Educational campaigns are more complicated when members of our audiences hold scientific misconceptions related to new technologies. Our prairie strips research and education team produced a brief, focused video aimed to dispel a misconception related to the effect of prairie strip plants' roots on agricultural drain tiles in the Midwest. Our…

Although spatial reasoning and penetrative thinking skills are essential for many disciplines, these concepts are difficult for students to comprehend. In microscopy, traditional educational materials (i.e., photographs) are static. Conversely, video-based training methods convey dimensionality. We implemented a real-time digital video imaging…

The research reported here investigates the efficacy of a module in an Advanced Certificate in Education course in promoting conceptual understanding in Astronomy. The research attempted to find out how teachers' understanding of astronomy concepts and processes change after completing this module as well as the reasons for such changes, if any.…

The nature of energy is not typically an explicit topic of physics instruction. Nonetheless, verbal and graphical representations of energy articulate models in which energy is conceptualized as a quasimaterial substance, a stimulus, or a vertical location. We argue that a substance ontology for energy is particularly productive in developing…

The Energy Project at Seattle Pacific University has developed representations that embody the substance metaphor and support learners in conserving and tracking energy as it flows from object to object and changes form. Such representations enable detailed modeling of energy dynamics in complex physical processes. We assess student learning by…

Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), since its inception as teacher-specific professional knowledge, has been researched extensively. Drawing on a wide range of literature, this paper seeks to clarify how the potential offered by PCK could be utilised to further develop science teacher education. An analysis of PCK models proposed by various…

This article reviews an important but neglected area of the science curriculum: connections with work and the workplace. The first section offers some historical background, arguing that economic and practical relevance has from the beginning been an important theme within science education. The article then undertakes a broader exploration of the…

This paper provides a reply to Woodman's (2009) recent argument that youth studies often incorrectly attribute the concept of "choice biographies" to the work of Ulrich Beck. Drawing heavily on Beck's own words, this paper contends that youth researchers might not be making this association unduly. Consideration is paid to some conceptual issues…

This article provides a citation analysis of Lave and Wenger's work on "communities of practice" and "situated learning" over the period 1991-2001. The data relate to educational research in the UK, although comparisons are made with the USA. The findings indicate that although the text was incorporated and heavily used within…

This paper sets out to provide an overview of scientific literacy specifically related to whether emphasis is placed on the "science" or the "literacy" aspect, accepting that literacy, wherever used, is wider than simply reading and writing. It does this from a general rather than a country perspective. The emphasis in giving meaning to scientific…

"Theoretical Foundations of Learning Environments" provides students, faculty, and instructional designers with a clear, concise introduction to the major pedagogical and psychological theories and their implications for the design of new learning environments for schools, universities, or corporations. Leading experts describe the most…

The family as a basic social unit needs strategic support and strength to carry its weight, relative to other social institutions. This article focuses on why it is important to help people learn to be in a family and presents the construct of becoming family literate (different from family literacy). This learning is a legitimate platform from…

This article probes how philosophical structures are immanent in empirical work and how philosophy might be understood when it is within the precincts of science. My interest is in both opening philosophy to disruption by a science that knows itself as inside history and opening science to the costs of its inability to tolerate the necessary lack…

This collection of 58 articles from the recently-published third edition of the International Encyclopedia of Education focuses on learning, memory, attention, problem solving, concept formation, and language. Learning and cognition is the foundation of cognitive psychology and encompasses many topics including attention, memory, categorization,…

The newly updated "Content-Based Curriculum for High-Ability Learners" provides a solid introduction to curriculum development in gifted and talented education. Written by experts in the field of gifted education, this text uses cutting-edge design techniques and aligns the core content with national and state standards. In addition to a revision…