Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to show that HIV/AIDS-related stigma has persisted world-wide for decades. However, studies on the linkage between stigmatizing attitudes towards people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and misconceptions about HIV transmission routes in the general population, especially among youth in China, are sparse--a gap…

This study explores the extent to which the term "sex hormone" is used in science textbooks, and whether the use of the term "sex hormone" is associated with pre-empirical concepts of sex dualism, in particular the misconceptions that these so-called "sex hormones" are sex specific and restricted to sex-related physiological functioning. We found…

The Science Belief Test is an online instrument comprised of 47 statements that require true or false responses and request written explanations to accompany these responses. It targets topics in chemistry, physics, biology, earth science, and astronomy and was initially designed to assess preservice elementary teachers' beliefs about general…

Looking after pets provides several benefits in terms of children's social interactions, and factual and conceptual knowledge about these animals. In this study we investigated effects of rearing experiences on children's factual knowledge and alternative conceptions about animals. Data obtained from 1,541 children and 7,705 drawings showed very…

Pragmatics is included in one of four communicative competences (Canale, 1980). It is necessary and important to teach pragmatics at school in our globalized world in order to avoid as much as misunderstanding, which is likely to stem from cultural difference. As a result, greater importance should be attached to diverse customs and pragmatics.…

The shadow cast by HIV reaches beyond individuals diagnosed with the condition. It touches the lives of family members, friends, coworkers, and many others. One group in particular that feels these effects keenly is the children of HIV-positive parents. With improved treatments that have extended the life expectancies of HIV-infected people and…

This is a case of one novice White teacher whose strong commitment to becoming a culturally relevant teacher was hindered by her struggle to develop meaningful connections to the home community of her mostly African American students. Using a hybrid methodology of action research, discourse analysis, and critical interpretive analysis of…

Today's interconnected technical environment creates unprecedented opportunities while simultaneously introducing risks. With economic, social and personal interactions increasingly occurring in technology-mediated settings new vulnerabilities are continually being introduced. This dissertation seeks to improve extant understanding of how…

The fact that online learning has been successful for many schools across the country does not mean that it has been free of challenges. Indeed, there are numerous issues and challenges in online learning. Few policymakers anticipated that any space time, any space place learning was possible when most education laws were authored over the past 50…

United States Department of Agriculture defines food insecure as answering affirmatively to three or more food insecurity questions describing a household's ability to acquire enough food. Households indicating low levels of food insecurity (one or two affirmative responses) are considered food secure. This paper compares the characteristics of…

Cellular respiration and metabolism are topics that are reportedly poorly understood by students and judged to be difficult by many teachers. Although these topics may not be required learning areas in some high school biology curricula, a grasp of fundamental concepts of cellular metabolic processes is advantageous for students undertaking (or…

Background: Neuroscience is unlikely to produce findings for immediate application in the classroom. The educational significance and practical implications of knowledge about mind and brain inevitably require some level of interpretation, yet the multiplying examples of unscientific "brain-based" educational concepts suggest this process of…

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and gel electrophoresis have become common techniques used in undergraduate molecular and cell biology labs. Although students enjoy learning these techniques, they often cannot fully comprehend and analyze the outcomes of their experiments because of a disconnect between concepts taught in lecture and experiments…

To understand evolutionary theory, students must be able to understand and use evolutionary trees and their underlying concepts. Active, hands-on curricula relevant to macroevolution can be challenging to implement across large college-level classes where textbook learning is the norm. We evaluated two approaches to helping students learn…

We report on responses to a series of four questions designed to identify pre-existing abilities related to debugging and troubleshooting experiences of novice students before they begin programming instruction. The focus of these questions include general troubleshooting, bug location, exploring unfamiliar environments, and describing students'…