Children are often denied science education that engages their emotions and multiple identities. This study focused on ways in which embodied arts-based experiences offer opportunities for such engagement in pedagogical efforts associated with justice-centered science. The conceptual framework that informed the study considers the body as a site…

In this qualitative case study, we purposively selected a passive student in elementary science class from a small group and examined what factors contributed to her socially and momentarily construction of epistemic emotions. We used various data such as emotion diaries, transcripts of the video recordings, postlesson interviews, and field notes…

Students' perceptions of competence and relatedness are known to influence learning processes and achievement, and may have particular import for underrepresented science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learners. Sources of social support that contribute to undergraduate life science learners' perceived competence and relatedness…

Research on science teacher cognition is important as findings from this research can be used to improve teacher training, leading to improved classroom practice. Previous research has often relied on two underlying assumptions: Cognition is an individual process, and these processes are detailed and introspective. In this paper, we put forth a…

The science education field readily recognizes that perceptions about science's claims and nature influence socioscientific decision making. However, sociocultural factors may overshadow these perceptions when people are forced to make personally impacting choices contextualized within actual socioscientific issues. This investigation…

This research investigates the interconnectedness of scientific inquiring at the early childhood level, as we explore the discourse-in-interaction processes occurring within small inquiry groups of 5- and 6-year-old children. The rationale behind this research is to explore the nature of science-related discourse, and to that end, this work…

The purpose of this study was to investigate how situational interest of high school students was triggered during a field trip to an aquarium. Although the role of museums in stimulating interest among students has been acknowledged for some time, empirical evidence about how the specific variable of a museum setting might trigger situational…

In this paper, we examine the interactional ways that families make meaning from biological exhibits during a visit to an interactive science center. To understand the museum visits from the perspectives of the families, we use ethnographic and discourse analytic methods, including pre- and postvisit interviews, videotaped observations of the…

Investigates the role of the nature of science in decision making on science- and technology-based issues. Delineates factors and reasoning associated with types of decisions. Compares decision influence factors and decision-making strategies. Indicates that participants based their decisions primarily on personal values, morals/ethics, and social…

Extends the understanding of group work in the science classroom to include sociological construct of status (defined here as a student's perceived academic ability and popularity) to explain inequitable participation by group members and to identify strategies that promote reasoned consideration of all ideas within a group. (Author/CCM)

Reports on a study designed to investigate possible patterned differences in the content of science textbooks and its functional/dysfunctional role in socialization for scientific careers. Discusses instrument development and rationale and presents results comparing use of textbooks in middle-class and working class districts. (ML)

This is the second article of a four part series of a study of Canadian high-school graduates' views on science-technology-society topics. It reports student perceptions of the interaction of science technology and society. Science and technology were viewed as a unified enterprise and their roles were indistinguishable. (ML)

This research examined 9- to 15-year-old children's understandings about basic genetics concepts and how they integrated those understandings with their broader theories of biology. A cross-sectional case study method was used to explore the students' (n = 90) understandings of basic inheritance and molecular genetics concepts such as gene and…

As the third in a four-part series on issues related to science-technology-society (STS), this article discusses Canadian high school graduates' viewpoints on the characteristics and limitations of scientific knowledge. Responses indicated students harbored diverse and contradictory beliefs about scientific knowledge. (ML)