Many authors blame postmodernism and studies on Sociology and Anthropology of Science (Science Studies) for the rise of relativism and anti-science movements. Despite such criticism, Science Studies have always been concerned with the construction of the "common world" (a shared reality), while the anti-science movement goes in the…

In 1900, three botanists claimed they had found regularities in inheritance, which soon would be known as Mendel's Laws, without knowing the work of Gregor Mendel or of each other. Their claims of independent (re)discovery have been thoroughly studied during the past decades, with various outcomes. The case is still of interest today as it offers…

This paper discusses the emergence of science education in the seventeenth century with the influences of Joseph Priestley on the Dissenting Academies. Primarily, this paper analyses Priestley's ideas from some of his letters to scientists during his time and his ideas from his books "Miscellaneous Observations Relating to Education"…

Citizen science (CS) projects have become widespread in part because they expand the capacity of professional scientists, enabling research that would otherwise be impracticable or unaffordable. In addition to the research benefits, educators and scientists have seen educational value in CS because it can incorporate students into real-world…

Computation is intertwined with essentially all aspects of physics research and is invaluable for physicists' careers. Despite its disciplinary importance, integration of computation into physics education remains a challenge and, moreover, has tended to be constructed narrowly as a route to solving physics problems. Here, we broaden Physics…

Despite decades of research into the gender disparity in physics education and physics practice, the underrepresentation of women in physics persists today. In physics education research, this gender disparity has been constructed as problematic, and numerous approaches from a variety of perspectives have been taken to both research and address…

There is an urgent need to strengthen undergraduate science students' epistemic knowledge, which requires having the scientists "qua" teachers on board. The divide between scientists' perceptions of science and the perceptions held by those who study science is in this context problematic. Even so, this remains a sorely understudied…

In the twenty-first century, the rise and support of fascism-related views threaten freedom of speech, freedom of sexual orientation, religious tolerance and progressive agendas that advocate equity. We argue that mainstream science education generally does not, but should, educate students against fascism-related views--such as racism, sexism,…

David Galenson's bifurcation of creative types is well-founded across several strata of the traditional fine arts. According to Galenson, experimental innovators outwardly express their creativity at a later age after long periods of development. I reason that many of the students in undergraduate classrooms are experimental innovators, since…

In the early 1960s, the Ford Foundation funded numerous projects in Turkey, primarily concerning science education and science policy. Related to the post-Sputnik debates on "scientific manpower needs," and modernisation theory's emphasis on "industrialising elites" in the developing world, these projects were the products of…

In this paper the author looks at the letters of two renowned women mathematicians and scientists of the Victorian period, Mary Somerville and Ada Lovelace, while also considering the imperceptibility of Sophie Germain, an important French mathematician and philosopher in their epistolary exchanges and philosophical writings. Drawing on the…

As a member of the team that created elements 104 and 105 at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, James Andrew Harris [1932-2000] was the first African American credited in the discovery of an element. This factoid has been posted on social media, used in a quiz game, and repeated on numerous Web sites. The story (if any context is offered at all) is…

School psychology contributes to the science of human behavior and utilizes this science to inform an evidence-based practice. The usefulness of this science is dependent on scientists making good faith efforts to minimize bias in their research. Nonetheless, implicit biases can still influence scientists' decisions and, hence, the outcomes of…

Teaching false theories goes against the general pedagogical and philosophical belief that we must only teach and learn what is true. In general, the goal of pedagogy is taken to be epistemic: to gain knowledge and avoid ignorance. In this article, I argue that for realists and antirealists alike, epistemological and pedagogical goals have to come…

The purpose of this paper is to discuss ways that a chemistry course could reposition itself by adopting interdisciplinary approaches based on systems thinking and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as overarching frameworks, to give an overview of several challenges that chemistry in higher education is facing, and to discuss how those can…