This paper is a response to Hoban and Neilsen's (2010) Five Rs model for understanding how learners engage with slowmation. An alternative model (the Learning MMAEPER Model) that builds on the 5Rs model is explained in terms of its use in secondary science preservice teacher education. To probe into the surface and deep learning that can occur…

Three and a half centuries ago, a five-year experiment was conducted involving the growth of a willow tree in a pot which received only water. The conclusion, that a tree is therefore made solely from water, was not so ridiculous when there was still general acceptance of the Aristotelian view of only four "elements": water, earth, fire and air.…

The author makes a case for fieldwork as having a strong capacity for increasing both science and nonscience majors' abilities to learn complex concepts, with the added benefit of actively engaging minority and female students in science.

Eric Ribbens is a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Western Illinois University in Macomb, Illinois. In this piece, he writes of his observations about the first day of school. After the summer quiet is replaced with noise, motion, smells, and anticipation, students shuffle through the halls again, and all over the building…

While circulating the room during a classroom activity where preservice teachers are required to teach a mini-lesson to their classmates, Jane Metty's ear was drawn to one particular group where a student asked, "What color is blood?"--and heard the student teacher confidently answer, "Blue." She then began to wonder where…

In this article, the author reflects on chemistry teaching in the next century. He questions--Was anything he taught in his fundamental chemistry course of value? And, how will our current understanding of the molecular world change during his students' lifetimes? It reminded him of a pseudo-quote he remembered from his own university…

The online writing software Calibrated Peer Review (CPR) is a useful tool for assigning writing assignments in large college classes. In this system, students submit essays online and are guided in how to rate essays using criteria written by the instructor. The instructor does not have to grade the essays, and CPR has educational benefits that…

"Think outside the box" is a very common phrase, routinely used to convey the idea of finding creative and unconventional solutions to problems. Although widely used as a cliche in the business world, this phrase is significantly applicable to people who do science for a living, because scientists are constantly developing and testing new ideas.…

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…

Within the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education community there are repeated calls for the reform of undergraduate teaching. Resulting change efforts often focus on developing and disseminating specific instructional ideas and practices to individual faculty. However, in this paper, the authors argue that these efforts…

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…

We've all gotten them--the student emails that make you question your decision to get into this profession. The title of this column says it all. If we want students to meet our expectations, we must give them instruction on what we expect. Technology should be used to help us meet our academic goals, not just to cater to students' love of…