For those who must import oil to maintain their economies and quality of life, any disruption in the delivery of imported oil is a highly threatening prospect. How would U.S. policymakers react to such a threat in the contemporary era? We examine the potential policymaking roles and impacts of bureaucratic actors operating at the intersection of…

Political science students learn the fundamental principles and values about the American political system from American government/politics textbooks. Most of the major textbooks used in these courses utilize the traditional institutional and behavioral approaches to the study of American government and politics, which examines institutions and…

Simulations in political science and pre-law courses are used as a tool for student engagement and classroom interaction and to get students interested in politics and law by engaging them in either the political or legal process. Much of the literature addresses how to conduct various simulations for particular classes, what the students learned…

One of the most important skills students can learn is how to use multiple, conflicting sources of information to formulate and defend positions on political issues. However, when we assign students to do this, all instructors see is the final product. Not knowing the process by which students do these assignments makes it difficult to help them…

This particular study is part of a research programme on the difficulties encountered by students when learning about wave phenomena in a three-dimensional medium in the absence or presence of obstacles. It focuses on how students reason in situations in which wave optics need to be used: diffraction of light by an aperture, imaging in the…

Undergraduate students pursuing a three-year marine biology degree programme (n = 86) experienced a large-group drama aimed at allowing them to explore how scientific research is funded and the associated links between science and society. In the drama, Year 1 students played the "general public" who decided which environmental research areas…

Current approaches to science-technology-society (STS) education focus primarily on the controversial socio-scientific issues that arise from the application of science in modern technology. This paper argues for an interdisciplinary approach to STS education that embraces science, technology, history, and social and cultural studies. By employing…

This study examines the relationship between the learning motivation and conceptual change of 127 eighth graders, after they have learned the acid, base, and salt concept in a digital learning context, designed according to the dual-situated learning model (DSLM). Two instruments--the students' motivation towards science learning (SMTSL)…

We conducted a series of experiments to investigate the extent to which prompting the construction of a force diagram affects student solutions to simple mechanics problems. A total of 891 university introductory physics students were given typical force and motion problems under one of the two conditions: when a force diagram was or was not…

Scientific literacy as a goal of a science education reform remains an important discourse in the research literature and is a key component of students' understanding and acceptance of emergent technologies like nanotechnology. This manuscript focuses on undergraduate engineering students' perceptions of the risks and benefits posed by…

In the context of educational soundness, a case is made for distinguishing between two overlapping concepts: academic science and relevant science. In the context of political reality, a case is made for a science educator to hone strategies that co-opt, circumvent, or marginalize political adversaries before they do the same to you.

The current political and social backdrop in China that is characterized by rapid educational reforms to the K-12 education system, rapid growth in the number of science museum institutions, and Central Government policy which encourages collaboration between museums and school has the potential to be fertile ground for meaningful engagement…

We examine the research conducted by Kang, Anderson and Wu by discussing it in a larger context of science museum-school partnerships. We review how the disconnect that exists between stakeholders, the historical and cultural contexts in which formal and informal institutions are situated, and ideas of globalization, mediate the success for…

In this study we investigate how 5-year-old children in Brazil and their teachers collectively design science curriculum. More specifically, we develop an agency|structure dialectic as a framework to describe this collective praxis in which science curriculum may emerge as the result of children-teacher transactions rather than as a result of…

This article explores aspects of science and mathematics faculty identities and biographies that mediated their involvement in K-12 service. Faculty expressed five motivations for participating in K-12 service--advancing their research agenda, advocating environmental consciousness, desiring to be involved in their children's schools, aspiring to…