The authors describe a new visual illusion first discovered in a natural setting. A cyclist riding beside a pair of sagging chains that connect fence posts appears to move up and down with the chains. In this illusion, a static shape (the chains) affects the perception of a moving shape (the bicycle), and this influence involves assimilation…

In Miranda v. Arizona (1966), the 20th century's most prominent and consequential legal decision on constitutionally guaranteed rights against compelled self-incrimination, the Supreme Court of the United States mandated the delivery of specific warnings to persons facing custodial interrogation. Owing in large part to popularization of these…

School-based HIV/AIDS science education has the potential to impact students when integrated into the science curriculum. However, this mixed method study shows that school-based HIV/AIDS science education is often not infused into career subjects such as science education but integrated into civics education and taught by teachers who lack the…

In many English language classrooms, teaching pronunciation is granted the least attention. When ESL teachers defend the poor pronunciation skills of their students, their arguments could either be described as a cop-out with respect to their inability to teach their students proper pronunciation or they could be regarded as taking a stand against…

Twenty-nine Zulu-speaking primary school teachers were enrolled for a certificate in-service science education course. Initially, informal classroom discussions with these teachers pointed out poor conceptual knowledge in basic astronomy. This study investigated teachers' scientific and indigenous conceptions of the Earth-Moon-Sun (E-M-S) system,…

Background: School-based sex education is effective in reducing risky sexual behavior among adolescents that may lead to unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. However, most sex education policies in the US do not support evidence-based programs. Understanding parental attitudes around sex education is crucial to overcoming…

"Education Matters" is the monthly newsletter of the Association of American Educators (AAE), an organization dedicated to advancing the American teaching profession through personal growth, professional development, teacher advocacy and protection. This issue of the newsletter includes: (1) Doing the Right Thing: Educator Ethics in an…

The majority of public high school students in California are missing out on history. Many students may not see it that way, but that is because they have little understanding of what it means to appreciate history. The traditional high school history survey courses, US History and world history, provide an overview of "everything that ever…

This dissertation is a combination of two research areas, experimental physical chemistry, Chapters I to V, and chemical education, Chapters VI to VII. Chapters I to V describe research on the water-mediated chemistry of oxidized atmospheric molecules and the impact that water has on the spectra of these environmental systems. The role of water…

This study explores the nature of undergraduate students' errors and misconceptions in particle mechanics. This paper provides in-depth descriptions of the errors presented by students and accounts for them in terms of students' procedural or conceptual knowledge. Specifically, this study analyses students' written responses to questions on…

Ever since "mental arithmetic" was updated to "mental calculation," official documents have succeeded in perpetuating several basic misconceptions and misunderstandings about this topic. This situation does not augur well for the successful teaching of mental calculation strategies to young children. In this article, the author…

Agricultural literacy of K-12 students is a national priority for both scientific and agricultural education professional organizations. Development of curricula to address this priority has not been informed by research on what K-12 students understand about the agri-food system. While students' knowledge of food and fiber system facts have been…

All medical and veterinary students at the University of Nottingham carry out a third-year dissertation module. This module allows students to spend time experiencing contemporary research methods by engaging in research activities. In 2010, academic staff from the Medical and Veterinary Schools initiated educational research projects that enabled…

The goal of this article is to differentiate initiation from indoctrination, and to return a positive significance to the notion of initiation, as a pedagogy that contributes not only to the perpetuation of a particular form of life or community, but that provides the next generation with means to advance that knowledge beyond its existing…

From a distance, Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) students appear to be the great success story in education. As a population, they are overrepresented among winners of National Merit Scholarships, U.S. Presidential Scholarships, and are undergraduates at the country's most prestigious universities. They make up three to five times their…