Many science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) outreach programs focus on children, but relatively few efforts are dedicated to voting-age populations. These groups are important to reach because misinformation about science is widespread and difficult to detect, often interfering with informed voting on science-related issues. Science…

Coherent curricula are needed to help students develop deep understanding of important ideas in science. Too often students experience curriculum that is piecemeal and lacks coordination and consistency across time, topics, and disciplines. Investigating and Questioning our World through Science and Technology (IQWST) is a middle school science…

While the goal of science education used to be to produce more scientists, that goal has changed with the introduction of the National Science Education Standards (NSES) (NRC 1996). Society has recognized that it is essential for everyone, regardless of vocation, to understand the fundamentals of science and technology. The phrase that has come to…

Criticism about the lack of diversity among those receiving graduate degrees in various scientific fields, particularly in family and consumer sciences (FCS), has been growing for years. One approach to diversifying the profession and higher education in general is to enhance the preparation of students on the undergraduate level by identifying…

Although the goal of science courses for non-majors should be to increase the scientific literacy of students, many such courses become watered down versions of courses in the major and do not provide enough depth to make science meaningful to students. At the Wabash Valley Region campus of Ivy Tech State College, in Indiana, a project was…

This three-part yearbook begins with a characterization of science education practices based on extensive national studies conducted during the period 1977 to 1983 and a discussion of several efforts which address the current crisis in science education. The second part consists of essays focusing on practical, program, and on political and policy…