Biodiversity education is widely considered a necessary component of protecting global biodiversity by helping to change harmful attitudes and actions. BioBlitz events, rapid surveys of all living things in a defined area over a set period, are becoming a widely used practice for biodiversity education. The aim of this study was to evaluate the…

Would you like to help your students adjust to university life? Perhaps you are simply interested in allowing them to feel more integrated into a department right from the start of their first year? These were the types of issues that we were hoping to address when we founded the MySci Advisors Program, a peer-mentoring group for first year…

Supplemental instruction (SI) has proven highly effective at improving success rates in high-risk first and second-year courses, in part because peerled SI sessions inculcate best-practice study skills in a specific learning context which provides opportunities for skill mastery. A successful SI program in the Faculty of Science at the University…

It has long been recognized that engineers need a variety of skills, including technical and social, to succeed professionally. Attempts to include social skills (i.e., communication, teamwork, and leadership) in engineering education are relatively recent (i.e., within the last decade). Thus, the current study investigates whether social goals…

This article describes the design and implementation of a workshop on teaching and learning for graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) in a Faculty of Science at a major Canadian research-intensive university. The approach borrows heavily from an existing successful workshop for faculty but is tailored specifically to the needs of GTAs in science in…

This paper reports on several phases of a five-year science education development project in Nunavut, Canada. The project, in its entirety, was established as a Pilot Program for Nunavut schools in effort to understand school community aspirations for science education and potential contributors and impediments to fostering the realization of…

Over the past three decades, environmental issues have been on the global forefront and continue to affect people's daily lives. Although the need for environmental attention is at an all-time high, outdoor and environmental education (OEE) plays an insufficient role in school systems. As technology continues to contribute to advancements in every…

Outlines a laboratory course entitled Inorganic Chemistry for Biological Sciences'' which is designed primarily for juniors in biochemistry, physiology, and soil sciences. Inclusion of relevant environmental topics is indicated. (CC)

Presents observations on the present status and future prospects of environment-focused programs in Canadian post-secondary educational institutions. Environmental education is firmly established in many cases, but the field will face changes in issues and emphasis in future years. (WB)

A low percentage of young women choose to pursue studies in science and mathematics although science and technology continue to dominate change and drive social and economic trends. This guide, compiled by the Nova Scotia Women's Directorate, is a national inventory of 92 programs in Canada designed to teach science and mathematics to girls and…

Describes an innovative freshman chemistry program in which course sequences have been designed to accommodate students with strong or weak chemistry backgrounds or with no previous chemistry at all. Includes information on courses offered, instructional strategies, and laboratory examinations. (JN)

For more than 12 years, the Atlantic Science Curriculum Project (ASCP) has attempted to find a feasible path for educational reform in Canada. This search for a voluntary, regionally initiated path to educational reform was necessitated by the absence of substantial federal and provincial and private foundation sources of funding for science…

The culture of science is more than science-as knowledge. It is even more than science-as-method. It includes public awareness of the impact of science-technology and mathematics on the economic and social well-being of citizens and their opportunity and readiness to enter into civic discussions of scientific issues. The culture of science in this…

This document, published by the Ministry of Education of British Columbia, represents an extensive modification of the 1969 permissive elementary science program, a materials-based program which necessitates the involvement of students in scientific activities and explorations. Science teaching involves the student in the processes of science.…

Discusses a successful program in which University of Calgary science/engineering departments offer high school students the opportunity to work on a research project under guidance of a faculty member. Includes history and benefits of the program, selection of students, project work, and orientation/seminar days. (Author/JN)