Science Fun Research Articles

Science Fun Learning for the Students Affected of Natural Disasters

Fun learning will attract students to classroom learning activities learning, especially for victims of natural disasters. Students who experience natural disasters fear doing various things at home and outside the home (school). This study aims to find out whether fun science learning carried out by planting plants can improve students' understanding of learning science. This quantitative descriptive research uses test instruments to measure students' knowledge of family medicinal plant material. The population in this study was elementary school students who were victims of the earthquake natural disaster earthquake in 2022, while the research sample was 15 elementary school students. This sampling is done randomly. The data obtained were analyzed descriptively to determine improved student understanding of learning science. The results of data analysis showed that science fun learning applied through outdoor learning activities by planting family medicinal plants can increase students' understanding related to science material. However, the improvement is categorized as low based on the N-gain score 0.2. The recommendation of this study is to improve student understanding of when fun science learning should be supplemented with other methods by referring to the local wisdom of participants. Thus, the feeling of trauma that saddens the survivors will be slightly forgotten with fun activities and education.

DNA isolation at a distance: Undergraduate experiential learning to create a virtual elementary outreach program.

The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the realities of science education, and the move to remote learning has made laboratory instruction particularly challenging. Extensive efforts have been made to design virtual labs,1, 2 including efforts to create at-home wet lab experiments.3 In addition to remote wet labs, we experienced an additional challenge: continuing our elementary outreach program. Each year we host a STEM outreach for several hundred local students. Undergraduates help guide elementary students through an activity isolating their own DNA from cheek cells. To address the need for remote labs and to continue our elementary outreach program, we united the two in a virtual experiential learning approach. Undergraduate students, faculty, and instructional design staff worked collaboratively to create an interactive video of DNA isolation and a YouTube channel, SciKids Network, to share the digital content. Experiential outreach opportunities improve academic performance and STEM enthusiasm in both elementary students4, 5 and their undergraduate mentors.6, 7 With the suspension of our outreach program, we sought to continue this valuable experience through a virtual format. Working collaboratively, undergraduate students adapted the lab-based DNA isolation protocol to a version that could be easily performed at home. They converted metric units to US customary units, and identified reagents and equipment commonly available in a kitchen. Students learned how to trouble-shoot as they independently iterated through the protocol. After finalizing the at-home method (Figure 1a), students filmed themselves performing the protocol using smartphones or other devices. They provided age-appropriate commentary and instructions for their elementary audience. Student film clips were edited together into a single, cohesive video for the elementary audience. We used Adobe Premiere and Adobe Illustrator to create the final video, adding visual and auditory aids to improve the clarity of instructions and engagement. Three major goals for the outreach video were to: (1) make science fun and accessible, (2) teach the concept of DNA through a hands-on activity, and (3) create an inclusive experience for elementary students. By compiling many students' clips, we sought to celebrate diversity and show elementary students that everyone can be a scientist (Figure 1b). Studies have demonstrated that early intervention in elementary students' perception of scientists can increase enthusiasm and participation in STEM, particularly for underrepresented groups.8 Our pre-pandemic outreach program was geographically limited to local schools, and the move to a virtual format created the opportunity to reach a broader audience. To share the video, we developed a new YouTube channel, SciKids Network (Figure 1c, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU23sXeFXVm98ScDcXRAmbA), hosted by our institution. We will continue to create biology content for the channel, as well as broaden the scope to other STEM fields. While remote learning has been challenging, it stimulated us to develop a digital outreach platform that connects with a larger audience, offers more equitable access to learning opportunities, and is primed for future growth of content to promote STEM literacy. We would like to thank the students who created the video content: Pablo Reina-Gonzalez, Emnet Sisay, and Shelby McVey. We would like to thank our instructional designer, Sacharja Cunningham for his support with software and the channel creation and our graphic designer, Brad Lewthwaite for his logo designs for SciKids network, as well as Hamilton College LITS and Communications departments. Our project was supported by the Social Innovation and Transformational Leadership Grant from the Hamilton College Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center and by the National Science Foundation: grant MCB-1925546.

