Dual-process theories of reasoning suggest that humans reason using two processes often referred to as process 1 (heuristic) and process 2 (analytic). When presented with a situation requiring any sort of reasoning or decision making, process 1 automatically engages and generates an initial mental model to address the situation. Process 2 may or…

The teaching of key scientific topics such as evolution are imperative for scientific literacy, but educators face pressure to eliminate or downplay these topics due to perceived controversy. Although teachers usually bear the burden of ensuring that these topics are taught appropriately, some of this responsibility must also fall upon…

This research investigates the integration of environmental science education within maritime curricula at the Maritime Institute Jakarta. Focusing on 70 cadets across Nautical, Technical, and Port and Shipping Management majors, a qualitative descriptive approach is employed. Results reveal varying levels of environmental awareness, integration…

Anti-scientific attitudes can impose substantial costs on societies. Can schools be an important agent in mitigating the propagation of such attitudes? This paper investigates the effect of the content of science education on anti-scientific attitudes, knowledge, and choices. The analysis exploits staggered reforms that reduce or expand the…

Elementary teacher preparation programs often separate content and technology courses. This study examined the impact of changing the required science content courses for elementary preservice teachers in a small liberal arts setting. Following the new science course, students participated in a field experience as part of an elementary science…

Anti-scientific attitudes can impose substantial costs on societies. Can schools be an important agent in mitigating the propagation of such attitudes? This paper investigates the effect of the content of science education on anti-scientific attitudes, knowledge, and choices. The analysis exploits staggered reforms that reduce or expand the…

Educators have been increasingly concerned with what can be done about "post-truth" problems--that is, threats to people's abilities to know what is true--such as the spread of misinformation and denial of well-established scientific claims. The articles and commentaries in this special issue present diverse perspectives on how…

Course outlines for science teachers, designed and developed at 6 universities, were critically analysed and compared with the guidelines for science education set out in the national policy framework known as the Minimum Requirements for Teacher Education Qualifications (MRTEQ) to identify the characteristics of a competent science teacher.…

Objective: Socially-relevant and controversial topics, such as the climate crisis, are subject to differences in the explanations that scientists and the public find plausible. Scaffolds can help students be evaluative of the validity of explanations based on evidence when addressing such topics and support knowledge gains. Method: This study…

Water is critical to the existence of Earth in its current form; therefore, it stands to reason that a student's science education experiences ought to support the development of increasingly sophisticated ideas about water in socio-ecological systems. Despite the significance of water, it has tended not to receive systematic treatment in the…

With the advent of Web 2.0 media, there is a greater prevalence of science misinformation available to the public. This issue is particularly problematic for novices who often believe that science in the media is factual and objective, even though an expected outcome of secondary education is to develop students' abilities to critically evaluate…

For more than 40 years, the international community has acknowledged the role education might play in environmental awareness and conservation. The last major initiative came when the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed a Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014). In the final year of the decade, teachers still struggle to…

Nuclear science has uses and applications that are relevant and crucial for world peace and sustainable development, so knowledge of its basic concepts and topics should constitute an integral part of civic scientific literacy. We have used two newspaper articles that deal with uses of nuclear science that are directly relevant to life, society,…

The complex topic of global climate change continues to be a challenging yet important topic among science educators and researchers. This mixed methods study adds to the growing research by investigating student conceptions of climate change from a system theory perspective (Von Bertalanffy, 1968) by asking the question, "How do differences…

There is a divide between what students are being taught within the science classroom and what they experience out in the real world. This study sought to explore possible relationships between a socioscientific issues embedded curriculum and outcome variables addressing environmental attitude and knowledge, oral and written argumentation and…