We are surrounded by controversy--politics, religion, diets, and even science are all up for debate in our 24/7 world of social media and the internet. With this controversy comes a lot of misinformation and competition with what our students might otherwise be learning in our classrooms. I know this intimately, since I teach fitness and nutrition…

The theory of evolution is the central combing theory that brings together all the tenets of biology that bring about a solid understanding of life. It is also one of the most controversial scientific theories of all time and is widely rejected by about 40% of the general public in the United States. One of the biggest reasons for low evolution…

Growing polarization in European societies has changed not only political landscapes but also public debates about the past, which has, in turn, had an impact on the way history is taught and talked about in schools. This article explores how these trends are experienced by history educators across Europe and asks which issues history educators…

In a cultural moment when professors experience a debilitating hesitancy about initiating difficult conversations with undergraduate students, and the imperative of trigger warnings sometimes outweighs the will to navigate controversial materials, the fate of "violent films," as worthy of academic study, hangs precariously in the…

While some have argued that abandoning religious belief is the only way to help religious individuals accept evolution, we strongly contend that highlighting faith-evolution compatibility is much more effective. This article describes a professional development event for science teachers and religious educators highlighting ways to teach human…

The events of September 11th occurred twenty years ago this year. The destruction of the Twin Towers in New York and the attack on the Pentagon represented a key moment in history. While the world had experienced multiple terrorist acts previously, this event exposed the vulnerability of civilian populations in major Western countries to attacks…

Challenging the embedded mythologies that surround Anzac, especially as the centenary of First World War played out over the 2014 to 2018 commemoration period, can be confronting for tertiary students as well as a difficult space for tutors to navigate. This is especially the case for teacher education students who form the majority cohort taking…

In this article Kerry Apps introduces students to the significance of the witch-hunts in the modern era, at the time when they occurred, and in the middle of the eighteenth century. She presents her rationale for choosing the witch-hunts as a focus for the study of significance, and shows how her thinking about her teaching has evolved through her…

It's indisputable: disinformation, hoaxes, propaganda, and hyper-partisanship are increasingly global phenomena. Educators, librarians, policymakers, and community leaders are wondering about the implications of the changing information landscape. Anyone can publish and promote anything, and increasing political polarization is being combined with…

Many have discussed the inherent problems in teaching race and ethnic relations courses. Students often come to class with preconceived ideas about their social world, and a range of feelings and experiences including confusion, biases, and misconceptions. Therefore, significant barriers to learning exist before the first day of class. To address…

In practice, in the classroom, teachers are still faced with the issue of what to say to children if they believe that evolution conflicts with their own or other people's religious faith. When asked how they plan to respond, most teacher trainees and teachers respond that they will be a neutral chair and try to give children a balanced view.…

Evolution offers an intellectually satisfying and extremely well-supported explanation for the diversity of life in the natural world, its similarities and differences, how changes occur and how new life forms have developed. There are plenty of reasons to anticipate the teaching of evolution with exhilaration. In recent years, the issue of…

This study aimed to identify nature of students' decisions patterns towards environmental issues and the possibility to improve these decisions during teaching process using Socio-Scientific Issues Approach. And to achieve this, the researcher prepared and developed tools of the study represented by a test of open questions focused on…

Climate literacy is an essential component of a strategy to comprehend and confront the grand challenge of global climate change. However, scientific complexity, societal implications, and political associations make climate change a difficult but important topic to teach. In this paper we report on the results of a survey of undergraduate faculty…

Biological evolution still lacks representation in school, especially below high school level. In order to find new implications that could help achieve significant improvement in teaching evolution, twelve expert interviews with both renowned researchers and experienced science teachers were conducted. Results of the comparison between the…