STEM focused extracurricular programs: who’s in them and do they change STEM identity and motivation?

ABSTRACT Background: Middle school students elected to participate in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) extracurricular programs (EPs). Researchers examined and compared science motivation, STEM career identity, and STEM college confidence among participants and non-participants. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to investigate differences in STEM EP participants and non-participants in their STEM motivation and identity at the beginning of participation, at the end of participation, and changes over time. Programme description: The STEM EPs in which students participated were Girls in STEM, Science Olympiad, and Math Counts. Girls in STEM focuses on exposing girls to STEM experiences and career. Science Olympiad complements classroom science through school-wide events, Science Fun Days or Science Fun Nights, and members have the option of competing in a tournament. Math Counts is a competitive mathematics program where students participate in spelling-bee-style competitions after receiving targeted math coaching. Sample: This study was conducted at a STEM-focused middle school (grades 6–8); 733 students (59% female) completed both the fall and spring surveys, with 71 students in STEM EPs (41% female) taking both surveys. Design and methods: Students completed surveys aimed at assessing science motivation, STEM career identity, and STEM college confidence in the fall and spring. Researchers analyzed data using logistic regression and linear mixed modeling. Results: Girls who participate in STEM EPs have a stronger STEM career identity and greater science motivation than non-participant girls. STEM EP participation is associated with greater spring science motivation and STEM career identity and less decline in STEM motivation and career identity from fall to spring. Conclusions: There are gender differences in characteristics of students who participate in STEM EPs. STEM EPs have the power to reduce declines in STEM career identity and science motivation typically experienced in middle school.

Science 101: How Can I Make Science Fun and Have Students Learn More By Using Phenomenon-Based Learning?

Science 101: How Can I Make Science Fun and Have Students Learn More By Using Phenomenon-Based Learning?

NASA Sent Me to Space Camp: Alumnus Wins National Award for Mission to Make Science Fun

NASA Sent Me to Space Camp: Alumnus Wins National Award for Mission to Make Science Fun

Pre-School Science Education: The Development and Evaluation of Science Teaching Materials

It has been aimed with this study that the pre-school teaching candidates develop the science teaching materials as to use in teaching the science subjects, that the factors that the teaching candidates pay attention to develop the teaching material and the contribution of teaching material development process to them are determined. The study was conducted with the participation of 54 third-year undergraduate students majoring in Preschool Teaching. Teaching materials prepared by prospective teachers were examined using descriptive analysis. It was found that prospective teachers took care to build colorful and fun materials designed to attract children’s attention, using easy to source materials. The use of teaching materials in science education is important for drawing and retaining students’ attention, for making science fun, and for achieving long-term and meaningful learning.

LISTENING TO LEARNERS’ VIEWS ABOUT THE VALUE OF PRACTICAL WORK IN NATURAL SCIENCES

Ponte Academic JournalDec 2017, Volume 73, Issue 12 LISTENING TO LEARNERS’ VIEWS ABOUT THE VALUE OF PRACTICAL WORK IN NATURAL SCIENCESAuthor(s): R. Mudaly ,Ms Reesha PremduttJ. Ponte - Dec 2017 - Volume 73 - Issue 12 doi: 10.21506/j.ponte.2017.12.56 Abstract:Teaching and learning by engaging learners in practical work in science is regarded as useful in linking theory to practice. Practical work is linked to inquiry based learning, and is seen as a route to learning how to apply the scientific method. Within the South African context, where learner performance in Science and Mathematics has been dismal based on international and national evaluative tests, the importance of practical work has received greater attention. A large amount of the work that has been done about practical work in science classrooms focusses on practicing or pre-service teachers. Little attention has been directed to what learners say about practical work. We address this paucity by exploring learners’ views about practical work, through the following question: “What are learners’ views about the effectiveness of practical work in Natural Sciences classrooms? Why do learners hold these views?” In order to respond to these questions we designed a qualitative study within an interpretivist paradigm. We purposively selected grade nine Natural Sciences learners who participated in individual and focus group interviews. Our findings reveal that all the participants valued practical work for four reasons. First, practical work enabled learning of science process skills; second, it deepened conceptual understanding; third, it made science fun and enjoyable and finally, it enabled them to relate classroom science to activities in daily life. These findings are significant to science teachers and policy makers who determine the scope of practical work. Download full text:Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution Username Password

