This article presents the findings from a Media and Information Literacy (MIL) project developed by journalism professors from University of Brasilia and conducted on elementary school students in Brazil. It examines teenagers' information practices and discusses the challenges of introducing MIL practices in the current state of information…

Engagement with socioscientific issues (SSI) is seen as an important citizenship goal of SSI-based science education. In this experimental study, Dutch students (age 8 to 13) participated in lesson series in which they learned about and discussed SSI, such as issues related to the textile industry and wastewater. Attitudes toward SSI indicating…

Climate change is an urgent global issue that requires concern and action among a climate literate citizenry. Early childhood climate change education (CCE) affords strong potential for developing this climate literate citizenry. Early childhood educators are critical for this endeavor, and their climate change perspectives, teaching practices,…

Social studies educators who applaud discourse-based approaches may benefit by adding research on argumentation to their conceptual toolkit. We make the case here for its value, in particular emphasizing that argumentation skill needs to develop, suggesting an apprenticeship model of this development and highlighting evidence supporting it.

International research findings offer inclusive education teachers various pedagogical tools to support student diversity in inclusive classrooms to counter educational disadvantages. However, according to previous research, embedding research evidence in pedagogical practice at the classroom level is rare in schools. Our study explored Ghanaian…

This policy brief summarizes results from a survey of over 2,000 K-12 science teachers regarding their instruction related to COVID-19. Teachers were surveyed in the spring of 2020 shortly after school buildings closed. In addition, 40 teachers were interviewed. The brief also discusses implications and recommendations. [This brief is derived from…

Statistical literacy is a skill that will be required by all students, but only limited insights exist into how it can be developed in middle schools. Research is required that identifies design principles and provides didactic materials for developing statistical literacy in actual middle school classrooms, meaning classrooms in which statistics…

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin, is characterised by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities and is encountered in one in every five children. Teachers' pedagogical knowledge plays an important role in the education of students with dyslexia.…

From maps, graphs, and tables to photographs and political cartoons, social studies is replete with potentially rich visual images for students to analyze. Yet, elementary students often struggle to understand the information within such graphics. Many do not demonstrate data literacy, the "ability to comprehend, analyze, and interpret data…

The authors document work in a fifth-grade classroom investigating informational texts. Students investigated a range of informational texts and their potential forms. In the spirit of challenging a given curriculum and conventional understandings of informational texts, texts in the Science Comics series were invited into this learning space.…

Contemporary society demands from individuals new and relevant literacies that go beyond the basics of reading and writing. Furthermore, texts now appear less confined to a single semiotic resource. The proliferation of different forms of communication like visuals, among others, encourages people to use literacy in multiple modalities.…

The ability to analyze and evaluate online sources for credibility continues to be a universal concern. In a 2006 study by the University of Connecticut, seventh graders lacked the ability to discredit a hoax website about a tree octopus. Using the same website in this qualitative study, 68 elementary students shared rationales about the source's…

UNESCO identifies unique places in the World, whether natural or man-made, of universally outstanding value or cultural significance as World Heritage. These places are considered heritage of all mankind, rather than just heritage of a particular area, country, or region. Such sites can be rich sources of information not only for the people of the…

Socioscientific issues (SSI) related teaching may positively influence students' scientific epistemological beliefs (SEB). However, research is limited about elementary school students and the methods of web search. This study aimed to investigate Taiwanese sixth-graders' SEB and the impact of different web searches' information positions…

Research shows that many citizens have misconceptions about the source of their food and fiber. Several organizations have developed agriculture-based curriculum in an effort to increase agricultural literacy. Although there are a number of resources available to teachers, it is unclear which resources are being used and how often they are being…