Science & Education最新文献

How might science education researchers expand the study of affective and emotional phenomena in ways that afford a better understanding of human learning experiences, support conditions of justice, and affirm learners’ dignity? How far from the realization of these goals we now feel in the fall of 2025. And yet, we persist in pursuing them. In this introductory editorial to the special issue on Centering Affect and Emotion Toward Dignity and Justice in Science Education, we explain what animates this question, introduce the structure of the special issue, and provide an overview of the papers. To us, questions like, “what is the emotion in this situation?” lead to analytical dead ends. They seek to apply a flimsy nametag over a phenomenon that runs much deeper and holds much greater consequence. As affect emerges, how is it channeled and mediated, and by whom? When people apply emotion terms to the ways they feel, what forms of social understanding and possibilities for action follow? Seeking justice and dignity in science education will require us to stop treating emotion as something ready-made, with uncontested and straightforward meanings, and start treating it as a matter of social coordination and meaning-making processes, inflected by power, shaped by history, and creating contingent openings for imagining futures and acting on the world. Toward charting these possibilities, we introduce 29 manuscripts (14 original papers and 14 corresponding responses, plus a synthetic essay) that emphasize the social embeddedness of affect and emotion in science teaching and learning rather than interiorizing and individualizing accounts.

Developing scientific literacy is necessary for students with disabilities (SWD) as it supports the ability to create solutions to real-world problems and understand current events, and it strengthens critical thinking, problem-solving, and complex communication skills. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate extant literature on inquiry-based science interventions for SWD in service of developing scientific practices. We identified 26 studies in 22 articles and 3 dissertations for inclusion in this review. Effect size (ES) estimates demonstrate significant positive effects in both group (ES = 0.79; CI [0.41, 1.17]) and single case design studies (ES = 2.76; CI [1.93, 3.60]). Overall findings suggest that inquiry-based science instruction is effective in teaching SWD science content as well as developing proficiency in scientific practices and inquiry skills.

In this response to Jonathan McCausland's “Emotional Configurations of White Shame and White Ambivalence for White Interns in a Secondary Science Teaching Program,” as part of the special issue on Centering Affect and Emotion Toward Justice and Dignity in Science Education, we reflect on the complexities of Whiteness, emotion, and antiracist teaching in science education. Building on McCausland's analysis, we examine how configurations such as white fragility, superiority, apathy, and exceptionalism operate alongside shame and ambivalence to maintain racial comfort and protect Whiteness in classroom spaces. Drawing from our experiences as scholars of Whiteness and former K–12 educators, we reflect on the challenges of facilitating antiracist learning with White interns, particularly within Teacher Education Programs (TEPs) that remain embedded in structures of Whiteness. We briefly reflect on the tension between the justice-oriented aims of teacher preparation and the challenges of securing aligned field placements, particularly within a broader context of increasing political scrutiny of public education. In doing so, we point to the need for continued institutional reflection on how Whiteness operates across both coursework and clinical experiences in science education.

Modeling-based learning engages students in model generation, evaluation, revision, and application. This study specifically investigated the relation between peer critiquing and model revisions so that suggestions can be made for the design of curricula and interventions to support students in model evaluation and revisions. This study engaged 158 high school students in 47 groups in evaluating and revising their models on the topic of carbon cycling. The students' comments received in peer critiques and subsequent changes to their models were coded and analyzed. Qualitative coding and rating were conducted to indicate students' epistemic criteria for critiquing, and changes in model quality after critiquing. Epistemic network analysis (ENA) was employed to investigate the students' epistemic framing demonstrated during peer critiquing, and to relate it to the students' model revision behaviors. A total of 14 different types of epistemic criteria used by students during peer critiquing were identified. Thirty-eight of the 47 groups (81%) revised their models, but only 10 (21%) improved their model quality in terms of the model's scientific merit. The relation between model critiquing and revision or improvement was identified, including: (1) peer critiques focusing on whether the model was complete, original, accurate, provided sufficient information, could support explanation, or needed to be more aesthetic, were more likely to lead to model revisions, and (2) peer critiques employing the completeness- or quantity-centered epistemic framing were better able to elicit significant model improvement compared to those employing the organization-centered epistemic framing. It is concluded that with scaffolding, high school students can conduct peer critiquing with various epistemic criteria and distinct epistemic framing. Instruction needs to pay attention to student language in light of its epistemic framing in peer critiquing, and can start by focusing on criteria and framing that appeal to students, such as the completeness- or quantity-centered epistemic framing, which can lead to productive model improvement. Future research needs to investigate the interplay among peer critiquing and teacher guidance and feedback to augment the effects of peer critiquing. The study also contributes to the literature by combining qualitative coding and quantitative analysis to identify students' epistemic framing significant to model evaluation and revision.