Science Class with RoboThespian: Using a Robot Teacher to Make Science Fun and Engage Students

There is growing interest in observing how interaction with a robot can enhance human learning. Recent studies of educational processes mediated by human-like robots (HLRs) focused mainly on individual learning with robot companions. This article presents a study of a science lesson mediated by the life-size humanoid robot, RoboThespian. Participants in the study were school groups from grades 5-7 who participated in a lesson at the science museum MadaTech in two different classroom environments. The study evaluated the effectiveness in learning new science concepts and creating positive perceptions of the robot teacher. The results show that the lesson achieved its educational objectives. The level of learning interaction was influenced by the design of learning activities, robot behaviors, and the students' perceived psychological distance from the robot.

Sir Howard Dalton. 8 February 1944 — 12 January 2008

Howard Dalton was an outstanding microbiologist who, after his remarkably productive DPhil work in the Nitrogen Fixation Laboratory at the University of Sussex, and a short period in the USA, spent his research career at the University of Warwick. He devoted himself to the elucidation of the process of methane oxidation by bacteria that use this relatively inert gas as their sole source of carbon and energy. He discovered two completely novel multicomponent monooxygenase enzymes responsible for the initial oxidation of methane to methanol. He then continued to elucidate their functions, mechanisms, regulation and structures. Their wide substrate specificity led to his interest in using these and related enzymes for biocatalysis, biological transformations and bioremediation. While remaining at Warwick University he also acted as a highly appreciated Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Government at the Department for the Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra). Howard was a highly effective scientist, a down-to-earth, self-effacing man, outgoing and witty, an inspirational colleague who above all else made science fun.

Earthquake School in the Cloud: Citizen Seismologists in Taiwan

It is hoped that through the cultivation of a crew of volunteer citizen seismologists, public involvement could be encouraged and the discovery and inquiry into earthquake knowledge could be promoted. These volunteers can contribute to data collection, analysis, and reporting, and have the potential to greatly improve the emergency response to earthquakes. The Citizen Seismologists in Taiwan Project (CSTaiwan) is designed to elevate the quality of earthquake science education by incorporating earthquake and tsunami stories and educational earthquake games into traditional school curricula. The project aims to build a cloud-based computing service incorporating an earthquake school (i.e., a website for online learning) where teachers can easily teach their students about earthquakes and children can learn about earthquakes in a fun environment. Here we demonstrate how students perform P -a ndS-wave picking and measure seismic intensity through an interactive learning platform, how scientists and school teachers work together, and how we create a near-realtime earthquake games competition to facilitate continuous learning while making earthquake science fun. We also develop 49 questions associated with participants’ preknowledge, attitude, and skills in earthquake sciences, called Citizen Seismological Literacy (CSL). The CSL model may serve as an example to quantify citizen’s background in earthquake sciences and could be applied as a framework for seismologists around the world who wish to approach the public for educational purposes, while considering promoting the public’s seismologic literacy.

Walter J. Koch: two decades, one mission.

