Many science fiction conventions host interactive sessions and activities related to science fiction, fantasy, and popular culture media for the public. Specialized sessions known as "science tracks" are spaces where science professionals and conference attendees discuss and question the science embedded within science fiction fandoms.…

Authors of fiction need not provide accurate accounts of the world, which might generate concern about the kinds of information people can acquire from narratives. Research has demonstrated that readers liberally encode and rely upon the information provided in fictional stories. To date, materials used to demonstrate these effects have largely…

This study explored the value of using a "guided rubric" to enable students participating in a massive open online course in writing to produce more reliable assessments of their fellow students' writing. To test the assumption that training students to assess will improve their ability to provide quality feedback, a multivariate…

High sensation seekers (HSS) prefer messages that allow them to maintain an optimal level of arousal (i.e., highly arousing messages). Transportation theory suggests that narrative immersion in a story may moderate reader arousal, and thus HSS message selection. To test this idea, a survey was administered to 120 fourth and fifth graders. In…

This research examined readers' knowledge of popular genres. Participants wrote short essays on fantasy, science fiction, or romance. The similarities among the essays were measured using latent semantic analysis (LSA) and were then analyzed using multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis. The clusters and scales were interpreted by searching…

In this paper we explore students' engagement in a new media enhanced problem-based learning (PBL) environment and investigate the characteristics of these environments that facilitate learning. We investigated both student experiences using a new media enhanced PBL environment and the specific elements students found most supportive of their…

The "Star Wars" trilogy is a fairy tale projected into the future which exemplifies in a clear-cut manner many of the archetypes of Jungian psychology. These films are modern retellings of ancient myths. Carl Jung has described myths as "fundamental expressions of human nature." In the films, fairy tale motifs such as typical…

Science fiction and fantasy play an important role in shaping the future while stimulating readers' imaginations. They expand our consciousness and provide living images of the world of creation, not as it is or was, but as it has the potential of becoming. Any literature, art form, or medium of expression which is capable of affecting the…

Library literature is replete with articles envisioning libraries in the year 2000 and beyond, yet the librarian is rarely discussed. There is recent evidence that the traditional stereotype image of the librarian is changing. The purpose of this study is to examine the image of librarians in science fiction and fantasy novels and video tapes.…

Using ethnographic observations of 30 children in a multicultural inner-city fifth grade class over a period of one year, a study examined the children's classroom interactions with the literary genres of science fiction and fantasy, investigating their sequential acquisition of the constitutive elements of the two genres as well as their…