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Will the world effectively meet the climate change challenge over coming decades? The answer to that question depends not just on today's 6 billion adults but also on today's 2 [...]

History of science provides access to a reservoir of meaningful experiments that can be studied and reproduced in classrooms. This is the case of Joule's paddle-wheel experiment which displays the potentiality to help students improve their understanding of the concept of energy. This experiment has been mentioned in many physics textbooks during the twentieth century. Recently, it has received renewed attention by several researchers in science education. However, the accounts of Joule's experiment proposed by these researchers are at variance with each other: either in terms of equivalences, in terms of energy change, or in terms of energy transformation and Rankine's definition. This raises several questions: What is their respective contribution to the understanding of the historical emergence of the energy concept, and to the understanding of the very meaning of this concept? Are these accounts concurrent? Eventually, how can they help for the teaching energy? To investigate these questions, historical details concerning this experiment are first considered. It is stressed that Joule did not made use of the concept of energy, and instead described his experiment in terms of conversion of living force into heat. The three accounts of Joule's experiment are then presented and their respective contribution discussed. By emphasizing different aspects of this experiment, they are shown to suggest different strategies for teaching energy. For all that, they are not contradictory and, considered together, they bring to light the great potential of Joule's experiment to foster students understanding of this concept., Author(s): Manuel Bächtold [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.440910.8, 0000 0001 2196 152X, LIRDEF, University of Montpellier and University Paul Valéry of Montpellier, , Montpellier, France Introduction History of science provides [...]

Many of today's jobs are destined to be eliminated or replaced in the coming decades as rapid technological progress drives business, schools, governments, and society to adapt. Duke University professor [...]

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2010.01478.x Byline: YAEL WYNER (*), ROB DESALLE ([dagger]) Keywords: conservation biology; ecology education; education; environmental education; high school; secondary school Abstract: Abstract: The influence of conservation biology can be enhanced greatly if it reaches beyond undergraduate biology to students at the middle and high school levels. If a conservation perspective were taught in secondary schools, students who are not interested in biology could be influenced to pursue careers or live lifestyles that would reduce the negative impact of humans on the world. We use what we call the ecology-disrupted approach to transform the topics of conservation biology research into environmental-issue and ecology topics, the major themes of secondary school courses in environmental science. In this model, students learn about the importance and complexity of normal ecological processes by studying what goes wrong when people disrupt them (environmental issues). Many studies published in Conservation Biology are related in some way to the ecological principles being taught in secondary schools. Describing research in conservation biology in the language of ecology curricula in secondary schools can help bring these science stories to the classroom and give them a context in which they can be understood by students. Without this context in the curriculum, a science story can devolve into just another environmental issue that has no immediate effect on the daily lives of students. Nevertheless, if the research is placed in the context of larger ecological processes that are being taught, students can gain a better understanding of ecology and a better understanding of their effect on the world. Abstract (Spanish): Introduccion de la Perspectiva de la Biologia de la Conservacion a las Aulas de Escuelas Secundarias Resumen: La influencia de la biologia de la conservacion puede ser mejorada significativamente si alcanza mas alla de estudiantes universitarios de biologia y llega a los niveles de escuela secundaria y preparatoria. Si se ensenara una perspectiva de conservacion en las escuelas secundarias, los estudiantes que no estan interesados en la biologia podrian ser influenciados a estudiar carreras o adoptar formas de vida que pudieran reducir el impacto negativo de los humanos en el mundo. Utilizamos lo que denominamos el metodo de ecologia-perturbacion para transformar los temas de investigacion en biologia de la conservacion en topicos ambientales y ecologicos, los temas principales en los cursos de ciencia ambiental en las escuelas secundarias. En este modelo, los estudiantes aprenden la importancia y complejidad de los procesos ecologicos normales estudiando lo que pasa cuando la gente los perturba (temas ambientales). Muchos estudios publicados en Conservation Biology estan relacionados de alguna manera con los principios ecologicos que se ensenan en las escuelas secundarias. La descripcion de la investigacion en biologia de la conservacion en el lenguaje de los programas de ecologia de las escuelas secundarias puede ayudar a trasladar estas historias cientificas al aula y darles un contexto en el que pueden ser entendidas por los estudiantes. Sin este contexto en el plan de estudios, una historia cientifica puede recaer en solo otro tema ambiental que no tiene efecto inmediato sobre la vida diaria de los estudiantes. Sin embargo, si la investigacion es colocada en el contexto de procesos ecologicos mayores que son ensenados, los estudiantes pueden obtener un mejor entendimiento de la ecologia y una mejor comprension de su efecto en el mundo. Author Affiliation: (*)Secondary Education, City College of New York, 160 Convent Avenue, New York, NY 10031, emailywyner@ccny.cuny.edu ([dagger])Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West and 79th Street, New York, NY 10024-5192 Article History: Paper submitted February 18, 2009; revised manuscript accepted November 9, 2009.