Temple University Professor and Chairman of Pharmacology Walter J. (“Wally”) Koch, PhD, has been on a career-long mission to elucidate molecular mechanisms of heart failure. Studying a family of kinases that regulate adrenergic receptors and other G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) in the heart, Koch has focused on one such kinase, GRK2,1 which at high levels impairs myocytes and promotes cell death. Two decades of basic and preclinical work with GRK2 have put the 54-year-old Koch and his colleagues on the threshold of human trials using adeno-associated viral-mediated myocardial gene delivery to try to reverse heart failure.2–4 Koch has also shed new light on GRK5, including showing how this enzyme enters a heart cell’s nucleus, where it contributes to hypertrophy.5,6 Koch, a native of Bryan, Ohio, first pursued his interest in science by following a friend’s path to pharmacy school at the University of Toledo. Koch earned his PhD in pharmacology and cell biophysics from the University of Cincinnati, completed a Howard Hughes Medical Institute fellowship at Duke University, joined the Duke faculty, and advanced to a tenured professor of surgery. In 2003 he moved to Philadelphia to launch Thomas Jefferson University’s Center for Translational Medicine, and in 2012 established the Center for Translational Medicine at Temple. In 1995, when Koch started his own lab, he knew he wanted to be the “champion” of GRK2 in the heart and develop GRK2 inhibitors for heart failure. “Twenty years later,” he says in describing his journey, “we’re almost there.” Walter J. Koch My father was a truck driver, a World War II veteran. He hauled steel between Cleveland and Chicago, so he was not home during the week. My mom stayed home. There were five kids; I’m the baby. I went to Catholic grade school and …

SCIENCE FUN DAY AS A SERVICE LEARNING ACTIVITY: EVALUATION, EXPERIENCE, AND PERCEPTIONS OF SCIENCE PRESERVICE TEACHERS

INTRODUCTION:Service learning is an approach that can be utilized to enable students incorporate service related activities with their academics (Bates, 2009). Through service learning, students can improve their self-esteem, self-efficacy, and social responsibility (Conrad & Hedin, 1991; Wade, 1995; as cited by Bates, 2009).In teacher education, service learning has a powerful role to play (Durbin & Marchel, n.d.). Service learning allows pre-service teachers to experience situations that will make them mature both in their personal and professional life (Chambers & Lavery, 2012). Teacher education should incorporate service learning to open up the minds of future teachers to develop a commitment and be sensitive to the needs of the society.University X as the National Center for Teacher Education in the Philippines has been assigned to spearhead innovations that will help improve the teacher preparation programs in the country. One way of extending service to the country is through extension programs. Hence, the preservice teachers who are the subjects of this research have been enabled to do extension programs in their selected communities.In this research, the extension program called Science Fun Day is a form of service learning activity that science preservice teachers participated. This research has been undertaken to evaluate the activities during the implementation of the Science Fun Day through self -evaluation of the preservice teachers themselves. The experience of preservice teachers on the said service learning activities were also determined. Preservice teachers perceived implications of the service learning to their future practice was also investigated.The results of this research will be important to teacher education institutions in the Philippines to evaluate the possibility of integrating service learning activity in their course programs. With the challenges faced by the Department of Education on literacy and malnutrition, service learning facilitated by preservice teachers maybe a potential source of help.REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE:Service learning is the utilization of community oriented activities in academic context (http://www.sonoma.edu). The modus-operandi of service learning is experiential learning by rendering service (Crew, 1995; as cited by Chambers & Lavery, 2012). It is a pedagogy that allows students to directly apply the concepts they have in community outreach programs.Service learning positively learning affect students in different ways. Astin, Vogelgesang, Ikeda and Yee (2000), through their longitudinal study, described that students who participated in service learning developed different outcome measures like academic performance, values, and self -efficacy. Through service-learning, students are able to possess a sense of ownership that created difference in the way they understood concepts in the classroom (Bates, 2009). Spencer, Cox -Petersen, and Crawford (2005) described that compared with traditional teacher training, service learning provides a rich context of teaching and learning for preservice teachers. With these positive effects of service learning, many institutions have opted to adopt the pedagogy in the different disciplines for its viability to enhance the quality of education (Billig, 2003).In teacher education, service learning encourages teachers to develop both their personal and professional careers (Chambers & Lavery, 2012). Preservice teachers described that through service learning, they are able to learn course contents that they are taking (Castellan, 2011). Bates (2009) described that service learning is an important pedagogy to be experienced by preservice teachers as well as the university faculty members not just for personal growth but for the impact that teachers can do in the classroom through the said type of learning. Kezar (2005) sees service learning as a potential social justice enterprise that can help students develop positive attitudes through meaningful experiences in their classes making them become responsive and active citizens. …

