Socially engaged engineering provides for student learning of the design, analysis, and practices of engineering as well as the ways that engineering is situated in sociocultural contexts. This paper provides a conceptual framework regarding socially engaged engineering for K-8 educators, researchers, and curriculum designers. The framework…

Critical thinking is an essential skill for learners and teachers alike. Therefore, it is essential that educators be given practical strategies for improving their critical thinking skills as well as methods to effectively provide critical thinking skills to their students. The "Handbook of Research on Critical Thinking and Teacher Education…

"Approaches and Strategies in Next Generation Science Learning" examines the challenges involved in the development of modern curriculum models, teaching strategies, and assessments in science education in order to prepare future students in the 21st century economies. This comprehensive collection of research brings together science educators,…

Discussed are applications of robotics in the chemistry laboratory. Highlighted are issues of precision, accuracy, and system integration. Emphasized are the potential benefits of the use of robots to automate laboratory procedures. (CW)

Argues that universities are failing to prepare students for responsible citizenship in a world being rapidly changed by biotechnology. Calls for bringing together biology and the social sciences in more core courses. (TW)

This book is a collection of essays about science-technology-society (STS) education for school science that examines new challenges and new questions in the domain of STS education. The book does not employ a purely academic approach found in science studies, yet almost every chapter shows some reflection on the historical, philosophical, or…

In 1970, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) radically revised its curriculum by replacing specific course distributions with a new program, emphasizing projects at various levels. In instituting this change, faculty were especially concerned to encourage engineering, science, and management students to recognize how their professional work…

Investigated was the nature of science-technology-society (STS) education as perceived by science teachers. Reports that teachers indicated weaknesses of current STS education and wanted more workshops and curriculum materials. Provides recommendations to educational practitioners based on the findings. (YP)

Discussed is the issue of the appropriateness of applied science approaches to evaluation in environmental education. The relationships between characteristics of applied science approaches to evaluation and the special characteristics of environmental education are explored. (Author/YP)

The purpose of this study was to determine the socio-cultural factors which mitigate against the learning and teaching of science in the secondary school. It was found that authoritarianism, goal structure, the African world-view, societal expectation, and sacredness of science have significant effects on the learning of science. (CW)

Described is the evaluation of an inservice course on biotechnology. Evaluated were the influence that the course had on teacher knowledge, use of practical work, problem solving investigations and theoretical aspects of biotechnology. A practical model of inservice evaluation is provided. (Author/CW)

Many claims that the standard Science, Technology, and Society (STS) movement has generally neglected one aspect of scientific and quantitative literacy: the evaluation of expert disagreements on technical matters. Described are the limitations of the standard approach, elements of an alternative approach, and examples of the alternative approach.…

Discussed is the value of integrating the study of technology and society. Topics include political theory of spontaneous social orders, paradoxical nature of the theory in historical and in contemporary contexts, uses of spontaneous order theory with feedback technologies, and the comparison of feedback technology with two different spontaneous…

The purpose of this study was to identify interest patterns related to high school biology. Eight task dimensions were established before testing. Findings include: the highest interest was in human biology topics and students whose parents' employment was science related showed higher interest in biology. (CW)

Introduced is a notation to map out an experiment as an active process in a real-world environment and display the human aspect written out of most narratives. Comparing maps of accounts can show how knowledge-construction depends on narrative reconstruction. Emphasized are nonverbal and procedural aspects of discovery and invention. (KR)