Access to clean drinking water is a major problem for many people across the world. Desalination is being increasingly used in many countries to provide this important resource. Desalination technology has received varying degrees of support in the communities in which this technology has been adopted. Productive communication suggests we…

This article discusses the concept of "framing" within the context of relevant communication and psychological research and considers its potential applicability to Extension science communication. Examples of research-based support for the framing of scientific issues are presented, along with a literature-based discussion of the…

Increasing public knowledge of science is a widely recognized goal, but what that knowledge might consist of is rarely unpacked. Existing measures of science literacy tend to focus on textbook knowledge of science. Yet constructing a meaningful list of facts, even facts in application, is not only difficult but less than satisfying as an indicator…

As part of the "scientific literacy" debate, a survey of the balance of science stories in the media was undertaken by reviewing UK newspapers late in 2011. The survey found a preponderance of health/medical stories (50%+) and many stories relating to environment/ecology. The percentage of other biology stories and of stories related to…

This article demonstrates an innovative method used to determine the need for information literacy among science undergraduate students at Adelphi University. Using clickers technology, this study measured the disconnect between biology undergraduates' perceived and actual knowledge of scientific literature. The quantitative data collected in the…

Purpose: The paper analyzes factors that affect the likelihood of adoption of different agriculture-related information sources by farmers. Design/Methodology/Approach: The paper links the theoretical understanding of the existing multiple sources of information that farmers use, with the empirical model to analyze the factors that affect the…

Purpose: We investigated how information resource diversification can enhance smallholder agricultural knowledge in Ghana. Design/Methodology/Approach: Study tools and methods were questionnaire survey (N = 200), focus group discussion (N = 1), in-depth interviews (N = 18) and field direct observation. Findings: This study shows there existed…

Introduction: We report an investigation on collaboration practices in research papers published in the most prestigious English-medium astrophysics journals. Method: We propose an evaluation method based on three numerical indicators to study and compare, in absolute terms, three different types of collaboration (international, national and…

There is an identified and growing need for a levelled diagnostic basic facts assessment tool that provides teachers with formative information about students' mastery of a broad range of basic fact sets. The Individual Basic Facts Assessment tool has been iteratively and cumulatively developed, trialled, and refined with input from teachers and…

A clear understanding of how "raw data" is defined, recorded, and retained in the laboratory record is essential to the chemist employed in the laboratory compliant with the Good Laboratory Practices regulations. This article is intended to provide an understanding by drawing upon examples taken from the modern pharmaceutical analysis…

This article focuses on some of the intersections of two worldviews: Western modern science and a Buddhism-based way of life in Thailand. It enters the debate on the place and practice of Indigenous forms of knowledge and the clashes with formal science education curricula. Our goal is "balanced bi-gnosis": the possession of, and…

Changes to the pedagogy of foreign languages (FL) have taken place with the integration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). These changes provide instructors with opportunities to become meaning facilitators and designers. This article presents the rationale behind the pedagogy for a university course to enhance FL for academic…

The present research investigated whether laypeople are inclined to rely on their own evaluations of the acceptability of scientific claims despite their knowledge limitations. Specifically, we tested whether laypeople are more prone to discount their actual dependence on expert knowledge when they are presented with simplified science texts. In…

Publishing English papers in journals listed in Science Citation Index (SCI) has become a requirement for degree conferment for doctoral science students at many universities in China. The publication requirement engenders high pressure for doctoral students and their supervisors and shapes the politics of the relationship between the two parties.…

The "Next-Generation Science Standards" emphasize the importance of teaching the practices of science alongside content ideas and crosscutting concepts (NGSS Lead States 2013). Chief among these practices is the ability to gather, assess, analyze, and interpret data. Authentic inquiry near the leading-edge of science offers a wonderful…