Five foxes sit in a polite row, waiting. As shadows grow long and the sun sets into the endless expanse of the Pacific, the foxes inch closer to the picnic [...]

A survey of Florida teachers reveals many differences in comfort level with teaching evolution according to the state's science teaching standards, general attitudes and beliefs about evolution, and the extent to which teachers are criticized, censured, disparaged, or reprehended for their beliefs about the teaching of evolution. Key Words: Florida biology teachers; comfort with teaching evolution; evolution education., Before 2008, Florida's science teaching standards did not mention the word 'evolution' and only briefly alluded to it as 'change over time.' This was a large reason why those standards [...]

This paper examines where students prefer to find information, and then matches survey results with students' assignments. Surveys showed that half the surveyed students used library databases (e.g. ProQuest) as their first preference to locate scientific information; however, of these students, one third did not have any journal articles cited in their assignment. Furthermore, of those students with no journal articles cited in their reference list, 65% claimed to feel comfortable using library databases, against a figure of 100% who felt comfortable using Google Scholar. This indicates a mismatch between students' expressed preferences and their actual ability to locate, evaluate, and include refereed journal articles in their assignments. AARL September 2009 vo140 no 3pp159-167, INTRODUCTION Information literacy Being information literate forms an essential skill to attaining the graduate attribute of lifelong learning (1). Recently, information literacy has been stated separately as a graduate attribute [...]

Literacy--even narrowly construed as reading and writing--is central to learning science and mathematics, and teachers of science and mathematics can better teach their students if they understand literacy's role in [...]

Today's teachers, perhaps more than ever before, must prepare U.S. students for the global marketplace. To be effective in the 21st century, students must compete in an environment in which [...]

The strength of the evidence supporting evolution has increased markedly since the discovery of DNA but, paradoxically, public resistance to accepting evolution seems to have become stronger. A key dilemma is that science faculty have often continued to teach evolution ineffectively, even as the evidence that traditional ways of teaching are inferior has become stronger and stronger. Three pedagogical strategies that together can make a large difference in students' understanding and acceptance of evolution are extensive use of interactive engagement, a focus on critical thinking in science (especially on comparisons and explicit criteria) and using both of these in helping the students actively compare their initial conceptions (and publicly popular misconceptions) with more fully scientific conceptions. The conclusion that students' misconceptions must be dealt with systematically can be difficult for faculty who are teaching evolution since much of the students' resistance is framed in religious terms and one might be reluctant to address religious ideas in class. Applications to teaching evolution are illustrated with examples that address criteria and critical thinking, standard geology versus flood geology, evolutionary developmental biology versus organs of extreme perfection, and the importance of using humans as a central example. It is also helpful to bridge the false dichotomy, seen by many students, between atheistic evolution versus religious creationism. These applications are developed in detail and are intended to be sufficient to allow others to use these approaches in their teaching. Students and other faculty were quite supportive of these approaches as implemented in my classes.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficiency of promoting students' problem-solving abilities through multimedia in chemistry teaching. Two classes of undergraduates (n=85) took participation during the course of this study. The experimental group was taught with multimedia supplementary materials, which include descriptions of conceptual animations for solution process, activity series, and diluted solution. The control group was taught as usual, using a regular chemistry textbook. After three weeks of statistical procedure with the analysis of ANCOVA, it was found that the experimental group students outperformed their counterparts in the conceptual problem-solving ability, the results revealing that the students benefited from the development of chemical concepts. The results show that there are four advantages for this study: (1) The groups were similar in terms of chemistry achievement as assessed by the report of the pretest for the experimental group and control group, and there was no significant difference in the t-test. (2) The experimental group received significantly higher conceptual understanding scores on the posttest than the control group did. (3) An ANCOVA result of three conceptual tests and total posttest appeared that two groups made a significant difference on conceptual problem-solving ability, where F=18.348, P, INTRODUCTION Many researchers pointed out the potential benefits of integrating teaching into science, such as benefits of multimedia (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) and those of [...]

