Many museums deal with socio-scientific issues--meaning topics with multiple perspectives and ongoing research, such as climate change, vaccinations, or livestock farming. As important and trusted sources of science education, museums can play a critical role in raising awareness about such issues. They tend to highlight the various perspectives…

Past research has shown that children are more likely to seek out and remember facts about kinds (e.g. "tarsiers hunt for birds") than individuals (e.g. "this tarsier likes to sing"), underscoring the importance of kind-based information in human cognition. However, children also often care about and learn facts about…

In recent years, numerous research studies have highlighted how teachers' perceptions of educational robotics (ER) and their sense of self-efficacy can influence the learning process. Although different instruments exist to investigate teachers' perspectives on ER, the Robotics Interest Questionnaire (RIQ) scale, developed within the Portuguese…

We investigated direct experiences with nature and socialization as predictors of preschool-aged children's environmental moral reasoning. Children (n = 146; 52.7% male) from three U.S. states completed biophilia and environmental moral reasoning interviews. Parents (n=98) completed surveys about their children's activities in natural areas and…

In 2014, urban wildlife refuge managers throughout Southern California responded to a challenge issued by United States Fish and Wildlife Service's (USFWS) leadership to connect the urban dwelling population in the region with wildlife and urban refuges. Five years later, the SoCal Urban Wildlife Refuge Project's reach and impact are significant.…

Although evidence-based practices can enhance educational outcomes, a persistent gap exists between research and practice. Advancing the understanding and use of implementation science among educational researchers has potential to close this gap. This study uses person-centered approaches to identify profiles of educational researchers (N = 140)…

The main purpose of this study was to examine the association between interest in nature and attraction to the mass media. We measured environmental knowledge, environmental attitudes, and attraction to celebrities among a sample of 185 English-speaking community-based adults obtained through Mechanical Turk. A secondary purpose of the study was…

While recent research has extensively explored the potential use of Virtual Reality (VR) in educational contexts, limited knowledge exists regarding teachers' willingness to further their understanding of VR and its applications in education. Therefore, this study aims to investigate how various demographic factors and attitudes toward VR…

When schools swiftly transitioned to virtual learning, program partners across this established out-of-doors environmental education project were challenged to rethink and retool the learning experiences from place-based programs to virtual learning, as most Project-supported programs were delivered outside of the traditional classroom. Meeting…

Purpose: This paper aims to use critical theorist Jürgen Habermas's conceptualization of the relationship between knowledge and interests to better understand the role of common and competing interests during organizational learning. Design/methodology/approach: The paper draws on critical accounts of work and learning, and on Habermas's…

The focus of this study was to develop and evaluate a geoscience professional development model that would improve K-12 teachers' capacity to effectively build geoscience literacy and interests in students from a variety of settings and cultural groups. The research compared the application of a geoscience professional development model realized…

With education research focused heavily on literacy, numeracy and STEM, our understanding of HASS (Humanities and Social Sciences) is comparatively underdeveloped. HASS disciplines, such as Geography, History and Civics, not only contextualise learning in other disciplines, but are vital to ensuring that society is prepared to face complex social,…

Many learners possess misconceptions regarding instructional content; toward this aim, educational practitioners employ teaching practices that support learners' efforts to restructure their existing knowledge structures--a process known as conceptual change. The Cognitive Reconstruction of Knowledge Model emphasizes the importance of conceptual…

Polymathy may be defined as the productive pursuit of multiple endeavors, simultaneously or serially, across a lifetime. As such, polymathic breadth of interest across knowledge domains characterizes Nobel laureates in the sciences, literature, economics, and peace, though interest patterns vary between groups. Economics laureates, like science…

An extensive body of workplace learning literature documents the changing nature of professional learning, knowledge and work, but the tensions between the distinctive purposes and interests of professions and organizations have not received the same level of attention. The sociology of professions literature in contrast has paid an enormous…