Measuring Brain Activity in Fourth Grade Students Through Biopac Science Lab

Recently the American Physiology Society (APS) has been working to increase learning and making science fun for elementary school students. Physiology Understanding Week (PhUn) is the APS initiative to use interactive experiments to engage school‐age children with science and physiology. In this project we used a Biopac MP40 system to measure brain activity of fourth grade students at Dixie Bee Elementary School. The activity was divided in 5 different sessions, one per room, in two different days, reaching 116 elementary school students. Each room was divided in small 4‐student groups with the following general activity set‐up: 1) brief presentation about brain physiology using a brain model, 2) measuring brain activity during 3 different conditions, 3) analyzing collected data, and 4) discussing obtained results. Three electrodes were placed behind the student's ear, 2 students per group. Brain activity was collected during 4 different activities: 1) resting with eyes closed, 2) doing a math problem, 3) writing a sentence in cursive, and 4) playing catch with tennis ball. Our goal was to illustrate how brain activity changes while performing different tasks. The other 2 students controlled the computer and observe the changes in brain activity while they recorded the results. The students completed charts with the values of alpha, beta, and delta waves for each of the activities performed. This activity allowed the students to use applied technology while learning about the functions of the brain. This interactive method enables students to be more involved and interested in science; it also captures their attention and makes learning ‘PhUn’.Supported by IU AHEC 14/15 #PIU081 and APS PhUn week program

Reconceptualizing Elementary Teacher Preparation: A case for informal science education

The purpose of this case study was to explore the ways in which 3 different informal science experiences in the context of an elementary methods course influenced a group of prospective elementary teachers' ideas about science teaching and learning as well as their understandings about the role of informal science environments to teaching and learning. In order to address this question, data were collected in a period of an academic semester through the following sources: journal entries for each of the 3 experiences, a personal teaching philosophy statement and a 2-hour long semi-structured interview with each of the 12 participants. Open coding techniques were used to analyze the data in order to construct categories and subcategories and eventually to identify emerging themes. The outcomes of the analysis showed that the inclusion of informal science experiences in the context of teacher preparation has the potential to support beginning elementary teachers' development of contemporary ideas about science teaching and learning related to inquiry-based science, the nature of scientific work and the work of scientists, connecting science with everyday life, and making science fun and personally meaningful. These findings are discussed alongside implications for policy, teacher preparation, and research under these themes: (a) addressing reform recommendations; (b) developing positive orientations toward science and science teaching; and (c) constructing understandings about scientists' work.

The fun of science.

