Microbes (by definition) are tiny living things that are only visible through a microscope and include bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protoctists (mainly single-celled life forms such as amoebae and algae). Although people are familiar with the effects of microbes, such as infectious disease and food spoilage, because of their lack of visibility,…

This paper describes a randomised educational experiment (n = 47) that examined two different teaching methods and compared their effectiveness at correcting one science misconception using a sample of trainee primary school teachers. The treatment was designed to promote engagement with the scientific concept by eliciting emotional responses from…

Introduction: Clinical trial data can be presented in ways that exaggerate treatment effectiveness. Physicians consider therapy more effective, and may be more likely to make inappropriate practice changes, when data are presented in relative terms such as relative risk reduction rather than in absolute terms such as absolute risk reduction and…

Current school science curricula attempt to reflect contemporary constructivist-provisionalist related epistemologies as accepted by professional science. It is argued that conversely, the effect of science education is the creation of pupils holding naive-realist epistemological beliefs, largely inductivist-positivist absolutists who chase an…