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To minimize environmental damage, conserve global diminishing fertilizer reserves, all while maximizing food production, it is essential that farmers apply phosphate fertilizers at the optimal rate. The purpose of this study is to assess grower attitudes and behavior, with respect to proper application of phosphorus, and to investigate how certain exogenous factors might influence such applications. Data were analyzed from a survey conducted in North Carolina, USA, with 122 farmer participants. The findings reveal that annual phosphorus applications consistently exceed recommendations, which indicates overapplication, leading to economic inefficiency and environmental concerns. Overapplication is neither due to knowledge gaps in nutrient concentrations in the soil nor the lack of interest in soil sampling, as 99% of farmers submit soil tests as frequently or more frequently than every two years. Only 36% of growers indicated that they would not apply phosphorus if their soil report indicated that levels were sufficient, and that none was required. Additionally, overapplication is not strongly influenced by price effects, as only nine percent of growers abandoned applications in 2021, following a dramatic spike doubling fertilizer prices. The adoption of reduced phosphate fertilization will depend on strong local trusted technical assistance and continued extension education. 

We provide a composite counter story based on our own experiences grappling with investigating elementary Latinx learners’ experiences and how we have leaned on each other to resist the whiteness of learning to do research in pursuit of a Ph.D. As the counterstory shows, we collectively worked together to write our own continuations of the story between Rodrigo, a graduate research assistant on a project about Latinx learners’ experiences, and Luz, a 4th grade Latina learner who is participating in the study. Together, we supported each other to use storytelling to challenge dominant narratives of the relationship between researcher and researched. Our hope is that this counterstory helps others to reflect on and explore issues of assimilation and provides them permission to challenge how we do research. 

A hydrostatic skeleton allows a soft body to transmit muscular force via internal pressure. A human's tongue, an octopus' arm and a nematode's body illustrate the pervasive presence of hydrostatic skeletons among animals, which has inspired the design of soft engineered actuators. However, there is a need for a theoretical basis for understanding how hydrostatic skeletons apply mechanical work. We therefore modeled the shape change and mechanics of natural and engineered hydrostatic skeletons to determine their mechanical advantage (MA) and displacement advantage (DA). These models apply to a variety of biological structures, but we explicitly consider the tube feet of a sea star and the body segments of an earthworm, and contrast them with a hydraulic press and a McKibben actuator. A helical winding of stiff, elastic fibers around these soft actuators plays a critical role in their mechanics by maintaining a cylindrical shape, distributing forces throughout the structure and storing elastic energy. In contrast to a single-joint lever system, soft hydrostats exhibit variable gearing with changes in MA generated by deformation in the skeleton. We found that this gearing is affected by the transmission efficiency of mechanical work (MA×DA) or, equivalently, the ratio of output to input work. The transmission efficiency changes with the capacity to store elastic energy within helically wrapped fibers or associated musculature. This modeling offers a conceptual basis for understanding the relationship between the morphology of hydrostatic skeletons and their mechanical performance. 

A composite counterstory about a learner, Anabel, connecting her lived experiences to a mathematics problem. 

Our research collective explores Latine learner’s experiences with mathematics. Therefore, we must consider possible methods to de-settle the white gaze surveilling and erasing Latine learners in K-12 schools, as well as the white ideologies in educational research. In this book review, we discuss KiMi Wilson’s Black Boys’ Lived and Everyday Experiences in STEM (2021) and explore his use of ethnographic research to tell the story of his boys (Carter, Malik, Darius, and Thomas). Wilson highlights how he disrupts the norms of educational ethnography through his research and posits the need to amplify Black voices and experiences in STEM education. He challenges the reader to push against white ideologies and reconsider the deficit narratives surrounding Black boys. By reflecting on Wilson’s work and our own, we consider two points of reflection: Centering humanity and emotionality, and the importance of place. We explore how Wilson addresses these two points through his stories of his boys and how our research collective considers these ideas in our work with Latine learners in mathematics. As educators, educational researchers, and policy makers, we must reflect, acknowledge, and create transformative actions centered around humanity and emotionality, as well as the importance of place, to ensure equitable learning spaces for Black and Latine learners. 

Understanding how students compose CSM ideas is essential for engagement, the development of content knowledge, and a robust STEM identity. This case study focuses on the linguistic and pedagogical transformations during computer science and mathematics learning. We document these transformations accompanying idea formation and authorship to identify three essential findings: 1) Translanguaging provides a pedagogical tool for epistemic generativity, 2) Idea-crafting and pedagogical modeling, and 3) The concept of self-pedagogy. Students use translanguaging, exercising epistemic agency to order their learning experience and providing opportunities to reposition themselves and others. In one learning sequence, Joaquin, a student co-facilitator, uses space-time marking to help manage/organize current activity with past experience. These links establish an episodic account of learning that is managed, organized, and referenced as part of a larger narrative. In doing so, he authors a model that provides a substantive connection to content for his peers. 

This study explores the relationship Latino/a students developed with Computer Science (CS) and Mathematics while experiencing the Advancing Out-of-School Learning in Mathematics and Engineering (AOLME) curriculum in an after-school setting. Guided by sociocultural perspectives, the authors employed a mixed methods research design to explore how AOLME affects Latino/a students’ knowledge and enjoyment of CS and Mathematics (CSM). Findings show that AOLME is a successful example of integrated CSM curriculum design for K-12 learners by balancing the individual and social classroom setting. Quantitative data analysis indicates that students had significant increases in their self-reported enjoyment and knowledge in CS and Mathematics as they engaged in AOLME. Qualitative data provide evidence that AOLME prepared students with the foundational knowledge, skills, and practices for future endeavors in STEM fields.