Recently, I was reminded that my job as a graduate student in a science lab is actually “really cool.” I was in need of a reminder. I was nearing the end of my fourth year, and I was in a research rut I couldn't seem to escape.*A group of friends from my undergraduate days invited me to spend a late-spring weekend at a lakefront cabin. Our plans to enjoy the lake and the lengthening daylight were dashed by a cold front that came through, bringing 2 days of rain. We still managed to enjoy ourselves, though, by playing card games, making ridiculously good barbecued pork, and reminiscing. The weather changed eventually, and on our last night at the cabin, we were able to spend some time outside. We built a bonfire. One of the guys went to look for wood and came back with a butane torch. He discovered that he could melt holes in empty aluminum beverage cans. (I quickly located my cellphone in case I needed to call 911; even on weekend trips, apparently, I cannot escape my role as safety officer.) One of the guys asked if I wanted a turn, but I declined. “No thanks,” I said. “I get to use one of those at work.” ![Figure][1] We make things. We play. And the people we work with are great. ILLUSTRATION: MARC ROSENTHAL After a short, puzzled look, my friend replied, “Really? Why?” Me: Usually to make sure our glassware and sample pans are clean and dry. My Friend: Cool. And nothing melts? Me: No, it's either glass or platinum. The metal gets all glowy. (Clearly my public-outreach vocabulary needs work.) My Friend: What else do you get to use? The conversation continued along those lines. I learned that my work—with torches, liquid nitrogen, reagents, and a bunch of solvents and, especially, the fact that I get to make things—is impressive to people who spend 40 hours a week in an office. True, they are impressed by different things than I am: To me, fluorine-19 NMR is really cool, but that one didn't rate so high with my nonscientist friends. They preferred the fact that we occasionally use liquid nitrogen to make ice cream. Refreshed from the trip, I returned to the lab and tried to convince my lab mates that, according to some people, doing science is cool because we get to use butane torches and do other interesting things. I'm not sure they were convinced, but for me the message really hit home a few weeks later, as I was reading a post at the blog Tenure, She Wrote. The post I was reading (which I highly recommend) was about the reasons why it's good to be a woman in science ( ). Number one is, “We get to do science.” The writer even describes science as “kick-arse.” I hadn't recognized it until that reminder from my friends, but it's true: We get to do cool things, and it's not just playing with torches. Whenever I decide that my work is getting boring, I can go and learn a new technique. I'm encouraged to argue with my lab mates and my adviser, and I win praise for making things up—that is, for coming up with ideas and solving problems in creative ways. We make things. We play. And the people we work with are great. Shortly after my return from the cabin, I started working with two undergraduate students who were participating in a summer research experience. Having their fresh eyes and energy in the lab served as a further reminder that I had chosen an interesting and exciting career. Furthermore, the added responsibility forced me to organize my work and manage my time more effectively; I had to be sure that the undergrads' project stayed on schedule and that they always had something to do. Being a mentor while completing my own assignments raised my confidence. I escaped my rut. It's true: Being a scientist really is “kick-arse.” If you ever forget that, go spend time with friends whose jobs don't allow them to make things and play with cool toys. They surely will remind you. [1]: pending:yes

Very Small Embryonic-Like Stem Cells: Are They Real?

