The ever-changing needs of society justify the necessity for teachers to engage in continuous learning. Teachers are encouraged to participate in professional development activities that will help them develop the knowledge and skills that are required to meet the needs of a 21st century society.

The article provides a brief overview of the context that has led to the emergence of mixed methods research and examines current definitions for this research approach. It examines the philosophical framework for conducting mixed methods research and compares this with those for conducting quantitative and qualitative research. Finally, it presents different mixed methods design possibilities, and discusses some of the methodological implications of these designs, drawing on some of the research being conducted in the School of Education, University of the West Indies, Mona.

This paper reviews the initiative undertaken by the Faculty of Science and Technology at the University of the West Indies, Mona campus, to partner with secondary schools in hosting a series of one day workshops for students preparing to sit the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations. The initiative allowed grade 12 and 13 students to participate in activities in specific STEM disciplines.

This study investigated Grade 9 students’ attitudes towards science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and the extent to which their attitudes impacted on their academic achievement in Integrated Science. An adapted Students’ Attitudes Towards STEM instrument (Friday Institute for Educational Innovation, 2012) was piloted on 67 high school students in Jamaica and yielded a Cronbach alpha value of 0.821. It was then administered to 259 Grade 9 students from four high schools.