An important area for the application of instructional design principles and emerging technologies is the improvement of student learning outcomes in science. For instance, active learning strategies have been shown to be effective for improving science achievement. In addition, an integral component of several instructional design models is the consideration of student attitudes and motivation. The purpose of this study was to use data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study 1999 (TIMSS 1999) assessment to simultaneously examine the relationship between instructional practices, student beliefs, and life sciences achievement. A number of self-beliefs and instructional strategies were examined and variance estimation procedures for complex sampling designs were employed. Students included in these analyses were from the TIMSS 1999 International Sample (13-year-olds) from Japan. There were several significant findings from this study and these results identify significant relationships between classroom teaching practices and life sciences achievement. These results also extend previous findings by (1) simultaneously assessing the effects of instructional strategies and student beliefs, and (2) by examining a large national sample of students in a cross-cultural setting where high levels of science achievement have been noted., An important area for the application of instructional design principles and emerging technologies is the improvement of teaching and learning outcomes in science. For instance, high school students who designed [...]

I have just turned 60 and have decided to begin an exploration of the plant world. This is really an embarrassing thing to admit: that I've been a biologist for [...]

This short article provides a response to Nowotny and Wynne's commentary on an earlier article by the author that examined the relation between science and technology studies (STS) and science policy. The article offers a reply with respect to understanding the domain of science policy: how Nowotny and Wynne seek to broaden the scope and so critical leverage of STS beyond the 'policy room'; and the implications this has for the ways in which an STS/non-STS nexus might be configured in the future. Keywords: STS engagement; science policy; reflexivity

In 1996, the National Science Education Standards (National Research Council) called for a change in the teaching of science. The use of 'science as inquiry' during instruction received considerable attention [...]

Secondary school educators are told to teach more mathematics and science to our students to help them become more proficient in the two subjects. Coordination of mathematics and science teaching [...]

If you ask your children or grandchildren 'What do scientists do?' chances are they'll say scientists work in labs and wear white coats. And they could be forgiven for thinking [...]

Teaching is a moral and educational enterprise. Therefore, teachers are expected to explain and justify the instructional methods and designs they use in their teaching to demonstrate how they meet the moral and educational ends of the teaching enterprise. To justify the use of particular instructional methods and designs goes beyond giving a catalogue of reasons and explanations. It requires coming to grips with questions of whether the instructional methods, practices, and designs are consequential, valuable, and desirable to student learning. The purpose of this paper is to provide a methodology that teachers can use to justify the use of computer-based instructions, elements, and designs they intend to use in their teaching. We have justified the use of computer-based simulations in science teaching to illustrate the methodology. The methodology has implications for use of technology in teaching, teacher training, and curriculum design., Teaching is often described as an educational and moral enterprise, one directly concerned with right belief and right conduct (Fitzgibbons, 1981). And yet teachers hardly justify for using the teaching [...]

All of us are aware of urgent calls for new and energetic measures to enhance U.S. economic competitiveness by attracting more U.S. students to study science, mathematics, and engineering. In […]

Imagine cleaning old peanut butter off a plate without any soap. Washing your hair without shampoo (sham-poo). Getting dried mud off your favorite jeans without detergent (de-ter-gent). We use soap […]