Through Social Media

Wednesday, May 13, 2026 
11:00 am – 12:00 pm ET

This virtual event provides NARST members with research-informed and practical strategies for disseminating science education research through professional social media platforms. Drawing on empirical and theoretical scholarship on digital scholarship, science communication, and academic visibility, the session examines how researchers can ethically translate peer-reviewed research into accessible formats for wider audiences. The event focuses explicitly on the strategic use of platforms such as LinkedIn, X, and ResearchGate to broaden research reach while maintaining scholarly rigor. A live question-and-answer segment will allow participants to engage with examples and discuss challenges related to digital research dissemination.

Meet Your Speaker: Shallom Abla Lumor, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology

Registration Link: https://members.narst.org/event/Expanding_reach_thru_Social_Media 

Every Student Has a Voice in Science: Broadening Secondary Student Participation

Wednesday, May 20, 2026 
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm ET

The scientific method is integral to how we teach science as reflected by the “practices” dimension of the Next Generation Science Standards. To strengthen their scientific literacy, students need opportunities to expand their scientific knowledge and develop skills relevant to the field such as making observations, asking questions, reviewing the literature, planning an investigation, analyzing and synthesizing data, and sharing findings. Because communication is at the core of the scientific method and these skills, science education must balance content instruction with authentic science communication practices, including reading primary sources, participating in the peer review process, and communicating scientific research to different audiences. At our nonprofit organization, Emerging Investigators, we believe all students have a voice in science, and we provide students with meaningful, real-world opportunities to engage in science communication.

In this presentation, we will spotlight opportunities for middle and high school students to engage in authentic science communication and publishing, including our Journal of Emerging Investigators, a peer-reviewed publication for secondary students; eiRxiv, our preprint platform launched in 2025; and our recently published NGSS-aligned classroom resources built on the practice of obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information. Our editorial and educational resources are designed to meet the needs of secondary students while also reflecting current scientific practices. While all NARST members are welcome to join our presentation, it is tailored for science educators who directly work with secondary teachers and/or students. We will present practical applications for our resources as well as strategies for using them in the classroom, citing peer-reviewed findings from our collaborators and our collective experience as science educators.

 

Hosted by: Jessie Mader, PhD Candidate at Colorado State University, Director of Curriculum and Instruction at Emerging Investigators

Registration Link: https://members.narst.org/event/Every_Student_has_a_Voice 

Graduate Student Career Steps Webinar Series #11

Friday, May 29, 2026 
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm ET

Navigating the transition from graduate studies to a fulfilling career can feel overwhelming. With countless possibilities - academia, industry, government, non-profits, and beyond - graduate students often find themselves uncertain about which path to pursue or how to begin.

The Graduate Student Committee recognizes this challenge and is proud to organize the Career Steps Webinar Series, an engaging, monthly webinar series designed to illuminate multiple career trajectories, offer practical guidance, and foster meaningful connections within the NARST community.

This webinar series features accomplished PhDs and seasoned NARST members who have traversed the journey you are beginning. By sharing their personal stories - complete with challenges, pivotal moments, and unexpected opportunities - our speakers bring to life the myriad routes to career success.

More than mere inspiration, these sessions provide concrete strategies, resources, and networks you can leverage as you craft your own path. After all, one meaningful connection can be the spark that redefines your career trajectory.

Meet Your Speaker: Dr. Jared Oluoch, Professor and Director, School of Information Security & Applied Computing, Eastern Michigan University

Registration Link: https://members.narst.org/event/Career-Steps-Series11 

Conducting Ethical Research with LGBTQIA+ Participants in STEM Education

Wednesday, June 17, 2026 
12:00 pm – 3:00 pm ET

Ethical research involving LGBTQIA+ individuals in STEM higher education requires more than procedural IRB compliance. Science and STEM education researchers must attend to confidentiality risks, identity fluidity, power dynamics, framework selection, recruitment hostility, re-identification risks, political threats to data ownership, and dissemination practices that may unintentionally erase or misrepresent minoritized communities.

This interactive virtual workshop presents a structured professional development model developed through PRISMATIC (Propagating Research Ethics around Sexual Marginalization and Transgender Issues Conference). Building upon prior local and national conference presentations and training and informed by professional development field testing, the PRISMATIC 2 training engages researchers in applied ethical discussion using authentic, research-based scenarios. Participants will engage in guided small-group discussions centered on realistic dilemmas across the research cycle, including: (a) token representation and community membership on research teams; (b) framework selection and survey design; (c) recruitment hostility and trauma-informed interviewing; (d) evolving gender identity in longitudinal education research; (e) re-identification risk; (f) political and legal threats to data confidentiality; and (g) how to avoid deficit-based comparison framing in proposals and research reports. By using structured prompts grounded in the Belmont Principles, and critically extending them (i.e., “Queering the Belmont Report”), participants will examine how respect for persons, beneficence, and justice can be operationalize in research involving LGBTQIA+ communities in contemporary educational and sociopolitical contexts.

The workshop is designed for equity and STEM education researchers, graduate students, faculty, journal reviewers, and research administrators. Participants will leave with practical decision-making tools and strategies after having engaged in applied reflection exercises to strengthen their understanding of ethical practices and how to protect LGBTQIA+ participants across all phases of their research.

Meet Your Speakers:

  • Dr. Beth Lewis (Dept. of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education)
  • Dr. Wendy Smith (Director, UNL Center for Transformative Teaching/Dept. of Mathematics), University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Registration Link: https://members.narst.org/event/ConductingEthicalResearchwithLGBTQIAinSTEMEd

 

Graduate Student Career Steps Webinar Series #12

Friday, June 26, 2026 
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm ET

Navigating the transition from graduate studies to a fulfilling career can feel overwhelming. With countless possibilities - academia, industry, government, non-profits, and beyond - graduate students often find themselves uncertain about which path to pursue or how to begin.

The Graduate Student Committee recognizes this challenge and is proud to organize the Career Steps Webinar Series, an engaging, monthly webinar series designed to illuminate multiple career trajectories, offer practical guidance, and foster meaningful connections within the NARST community.

This webinar series features accomplished PhDs and seasoned NARST members who have traversed the journey you are beginning. By sharing their personal stories - complete with challenges, pivotal moments, and unexpected opportunities - our speakers bring to life the myriad routes to career success.

More than mere inspiration, these sessions provide concrete strategies, resources, and networks you can leverage as you craft your own path. After all, one meaningful connection can be the spark that redefines your career trajectory.

Meet Your Speaker: Dr. Xiaoming Zhai Associate Professor of Science Education & Artificial Intelligence, The University of Georgia

Registration Link: https://members.narst.org/event/Career-Steps-Series12