Silver and its compounds have been widely used in experimental teaching, industrial production, and other fields. In these processes, a large amount of wastewater containing silver is usually produced, which might contribute to environmental pollution. Therefore, recycling silver from wastewater not only has good economic value but also meets the…

Physics teachers around the world are trying to create classroom environments that would allow life science students to be more intrinsically motivated in their work. These efforts include, among others, matching classroom activities to students' interests as well as structurally variable activities to match different student abilities. While…

My childhood experience in school was fragmented from my out of school experience where I lived in rural China. School subject matters were reduced to bits and pieces. I excelled in this artificial symbolic world. Progressing from preschool to graduate school, I trained to teach in that world, and gained the opportunity to study at Harvard. My…

In this commentary on Per Anderhag, Per-Olof Wickman and Karim Hamza's article "Signs of taste for science," I consider how their study is situated within the concern for the role of science education in the social and cultural production of inequality. Their article provides a finely detailed methodology for analyzing the constitution…

It was a pleasant surprise to see Gary White's call for papers on race and physics teaching. We definitely think that the physics teaching and learning of students from diverse and minority backgrounds is an important issue to discuss, especially given the fact that bias and discrimination are common experiences in the lives of many Latinx,…

Care must be given to align curricular goal and instructional methods, materials, and assessments. Student effort, student interest in science and pupil perseverance are key factors that impact the learning process. Educators must be aware of the interactions among these critical concepts to assist students in attaining desired outcomes.

As a science leader in her school, the author is always looking for new and interesting ways to inspire children in the science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) subjects. Attending several science conferences introduced her to new STEM programs, such as Street Science and fractals. In this article, she shares a couple of the activities…

"Making" as an educational approach holds promise both for introducing mentors into STEM programming and for showing girls new pathways into STEM (Wittemyer & Gill, 2014). With its merger of cutting-edge technology and traditional arts and crafts, "Making" can help girls learn about electronics, robotics, metalwork,…

EngineeringUK estimates that the UK will require 87,000 new engineers a year over the next ten years. However, with skills shortages threatening to derail the UK's engineering industry, it is clear that immediate action needs to be taken if this quota is to be met. In this article, Vincent English, managing director of Vernier Europe, offers his…

Children are naturally curious about the world around them and are often intrigued by everyday objects and experiences. Primary school teachers frequently make use of "WOW moments" to generate children's interest in science (Feasey, 2005). These moments capitalise on the children's fascination with objects and experiences in their…

Despite attempts to generate interest in science and technology careers, US students continue to show reduced interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) majors at the collegiate level. If girls are not engaged in STEM learning by the middle school level, studies show that they are even less likely to choose a science- or…

Elementary science experiences help develop students' views of science and scientific interests. As a result, teachers have been charged with the task of inspiring, cultivating, recruiting, and training the scientists needed to create tomorrow's innovations and solve future problems (Business Roundtable 2005). Who will these future…

The number of students majoring in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) is declining due in part to a lack of student interest (Fairweather 2008; NRC 2012; PCAST 2010). One reason may be the difference between how science is done in school and how it is done in the field (Osborne, Simon, and Collins 2003). An interdisciplinary…

With the emphasis placed on standardized testing, science education has been squeezed out. As a physics teacher, the author knows the importance of building children's interest in science early in their school career and of providing practice in basic science skills and inquiry. In order to make more time for science at her sons' elementary…

In this article the author describes the "Derby Design Day" project--a project that paired high school honors physics students with second-grade children for a design challenge and competition. The overall project goals were to discover whether collaboration in a design process would: (1) increase an interest in science; (2) enhance the…