Testing hypotheses is usually considered the driving force that advances science; however, there is another force that not only advances science, it can also make science fun and engaging to watch: that driving force is controversy. The history of science is riddled with controversies. Perhaps, the most immediate that comes to mind is the controversial future use of induced pluripotent stem cells [1]. However, in the late 1980s and early ‘90s, one of the more overwhelmingly heated controversies dealt with how cells moved, by membrane flow or actin-based, focal adhesion. It was so heated, I remember sitting in the audience at a regional cell biology meeting, where insults were flung between rival laboratories during question and answer periods. Interestingly, as of 2013, what has emerged from that area of research is a general overarching theme that neither set of ideas was wrong. In fact, there are many ways of accounting for cell shapes and steady motion [2]. That was then, this is now.In this volume of SCD, fuel for a new generation of controversy resides in the evolution of very small embryonic-like stem cells (VSELs) [3]. Overall, the data the authors put forth for the existence of these cells are compelling. In fact, it is difficult to shake the feeling that the authors are on to something here. In Anand et al., the work revolves around efforts for restoring spermatogenesis to male cancer patients. The most striking data they show is the ability of distinct bone marrow cells to regenerate spermatogenesis within testes depleted of spermatogonia as a result of chemical ablation. However, before those data are presented, the hypothesis that VSELs are at the core of this regeneration is tested. Anand et al. clearly show that routine busulfan treatment virtually obliterates the proliferating spermatogonial cell population, but left behind within seminiferous tubules is a small subset of cells that express Sca-1 and Oct4A (the nuclear form). They then use cell sorting flow cytometry to characterize these cells by size and marker identification, first in mice and then in humans who are azoospermic survivors of childhood cancers. These latter sets of data are what really begin to raise eyebrows. The fact that a clinical similarity between the mouse model and a relatively equivalent set of human patients adds fuel to the controversy that VSELs may actually exist, furthering the need for more detailed analyses. It is the mesenchymal cell transplant data that really take us beyond raising eyebrows and more toward opening eyes. Histological sections of busulfan-treated testes that were transplanted with bone marrow cells two months earlier show striking examples of sperm production. The sperm appear to be morphologically normal and motile. How does the VSEL story fit in with the transplant data? The answer put forth is that the somatic cell transplants reengage spermatogenesis by replenishing the seminiferous tubule and somatic (ie, Leydig cells) compartment niches with a source of growth factors and cytokines. So where is the controversy? It comes from Irv Weismann’s laboratory, which has cast doubt on the existence of VSELs. An article from NBC News health (www.nbcnews. com/health/bioethicist-failed-search-controversial-formstem-cells-shows-danger-mixing-6C10776643) illustrated Dr. Weismann’s point of view. In essence, using a good bank of experiments, Weismann’s group could not confirm the existence of VSELs [4]. Specifically, they determined that most events within the VSEL flow cytometry gate had little DNA and the cells corresponding to these events could not form spheres. They also determined that these cells did not express Oct4 and could not differentiate into blood cells. The NBC News health story also delved into ethical issues between the adult stem cell and embryonic stem cell circles with respect to the potential of VSELs; however, the topic could turn this short editorial into a dissertation. So, I shall save that discussion for another day. The controversy, though, remains impassioned (as of July 24th 2013) as the blog article from SCOPE supported by Stanford University Medicine, http://scopeblog.stanford.edu/ 2013/07/24/very-small-embryonic-like-stem-cells-may-notexist-say-stanford-researchers/, enables members from both laboratories to rebut each other’s points about the existence or not of VSELs. So far the debate remains meaningful and civil with both parties making sound points. Also, Anand et al. in this volume of SCD make further comments on the NBC News health article and the work by Miyanishi et al. (2013) [4]. From an outsider’s point of view, these types of polarized points can keep science and the scientific community enthralled in a ‘‘which way is the science going to take us’’ storyline. Is one set of ideas going to triumph about the existence of VSELs or will there eventually be a resolution where both sides’ hypotheses contain aspects that are

Using a Ludic Simulation to Make Learning of Middle School Space Science Fun

In this paper, the authors describe a ludic simulation designed for middle school space science and examine its use to support students’ learning and motivation. The participants were 383 sixth graders and 447 seventh graders. The findings of this study showed that sixth- and seventh-graders perceived the simulation as having substantial ludic characteristics and educational value. The results indicated that having a playful experience is important for this age group and that participating in a ludic simulation can help motivate students to learn school subjects. Results also indicated that incorporating ludus into the learning experience can improve students’ attitudes toward the subject matter. Implications of policy, research, and practice with regard to using ludic simulations to support classroom-based learning were discussed.

Development of Apolipoprotein E–Deficient Mice

The first mouse carrying a deletion mutation in its apolipoprotein E (apoE) gene was born in our mouse colony in the summer of 1991. Our ongoing experiments to that point had indicated that this would happen, but the realization that the mouse in front of my eyes had inherited a mutation that we had designed and made in the laboratory filled me with awe. It did not occur to me immediately that this mouse would develop hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerosis and dictate the direction of my research for the next 20 years. I here briefly describe the background and my personal experience that led to the development of apoE-deficient mice as a model for human atherosclerosis. As a research scientist in the Department of Genetics at the University of Wisconsin, my main interest during the early 1980s was directed toward understanding how different types of DNA recombination contribute to the architecture and diversity of individual genomes within human populations and to DNA differences between humans and nonhuman primates. My studies clearly showed that new alleles and new genes are constantly being formed in the human genome by recombinational events, particularly between existing members of multigene families. There also appeared to be hot spots for recombination. By tracing a history of the human haptoglobin-gene cluster from the present-day structures in human populations and in other primates, I found that a single recombination event between related genes often produces much more drastic changes in the genome than those that result from simple point mutations.1 Whether this frequent yet natural occurrence of homologous recombination in the mammalian genome could be used to alter the genome of mammalian cells in culture in a preplanned fashion became a question of interest to several laboratories.2,3 An affirmative answer was first obtained in 1985, …

