Increasing the participation of students of African descent and other minoritized populations in the scientific workforce is imperative in generating a more equitable biomedical research infrastructure and increasing national research creativity and productivity. Undergraduate research training programs have shown to be essential tools in…

As the use of plastics expands, microplastic concentrations increase in aquatic environments and negatively impact water, soil, and animals inhabiting these areas. Microplastic research frequently incorporates citizen science to assist in data collection and environmental education. These projects provide opportunities for greater societal…

The iNaturalist application has been gaining traction in both biodiversity research and education. Increasingly more research is being carried out, looking into using the iNaturalist application in biology education, to promote biodiversity and educate students about this topic. We used the PRISMA systematic literature review method to examine…

In 2018, a research project funded by New Zealand's Teaching and Learning Research Initiative (TLRI) explored the impact of online citizen science (OCS) projects on the science education of primary school children in New Zealand. This article provides an in-depth case study from this project in order to share ways in which one teacher used OCS…

Knowledge is an essential part of the continuity of humanity. Access to science is through knowledge and vice versa. Children are mostly preoccupied with television, mainly with children's programs on television channels especially cartoons. Cartoons are produced in order to entertain children and to contribute to their development and maturation.…

To date, most studies of citizen science engagement focus on quantifiable measures related to the contribution of data or other output measures. Few studies have attempted to qualitatively characterize citizen science engagement across multiple projects and from the perspective of the participants. Building on pertinent literature and…

Purpose: Goal 4.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) explicitly frames education as an enabler of change and a means to achieve all SDGs. This study aims to explore the nature and culture of science as an academic discipline and its capacity for the integration of education for sustainable development (ESD). Design/methodology/approach:…

Being immersed in the processes of research can develop undergraduate students' science identities and support their persistence in pursuing science careers. However, it can be difficult for students to find opportunities for engaging in authentic scientific research. The professional staff and scientific objects in natural history museums provide…

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…

While a conception of science as value free has been dominant since Max Weber defended it in the nineteenth century, recent years have witnessed an emerging consensus that science is not -- and cannot be -- completely free of values. Which values may legitimately influence science, and in which ways, is currently a topic of heated debate in…

Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) has recently gained wider importance in the European Union (EU) as an emergent framework informing the governance of science. While a growing body of literature describing RRI and its main conceptual dimensions has appeared in the last seven years or so and in several policy documents, the European…

In this article, I detail my involvement in sociopolitical conversations as a science education researcher. I present two of the controversies in which I have been involved in recent years: Metal dust from the Port of Québec (Quebec, Canada) and the Maillé case (the case of a researcher who has to hand over to a private company her research data…

At a time when changes in standards and curriculum compound the pressures of fifth-grade state testing, the authors wanted to find an engaging way to involve students in authentic science and engineering. Rather than put their efforts into a traditional science fair that would inevitably lead to inequitable input by parents and students alike,…

Limited knowledge exists on participant outcomes relating to citizen science programs. Using the ClimateWatch: Scientist for a Day program as a case study, we sought to understand participant behaviors and attitudes post-program, and evaluated the program's post-engagement initiatives. Phone interviews were conducted with 15 former participants.…

The complexity of the world's current grand challenges demands interdisciplinary approaches. The education of future scientists must cross the silos of the traditional disciplines; however, there is still a strong reluctance to tear such walls down. Here, we describe an integrative chemical biology course focused on epigenetics that strives to…