This study seeks to better understand the unique sensemaking assets that rural families weave into their outdoor learning experience while using a location-based mobile app focused on healthy habitats for solitary bees. The project included mobile augmented reality (AR) technologies, which are increasingly used as educational tools at informal learning institutions, including nature centers, to deepen visitors' learning experiences. Guided by the lenses of sociocultural learning theory and an asset-based perspective, we aim to advance the field's understanding of equitable family science learning, with a focus on rural families and their unique ways of knowing and sharing memories together during a guided mobile program centered around a local science issue in their community. Our qualitative approach analyzed the experiences of nine families (29 individuals; 14 adults, 15 youths) from two rural Appalachian counties by capturing their in-the-moment conversations and identifying personally relevant learning moments that contributed to the families' sensemaking around the topic of pollinator habitats. Our analysis of 6.5 h of audiovisual data resulted in 71 sensemaking conversations that exemplify two categories of assets—family experiences (places, people, and shared activities) and rural community connections (localized knowledge of place, ecosystems, and biotic species)—that contributed to the nine families' personally relevant learning experiences. We further identified how these assets facilitated the rural families' sensemaking processes, such as connecting prior observations of natural phenomena to concepts within the app. Recommendations for practitioners and researchers aiming to engage rural family groups with locally relevant science through mobile AR technologies are included.

This study seeks to better understand the unique sensemaking assets that rural families weave into their outdoor learning experience while using a location-based mobile app focused on healthy habitats for solitary bees. The project included mobile augmented reality (AR) technologies, which are increasingly used as educational tools at informal learning institutions, including nature centers, to deepen visitors' learning experiences. Guided by the lenses of sociocultural learning theory and an asset-based perspective, we aim to advance the field's understanding of equitable family science learning, with a focus on rural families and their unique ways of knowing and sharing memories together during a guided mobile program centered around a local science issue in their community. Our qualitative approach analyzed the experiences of nine families (29 individuals; 14 adults, 15 youths) from two rural Appalachian counties by capturing their in-the-moment conversations and identifying personally relevant learning moments that contributed to the families' sensemaking around the topic of pollinator habitats. Our analysis of 6.5 h of audiovisual data resulted in 71 sensemaking conversations that exemplify two categories of assets—family experiences (places, people, and shared activities) and rural community connections (localized knowledge of place, ecosystems, and biotic species)—that contributed to the nine families' personally relevant learning experiences. We further identified how these assets facilitated the rural families' sensemaking processes, such as connecting prior observations of natural phenomena to concepts within the app. Recommendations for practitioners and researchers aiming to engage rural family groups with locally relevant science through mobile AR technologies are included.

Undergraduate research experience programs can provide students with significant opportunities to engage in research and further develop scientist identities. Grounded in theoretical frames of identity compatibility, interactionist approach, and intersectionality we present findings from an undergraduate research experience program intentionally designed to promote the development of a student's scientist identity while welcoming other personal and social identities. Student participants engaged in a reflection activity up to three times over the course of their 2 years in the program. The analysis of their essays revealed students brought with them many personal and social identities to the program and they found ways to make their scientist identity co-exist with their other identities that felt right for them, despite starting the program with feelings of incompatibility. Unlike previous research, how our participants incorporated scientist identity with their other identities suggested qualitatively different selves that included scientist identities. Lastly, participants recognized the importance of the program, university, and greater research community contexts in their identity development. We discuss connections with other identity integration constructs and suggest implications for research and undergraduate research experience programs.