A perennial goal of science educators is to develop functional scientific literacy in their students, especially those who will not become professional scientists. This article provides an example of implementing a socioscientific issues approach in an undergraduate environmental science course that enables students to develop the knowledge,…

Confronted by myriad interconnected societal challenges, this paper asks: what kind of pedagogy does justice to the experience and challenge of living in a complex world? Departing from a critical reading of a preparative-logic to education, this paper emphasises students' entangledness: more-or-less consciously, students are uniquely shaped-by…

Embedding science learning in real-world issues is a research-based way to generate student enthusiasm, interest, and motivation for science. The authors advocate teaching secondary science in the context of "socio-scientific issues" (SSI). SSI are authentic societal challenges with connections to science, such as climate change,…

The science and engineering practices in the "Next Generation Science Standards" seek to engage students in complex tasks including planning and carrying out investigations or engaging in argument from evidence. However, such tasks often require students to effectively collaborate. While our students get better at working together in an…

As every elementary science teacher knows, children sometimes ask questions that can not easily be answered by science. The "messiness" of these questions may stem from the fact that scientific understanding is often incomplete and ever changing, a situation that can lead students (and the public) to be confused about the information…

The global scale of climate change may seem beyond many high school students' comprehension. To complicate matters, climate change has emerged as a political issue that pits candidates, neighbors, and sometimes teachers and students against each other (Kahan 2015). The "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS Lead States 2013) call on…

This article introduces the Critical Response Protocol (CRP), an arts-based technique that engages students in equitable critical discourse and aligns with the "Next Generation Science Standards" vision for providing students opportunities for language learning while advancing science learning (NGSS Lead States 2013). CRP helps teachers…

Argumentation has long been promoted as a core scientific practice in which students should engage, yet science classrooms still often omit it. One remedy is to incorporate socioscientific issues (SSIs) in the curricula. SSIs are open-ended and complex, typically subject to multiple perspectives and solutions. These issues, influenced by science…

Many students leave the environmental science classroom with misconceptions centered on the availability of natural resources such as water. This article presents a case study where students assume the roles of various stakeholders and articulate their position on whether or not to pipe water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea. Additionally,…

For centuries, the basic operations of school mathematics have been identified as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Notably, these operations are "basic," not because they are foundational to mathematics knowledge, but because they were vital to a newly industrialized and market-driven economy several hundred years…

Critical thinking is an essential skill for learners and teachers alike. Therefore, it is essential that educators be given practical strategies for improving their critical thinking skills as well as methods to effectively provide critical thinking skills to their students. The "Handbook of Research on Critical Thinking and Teacher Education…

Teachers often struggle with controversy when teaching biological evolution in American schools. Research indicates that curriculum with a nature of science (NOS) focus quells controversy (McComas 2004; Scharmann 2005; Staver 2003). This article presents a 5E NOS series that is a first step in a NOS curriculum that situates student understanding…

This design/problem-solving activity challenges students to design a replacement bridge for one that has been designated as either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. The Aycock MS Technology/STEM Magnet Program Virtual Bridge Design Challenge is an authentic introduction to the engineering design process. It is a socially relevant…

Situating instruction in a local context, socioscientific issues (SSIs) offers students an opportunity to become active participants in the community and has the potential to encourage them to authentically and critically participate and engage in understanding, caring for, and transforming the world to which they belong. Photovoice is one way…

For a science teacher in a city, it can sometimes be a challenge to find curricula that are geared specifically toward urban students. The author tackled this dilemma by creating a unit that focused on the urban surroundings experienced by his second-grade students in New York City. The inquiry-based unit centered on unifying concepts such as the…