Meaningful participation in science and engineering practices requires that students make their thinking visible to others and build on one another's ideas. But sharing ideas with others in small groups and classrooms carries social risk, particularly for students from nondominant groups and communities. In this paper, we explore how students'…

This article explores the challenges of enacting reform-oriented curriculum in science classrooms. We use the concept of figured worlds to analyze a case study of an eighth-grade science class where the teacher reported that the students were resistant to changes she was trying to make. By examining stimulated recall interviews with the teacher…

Attitude toward science has been recognized as highly influential in students' engagement with science and future career choices. Science is important in our everyday lives as well, in a society demanding more scientific vocations and higher levels of scientific literacy. There is little research on how attitudes develop and evolve at early ages,…

The goal of this study is to bring the voices of African American boys front and center in science education research in an effort to strengthen our understandings of their experiences of school and science. Using an interpretivist perspective within a narrative inquiry approach, I focus on the student and science-student identities two African…

For over a century, genetic arguments for the existence of racial inequality have been used to oppose policies that promote social equality. And, over that same time period, American biology textbooks have repeatedly discussed genetic differences between races. This experiment tests whether racial terminology in the biology curriculum causes…

Despite the centrality of the informal manufacturing sector ("Jua Kali") to the Kenyan society and its richness in scientific phenomena, there is no strong link between activities in the Jua Kali and school science. And, although there has been an ongoing public discourse in Kenya to industrialize, this hope is unlikely without…

This study investigated the representations of a select group of scientists (n = 10) in a sample of Canadian high school and college textbooks. Drawing on semiotic and cultural-historical activity theoretical frameworks, we conducted two analyses. A coarse-grained, quantitative analysis of the prevalence and structure of these representations…

Finnish students' opinions about the frequency of learning activities and communication in the Finnish science classroom, their interest in science and science studies and careers, their sense of self-efficacy, and their beliefs about their own competence as well as their performance in science are analyzed based on PISA 2006 Scientific Literacy…

The purpose of this qualitative exploratory study was to identify factors that influenced prospective and experienced secondary level science teachers' reasoning as they evaluated or selected tasks to formatively assess their students' understanding of scientific concepts. The analysis of the coded written responses revealed two categories of…

The author proposes that science curriculums be altered from teaching specialized subject matter and that more time be devoted to applying the disciplines to practical problems as well as imparting competencies in inquiry and values and attitudes concerning evidence and argument, certainty and uncertainty. (BR)

Summarizes the results of three studies designed to determine whether Israeli middle and secondary school students have a stronger preference for the study of animals or of plants. (JR)

Reports on an evaluation of the impact of two science enrichment programs on gifted high school students (n=330). Evaluates the programs using a multimethod, multiperspective approach that proves to be a comprehensive evaluation of program impact on science attitudes. (Contains 57 references.) (DDR)

Examines three issues: the negative nature of today's stereotype of a scientist; the relationship of present stereotypes to course enrollment; and the relationship of the closeness of self-image and stereotype to course enrollment in science. Analysis of semantic differential items reveal differences among science and nonscience college majors.…

Investigated were effects of learning structure on change in preference for science courses. Results indicated that physics students learning in ways they prefer register greater gains in preference for physics than do students in incompatible learning structures. No significant differences were found for students in biology, chemistry, or…

The effects of a lecture-only biology course and a lecture-laboratory biology course on the attitudes and achievement of community college students were compared. (SA)