Informal science education is a broad field of research marked by fuzzy boundaries, tensions, and muddles among many disciplines, making for an unclear future trajectory (or trajectories) for the field of study. In this commentary, I unpack some of the hidden dimensions, tensions and challenges the five articles raise or point to implicitly in…

In this commentary, the author first examines how culture is being used in the articles in this special issue, points to the venerable histories being deployed in these usages, and explores a sense of what could be in the sociocultural and cultural analysis of science education for each article. His review of these articles led to a trope, a…

This article provides commentary on the five articles in this issue on large-scale interventions in science education for diverse student groups in varied educational settings. Using these articles as a point of departure, I discuss three challenges to science education research and practice. The first concerns the changed meaning of science…

In the wake of an increasing political commitment to evidence-based decision making and evidence-based educational reform that emerged with the No Child Left Behind effort, the question of what counts as evidence has become increasingly important in the field of science education. In current public discussions, academics, politicians, and other…

The globalized nature of modern society has generated a number of pressures that impact internationally on countries' policies and practices of science education. Among these pressures are key issues of health and environment confronting global science, global economic control through multi-national capitalism, comparative and competitive…

Biology instructors from middle school to university level recognize that natural selection is an essential topic in the curriculum. Numerous studies have shown the prevalence of many alternative conceptions about evolution that persist despite instruction in student populations all over the world. Having valid, reliable and easily used…

The development of rich, reliable, and robust measures of the composition, structure, and stability of student thinking about core scientific ideas (such as natural selection) remains a complex challenge facing science educators. In their recent article (Nehm & Schonfeld 2008), the authors explored the strengths, weaknesses, and insights provided…

Pre-service teachers face many challenges as they learn to teach in ways that are different from their own educational experiences. Pre-service teachers often enter teacher education courses with pre-conceptions about teaching and learning that may or may not be consistent with contemporary learning theory. To build on preservice teachers' prior…

Like Lemke ("J Res Sci Teach" 38:296-316, 2001), I believe that science education has not looked enough at the impact of the changing theoretical and global landscape by which it is produced and shaped. Lemke makes a sound argument for science education to look beyond its own discourses toward those like cultural studies and politics, and to which…

In this article, the author gives a general introduction of a few ideas on cognitive development in children. In the first part, he deals with the topic of development, a process which concerns the totality of the structures of knowledge. He reviews the stages of development of operational structures, distinguishes four main stages of development,…

In your interactions with secondary school students learning science, you have probably become aware of large differences in student ability to understand science concepts, conduct investigations, and/or solve specific problems. Some students are extremely capable, while others demonstrate peculiar and inappropriate reasoning strategies.…

Discusses methodological concerns raised by Kesidou and Roseman (2002) regarding textbook evaluations and the training of rating teams. (Contains 16 references.) (Author/YDS)

Responds to the comments of Holliday on the analysis of middle school science textbooks with regard to the methods used in the evaluation of curriculum materials. (Contains 22 references.) (Author/YDS)

Discusses student resistance to classroom participation and immersion based on personal experience and suggests an alternative approach for discourse and inquiry. (YDS)

Discusses resistance in teaching from two perspectives as strategies of action associated with science activities that are not aligned with learning, and the labeling and responses of teachers to student behaviors. Focuses on cultural miscues and resources effective in the classroom environment. (Author/YDS)