This study validated an instrument for measuring student engagement in the context of Chinese science curriculum reforms. We adapted existing items from well-designed instruments with the context of science learning and formed the initial instrument of the Student Engagement in Science Learning (SESL) consisting of 20 items in four subscales,…

In this forum paper, I grapple with critical questions about our understanding of science as a discipline and the education standards formulated within that framing. My exploration is contextualized in our current socio-political climate and is presented in discourse with Charity Winburn's "Meeting the needs of the individual student in the…

It has become increasingly important for microbiology educators to help students learn critical concepts of the discipline. This is particularly true in virology, where current challenges include increasing rates of vaccine hesitancy, misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic, and controversy surrounding research on pathogens with pandemic…

Scientific literacy is still being identified and recognised as one of the main goals of science education. However, this concept has multiple interpretations and its definition changes continuously depending on its social, cultural, and political contexts. In this paper, scientific literacy is conceptualised through "visions I, II and…

This review summarizes the corpus of literature discussing the science identity of college students from various racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds. The purpose of this review is to understand what experiences afford or impede the development of college students' science identity and what strategies are effective for strengthening their…

Katie Milton Brkich et al., "The Rejection of the NGSS in Georgia: Social Covenants as Contextually Mitigating Factors," offers a compelling critical analysis that highlights how social-political influences, introduced as covenants, shape curricular decisions that may limit science literacy within the curricular landscape of science…

Southeast Asian countries are embracing updated integrated curricula, such as STEM, which are impacted by socio-scientific, political, and economic reasons related to global educational reform. This study compares science curricula regarding science and engineering practices (SEP?s) in Indonesian, Thai, and Vietnamese science curricula. The SEP?s…

Effective teaching and learning of Nature of Science (NOS) has been a curriculum goal for decades and its inclusion into the science education from K-12 is becoming commonplace worldwide, regardless of the differences in the adapted science curricula. However, less attention, if any, has been paid to the holistic representation of NOS at…

This forum piece extends the conversation within Katie Milton Brkich, Alejandro J. Gallard Martínez, Wesley Pitts, and Silvia Lizette Ramos de Roble's article 'The Rejection of the NGSS in Georgia: Social Covenants as Contextually Mitigating Factors,' by looking at potential implications for diverse learners and novice teachers. I draw on the…

There has been sustained research interest in the role of early career researchers in advancing the field and the challenges that they face. However, efforts to document lived experiences of researchers working in a specific research area within science education have been scarce. This paper considers the meaning of innovation in the context of…

This paper is part of a larger NSF funded research project that situates the lived experiences and narratives of African Americans and Black heritage in the K-12 science curriculum. This work contributes to research on the science capital, and on positive and empowering identity construction for the African Diaspora. This study takes the position…

This is an analysis of how scientific literacy (SL) is featured in the science education pipeline of Tanzania based on the SL frameworks of five arguments (economic, utility, democratic, social and cultural) and three visions (Visions I-III). It analyses four curriculum documents for science in basic education, and the views of 79 pre-service…

Artificial intelligence (AI) is now a major driver of societal acceleration making a significant impact on science and science education. AI is used by scientists to generate hypotheses, design experiments, collect and interpret data in ways that were not previously possible with traditional methods alone. Science education research is…

The COVID-19 health crisis brought about transformations in education systems. In Chile, the ministerial authorities prioritized the school curriculum, stressing certain learning objectives over others. This paper seeks to uncover the social functions underlying curriculum prioritization for the subject of natural sciences. To do this, the…

Mechanistic reasoning about an artifact or system involves thinking about its underlying entities and the properties, activities, and cause-effect relationships of those entities. Previous studies of children's mechanistic reasoning about engineering solutions have mostly focused on specific mechanical systems such as gear trains. Yet there is…