Science Culture, Language, and Education in America


Book Description

Can the culture and language of science be an alienating force that discourages marginalized people from identifying with scientists and pursuing higher education in the sciences? More broadly, does an education system which unwittingly presents science as a distinct culture result in a population susceptible to doubt, confusion, and denial? This volume explores how this 'culture of science' is reflected and transmitted in the classroom, and how this can have wide-reaching and often negative implications for science education and science literacy. Well-intentioned efforts to bring hands-on scientific experiences into the classroom must also take into account how students perceive the culture of science. Areas of potential conflict include linguistic and cultural behaviors, misconceptions about science and the nature of science, and, in some cases, religious worldviews. Once recognized, these conflicts are resolvable, and valid methods exist to reduce alienation, broaden participation, and ensure that all students, whether or not they pursue STEM careers, leave school knowing that science is something that they can trust.




How People Learn II


Book Description

There are many reasons to be curious about the way people learn, and the past several decades have seen an explosion of research that has important implications for individual learning, schooling, workforce training, and policy. In 2000, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School: Expanded Edition was published and its influence has been wide and deep. The report summarized insights on the nature of learning in school-aged children; described principles for the design of effective learning environments; and provided examples of how that could be implemented in the classroom. Since then, researchers have continued to investigate the nature of learning and have generated new findings related to the neurological processes involved in learning, individual and cultural variability related to learning, and educational technologies. In addition to expanding scientific understanding of the mechanisms of learning and how the brain adapts throughout the lifespan, there have been important discoveries about influences on learning, particularly sociocultural factors and the structure of learning environments. How People Learn II: Learners, Contexts, and Cultures provides a much-needed update incorporating insights gained from this research over the past decade. The book expands on the foundation laid out in the 2000 report and takes an in-depth look at the constellation of influences that affect individual learning. How People Learn II will become an indispensable resource to understand learning throughout the lifespan for educators of students and adults.




The Science of Reading


Book Description

The Science of Reading: A Handbook brings together state-of-the-art reviews of reading research from leading names in the field, to create a highly authoritative, multidisciplinary overview of contemporary knowledge about reading and related skills. Provides comprehensive coverage of the subject, including theoretical approaches, reading processes, stage models of reading, cross-linguistic studies of reading, reading difficulties, the biology of reading, and reading instruction Divided into seven sections:Word Recognition Processes in Reading; Learning to Read and Spell; Reading Comprehension; Reading in Different Languages; Disorders of Reading and Spelling; Biological Bases of Reading; Teaching Reading Edited by well-respected senior figures in the field




Science Education as a Pathway to Teaching Language Literacy


Book Description

In this era of mandated high stakes and standardized testing, teachers and schools officials find themselves struggling to meet the demands for improved student achievement. At the same time, they are also expected to teach all subjects as required by national and state curriculum standards.




Native Science


Book Description

Cajete examines the multiple levels of meaning that inform Native astronomy, cosmology, psychology, agriculture, and the healing arts. Unlike the western scientific method, native thinking does not isolate an object or phenomenon in order to understand it, but perceives it in terms of relationship. An understanding of the relationships that bind together natural forces and all forms of life has been fundamental to the ability of indigenous peoples to live for millennia in spiritual and physical harmony with the land. It is clear that the first peoples offer perspectives that can help us work toward solutions at this time of global environmental crisis.




Advances in Nature of Science Research


Book Description

This book consolidates contemporary thinking and research efforts in teaching and learning about the nature of science in science education. The term ‘Nature of Science’ (NoS) has appeared in the science education literature for many decades. While there is still a controversy among science educators about what constitutes NoS, educators are unanimous in acknowledging the importance of this topic as well as the need to make it explicit in teaching science. The general consensus is that the nature of science is an intricate and multifaceted theme that requires continued scholarship. Recent analysis of research trends in science education indicates that investigation of the nature of science continues to be one of the most prevalent topics in academic publications. Advances in Nature of Science Research explores teaching and assessing the nature of science as a means of addressing and solving problems in conceptual change, developing positive attitudes toward science, promoting thinking habits, advancing inquiry skills and preparing citizens literate in science and technology. The book brings together prominent scholars in the field to share their cutting-edge knowledge about the place of the nature of science in science teaching and learning contexts. The chapters explore theoretical frameworks, new directions and changing practices from intervention studies, discourse analyses, classroom-based investigations, anthropological observations, and design-based research.




Teaching Science to Every Child


Book Description

Teaching Science to Every Child proposes a fresh perspective for teaching school science and draws upon an extensive body of classroom research to meaningfully address the achievement gap in science education. Settlage and Southerland begin from the point of view that science can be thought of as a culture, rather than as a fixed body of knowledge. Throughout this book, the idea of culture is used to illustrate how teachers can guide all students to be successful in science while still being respectful of students' ethnic heritages and cultural traditions. By combining a cultural view of science with instructional approaches shown to be effective in a variety of settings, the authors provide elementary and middle school teachers with a conceptual framework as well as pedagogical approaches which support the science learning of a diverse array of students.




Centering Humanism in STEM Education


Book Description

Research demonstrates that STEM disciplines perpetuate a history of exclusion, particularly for students with marginalized identities. This poses problems particularly when science permeates every aspect of contemporary American life. Institutions’ repeated failures to disrupt systemic oppression in STEM has led to a mostly white, cisgender, and male scientific workforce replete with implicit and/or explicit biases. Education holds one pathway to disrupt systemic linkages of STEM oppression from society to the classroom. Maintaining views on science as inherently objective isolates it from the world in which it is performed. STEM education must move beyond the transactional approaches to transformative environments manifesting respect for students’ social and educational capital. We must create a STEM environment in which students with marginalized identities feel respected, listened to, and valued. We must assist students in understanding how their positionality, privilege, and power both historically and currently impacts their meaning making and understanding of STEM.




International Science and Technology Education


Book Description

Education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is crucial for taking advantage of the prospects of new scientific discoveries initiating or promoting technological changes, and managing opportunities and risks associated with innovations. This book explores the emerging perspectives and methodologies of STEM education and its relationship to the cultural understanding of science and technology in an international context. The authors provide a unique perspective on the subject, presenting materials and experiences from non-European industrialized as well as industrializing countries, including China, Japan, South Korea, India, Egypt, Brazil and the USA. The chapters offer a wide scope of interpretations and comparative reviews of STEM education by including narrative elements about cultural developments, considering the influence of culture and social perceptions on technological and social change, and applying innovative tools of qualitative social research. The book represents a comprehensive and multidisciplinary review of the current status and future challenges facing STEM education across the world, including issues such as globalization, interdependencies of norms and values, effects on equity and social justice as well as resilience. Overall the volume provides valuable insights for a broad and comprehensive international comparison of STEM philosophies, approaches and experiences.




Educating African American Students


Book Description

Focused on preparing educators to teach African American students, this straightforward and teacher-friendly text features a careful balance of published scholarship, a framework for culturally relevant and critical pedagogy, research-based case studies of model teachers, and tested culturally relevant practical strategies and actionable steps teachers can adopt. Its premise is that teachers who understand Black culture as an asset rather than a liability and utilize teaching techniques that have been shown to work can and do have specific positive impacts on the educational experiences of African American children.