Creativity, inquiry, or accountability? Scientists' and teachers' perceptions of science education

AbstractAlthough there have been numerous studies that indicate the benefits of teachers and students working with scientists, there is little research that documents scientists' views of science education, science teacher preparation, and the goals of science education. Furthermore, little is known about how scientists' views of science education may differ from those held by science teachers. Through the use of semistructured interviews, the perceptions of 37 scientists from diverse science domains and 21 middle and high school science teachers were explored. Participating scientists expressed concerns about the variability in quality of teaching, programs, and resources available for science instruction. Scientists expressed a desire for teachers to have more experience conducting science research and developing their own critical thinking skills. When asked what goals are most important for science education, 40% of the scientists emphasized that teachers should make science fun and exciting for their students. Science teachers' perceptions of science education were compared with the scientists' perceptions. Thirty percent of the teachers agreed with the scientists that too much variability in program or instructional quality exists in science education. Seventy‐six percent of the science teachers also thought there is a need to teach critical thinking skills, but more importantly there is a need to inspire creativity and a desire to learn science in students. Both teachers and scientists expressed concerns about how high‐stakes accountability inhibits efforts to improve science education. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed 92:1058–1075, 2008

National Science Board Honors Public Service

Aformer NSF director and the first American woman to walk in space are among this year’s winners of awards presented by the National Science Board, the governing board of NSF, in May at a dinner hosted by the State Department. Richard C. Atkinson, who directed NSF from 1977 to 1980, received the NSB’s top honor, the 2003 Vannevar Bush Award, for his “contributions to our understanding of human cognition and his vigorous advocacy of the scientific enterprise in the public interest.” According to the board, his research on the nature of memory “led to better understanding of brain structures that relate to psychological phenomena and the effects drugs have on the memory.” In the 1960s, he created one of the first computer-controlled systems for classroom instruction, work that led to the commercialization of computer-assisted instructional systems. During his tenure as NSF’s director, Atkinson negotiated the first-ever memorandum of understanding between the US and the People’s Republic of China. That effort helped “[open] the doors for major exchanges of scientists and scholars between the two nations,” declared the NSB. Atkinson was named president of the University of California system in 1995. He will retire from that post on 1 October.A former NASA astronaut, a radio show, and a nonprofit educational organization garnered the NSB’s Public Service Awards. Kathryn D. Sullivan, the first American woman to walk in space, was honored with the individual award for her “accomplishments as an explorer of Earth and space, a science educator, and a role model for girls and young women.” Sullivan is president and CEO of COSI Columbus, a science center in Columbus, Ohio, whose focus is to make science fun through hands-on discovery.The group award went to the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing and the radio series Earth & Sky . The NSB acknowledged CASW, a nonprofit educational organization, for its “achievement in bringing together scientists and science writers for the purpose of improving the quality of science news reaching the public.” The council, located in Hedgesville, West Virginia, funds programs to help journalists and science writers present accurate and informative news stories about developments in science, medicine, and technology. Earth & Sky, a 90-second radio series produced by the nonprofit organization Earth & Sky Inc based in Austin, Texas, was recognized for its “achievement in broadcasting explanations of research and everyday science to a worldwide audience.” The program is broadcast by nearly 680 radio stations in the US and heard internationally on other radio networks. Atkinson PPT|High resolution Sullivan COSI COLUMBUSPPT|High resolution© 2003 American Institute of Physics.