In this work, we introduce the VR[superscript 2]E[superscript 2]C system for Virtual Reality Remote Education for Experimental Chemistry. It aims to increase scientific literacy about remote education of theoretical and experimental chemistry among the public and high school students. It provides a laboratory option for students with disabilities…

In the complex world of educational policy, causal inferences will be debated. As we review non-experimental designs in educational policy, we focus on how to clarify and focus the terms of debate. We begin by presenting the potential outcomes/counterfactual framework and then describe approximations to the counterfactual generated from the…

Given the increasing popularity of the science-fiction genre, its capacity for worldbuilding and its long-durée vision, coupled with both the difficulty of discussing issues of migration in today's world as something more than a problem of the present and the necessity to go beyond this presentism, the author argues that science-fiction films…

While lab accidents that involved personal injuries or significant property damage are required to be reported by law, many minor lab incidents or near misses are less frequently reported, especially in an academic research environment. However, public awareness of these stories and incidents create valuable learning opportunities and can prevent…

Dr. Elfreda Chatman was a professor of library and information science at the University of North Carolina and Florida State University in the 1990s and early 2000s until her passing in 2002. Her research incorporated the disciplines of education, sociology, and LIS, covering topics at the nexus of these fields, from which she worked to develop a…

For a long time, Soviet students learned 'pure' mathematics in their mathematics classrooms, while applications of mathematics were introduced in their science (mainly physics) classrooms. This approach was a part of a uniform and rigid national curriculum. Even when in the 1990s the world was moving towards including applications in school…

The future viability of the geosciences is challenged, since as a community we continue to lack demographic diversity representative of the wider population. Fundamentally, dominant cultural, historical, and socioeconomic factors contribute to the lack of diversity and those factors typically change slowly over generations. Proposals for more…

Designing a science activity for middle school children is a challenging task, especially if it aims to be interdisciplinary. One may ask if it is possible to craft a positive learning experience from different areas such as history of science, chemistry, or ethics. In this paper, we argue it can be achieved if we use the right tools to engage a…

Indigenous students are underrepresented in science, and the exclusion of Indigenous knowledge from Western education may be a contributor. Recently, Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers have called for a better integration of Indigenous knowledge systems into Western science. One suggestion from the literature is to integrate Traditional…

The redesign of the first year basic chemistry course is described at the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences Chemical Engineer educational course. This was done with the aim to reduce student drop-out during the first year of the educational program. On one hand, it was chosen to teach the basic chemistry course in the laboratory where…

Redox reactions and their balancing are one of the basic chemistry subjects in which students may experience remarkable learning difficulties at the beginning of their university career. This topic represents an evolution of stoichiometry concepts related to the balancing of chemical reactions and can be taught with different approaches as a…

Raman spectroscopy is an important vibrational spectroscopy tool to characterize chemical compounds. As only a few photons undergo Raman scattering, enhancement of signal is a vital requirement. In this laboratory experiment, some practical aspects of Raman spectroscopy and how a simple enhancement procedure can be used to detect a Raman signal…

After reviewing the main discussions on scientific explanation in the literature, this paper outlines a particular approach to explanations based on sociocultural analysis. The aim is to provide a base for discussing explanations as cultural tools in science education. Drawing on studies of collective remembering, this paper focuses on parallels…

There is broad agreement in the literature (e.g. Furtak et al., 2012; Harlen and Qualter, 2018) that the purpose of primary science is for children to develop: (1) scientific skills; (2) knowledge and understanding of some scientific concepts; (3) positive attitudes to science; an understanding of the nature of science; and (4) an appreciation of…

Research has shown that the use of practical examples in undergraduate education promotes the retention of historically underrepresented students in STEM majors and lowers achievement gaps within courses. Since many students of color and women aspire toward careers in healthcare and the pharmaceutical industry, efforts to incorporate medicinal…