High school science teachers require increased skills in science research literacy, so that their students develop research competencies in the classroom (Evans, Warning, & Christodoulou, 2017; Udompong, Traiwichitkhun, & Wongwanich, 2014). For teachers to promote a scientific atmosphere, literature points to training that fosters…

This study investigated how the figured world of the RET, and other figured worlds of science that teacher's experience, impacted their conceptions around the nature of science and their identities in science and as science teachers. The main premise behind RET programs is that by partnering science teachers with scientists as mentors, science…

Remote scientific research settings embody a long-term combination of extreme conditions, physical boundedness, and blurred boundaries among work, play, and sleep that challenge traditional notions of how individuals perceive and interact with infrastructure. In such settings, individuals often use creative outlets to form social bonds with…

How is the rise in team science and the emergence of the research group as the fundamental unit of organization of science affecting scientists' opportunities to collaborate? Are the majority of scientists becoming dependent on a select subset of their peers to organize the intergroup collaborations that are becoming the norm in science? This…

One way to bring about change in higher education is to introduce professional development programs for higher education, however these programs have been found to be ineffective at promoting positive change for individuals and departments. To address the need for better programs, I worked on two projects: one project attempts to identify a way to…

This dissertation proposes to answer several questions that arise from the actions of American scientists between 1840 and 1900. How did the broader organization of science in the late nineteenth century create a system of professional disciplines? Why did the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) form, and why did specialized…

Argumentation is a central epistemic process contributing to the generation, evaluation, and application of new scientific knowledge. A key challenge for science educators and researchers is to understand how important social dimensions of argumentation, such as collaborative sense-making discourse, can be implemented in learning environments in…

One of the most challenging things a professor of science in a college setting deals with is the apprehension of students toward the very idea of science and scientists. This feeling of science anxiety does not appear to be limited by nation or culture and is often spread across all ages of students. The concept of "science is hard" is…

Drawing on theories from Applied Linguistics research, this doctoral dissertation brings together European perspectives on "language," "identity," and "voice" in an examination of English as the international language of science (EILS). Using the theoretical frame of Dynamic Systems Theory (DST), each of the chapters…

Science communication is an intersectional practice that involves informing and raising awareness of science-related topics, while increasing public engagement with science. Although there is a fair amount of data in understanding the relationship between scientist representation in popular media and identification with STEM, there is still more…

Information seeking is "a conscious effort to acquire information in response to a need or gap" in your knowledge (Case, 2007, p. 5). In the geosciences, physical samples such as cores, cuttings, fossils, and rocks are primary sources of information; they represent "the foundation of basic and applied geoscience research and…

Recent calls in education have emphasized the critical need for curricula in the sciences to support student development of the general and disciplinary-specific practices that are relevant to modern scientific research and careers, as well as foundational scientific knowledge that reflects recent advances. In this regard, the life sciences,…

A qualitative investigation into American Muslim undergraduates' views on evolution revealed three main positions on evolution: theistic evolution, a belief in special creation of all species, and a belief in special creation of humans with evolution for all non-human species. One can conceive of the manner in which respondents chose their…

There is broad consensus amongst scholars across a wide range of disciplines that digital technologies are having profound effects on micro- and macropolitical processes across the world. However, research into digital geographies has not rigorously examined the role of the Internet in bridging epistemological difference. Rather, most of this…

In modern research activities, scientific data sharing is essential, especially in terms of data-intensive science and scholarly communication. Scientific communities are making ongoing endeavors to promote scientific data sharing. Currently, however, data sharing is not always well-deployed throughout diverse science and engineering disciplines.…