It is generally considered that students who want to become scientists engage in scientific practices as university students, particularly when pursuing postgraduate studies. However, schools and teachers can help students participate in authentic scientific and disciplinary practices, such as data sampling and analysis, in high school. The…

Our study traces the pernicious whiteness of coloniality in elementary science classrooms in El Sur de Tejas, Aztlán. Our research method was an ethnographic case study that enabled us to explore participants' identities within bioregional contexts. In our findings, we emphasize the pernicious whiteness of coloniality via the participants'…

In this paper, we present a simulation of artificial selection of maize that can be used as a bridging case for the subsequent introduction of natural selection in school. The proposed simulation takes up essential biological elements but also has a cultural meaning for the inhabitants of some regions of Latin America. After implementing a test of…

This article intervenes in the persistent hierarchy of epistemological worth that produces scientific knowledge as meaningful, and knowledge from arts or humanities as marginal, or illustrative. The specific trans-disciplinary project we discuss brings together environmental social sciences with performance-based Forum Theatre methods to explore…

Contributions from and innovation in science and technology over many decades have resulted in dramatic improvements to American lives, including enhanced living standards and life expectancy, better access to information and connectivity across the globe, and increased access to and affordability of consumer goods. The analysis in this report is…

In an academic semester, living in social isolation and under restrictions of the pandemic, we organized weekly multidisciplinary seminars from a postgraduate course program in Curitiba, Southern Brazil, integrating students from different regions of Brazil and South America. Outstanding researchers from Brazil, Germany, France, Argentina, Mexico,…

We have designed and tested an exercise to detect misconceptions among students about meiosis, a fundamental concept in genetics. A total of 30 students responded to a questionnaire, all of whom were in the fifth semester of the Biology bachelor's degree program offered by the Faculty of Science of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Our…

Few developing countries participate in external educational evaluations. Information gaps on education quality make it imperative to expand such evaluations. Furthermore, international comparability across different evaluations should be improved. In addition, data from evaluations must be combined with data on access or coverage. Finally,…

The innovation process is founded on a high-quality education system at all levels, which trains scientists and technologists capable of generating innovations. Education is the most decisive factor in human development, yet in Mexico current statistics reveal a critical situation at every educational level, as only 1 out of every 10 children…

Problems associated with the environment loom large over the future well-being of young generations. A previous issue of PISA in Focus (PISA in Focus 87) shows that in 2015 many 15-year-old students believed that the future -- their future -- was going to be worse, environmentally, than the present. In particular, only a minority of students…

In this paper we present some thoughts on the epistemological framework of comparative studies in education. We present some concepts on the internationalization, globalization and inter-relation networks, based on Jürgen Schriewer, Immanuel Wallerstein, and Norbert Elias's theoretical concepts. These reflections were built within the framework of…

The graphic organizer called here heuristic diagram as an improvement of Gowin's Vee heuristic is proposed as a tool to teach history of science. Heuristic diagrams have the purpose of helping students (or teachers, or researchers) to understand their own research considering that asks and problem-solving are central to scientific activity. The…

To ensure equal access to high quality education, the global expansion of universal basic education has included accountability measures in the form of academic tests. Presently the majority of countries participate in national testing; however, the past two decades have seen a substantial shift in test characteristics and aims. This article…

It is argued that the lack of consensus on what constitutes an inquiry-based approach makes the generalization about it difficult, because the concept is relatively unspecific and vague. This problem can partially be solved by constructing a set of activities promoted by inquiry, thus defining the inquiry objectives for classroom and laboratory…

This article starts with an overview of the sociolinguistic situation in Latin America as a context for language policy and planning (LPP) decisions in the academic field. Then it gives a brief overview of the language policy challenges faced by universities to cope with neoliberal internationalisation. A conceptualisation of the domain as a…