In the past decade, public sentiment has shifted increasingly to question the value of a college education. These concerns have diverse causes, including the rising cost and questions about the return on investment of higher education, the growing precariousness and insecurity of middle-class households regarding paying for higher education, and…

Over the past 20 years, colleges and universities have committed to providing students with a wide range of civic and community engagement experiences, but little is known about campus climate for political learning and engagement at higher education institutions. This article examines the key opportunities and challenges associated with planning,…

The abilities to listen reflectively and speak respectfully concerning another person's opinion, as well as to think critically about that opinion and one's own, are essential to a functioning democracy. The teaching and learning of these abilities is well incorporated into the social studies and English language arts standards that are used to…

The use of social media saturates the everyday lives of young people, offering complex, rich challenges and opportunities for cultivating their skills with and disposition toward online participatory politics in "a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world" (National Council for the Social Studies). While attempts…

The international Smart Cities and the Learning Cities movements are not often linked. However, there are learning questions at stake here. Smart city agendas are often criticised as being technocratic and instrumental, prioritising market-led solutions to urban issues. Such criticism has led to moves to place the citizen at the centre of these…

There is concern that civic engagement in the U.S. has declined recently especially among the younger generations. It is known that one of the strongest predictors of civic engagement is education level, where those with at least a college degree typically have the highest levels of civic engagement. There is also emerging evidence that college…

Questions of how to support students in conversation across and about different perspectives regularly appear in discussions about civic engagement. Students with clear political positions and a desire to engage with political institutions, however, are themselves a rarified group on many campuses. The gulf between students who seek to engage…

Undergraduate research experiences (UREs) are part of an expanding toolkit of experiential learning experiences that can help students engage with the practices and processes of STEM. Civic engagement is another type of experiential learning experience that can offer students meaningful interactions in the wider community, thus leading to greater…

Citizen science is an emerging approach to conducting research in the National Parks System. As National Parks work to cultivate stewards for the parks' second century, this strategy may support scientific efforts while educating, engaging, and connecting participants with parks. Citizen science enlists the public in elements of the research…

This article explores how consumerism is impacting education, with a special focus on the 'student as consumer' model. I begin by exploring the distinctive features of consumerism and school commercialism. The tension between consumer and citizen leads into a discussion of the distinction between education as/for a public good versus as/for…

Globalization processes create the need to rethink how citizens participate in complex and interdependent societies. The purpose of this article is to understand how education-related non-governmental organizations in Americas are becoming increasingly transnational in a globalized world through the experience of Mexican non-governmental…

Civic engagement is not just concerned with identifying societal and political structures. It is also concerned with how young people understand themselves as civic agents capable of starting and sustaining change. Seeing students as change makers is a civically engaged goal supported by literature surrounding the aims of art education in K-12…

Epistemic beliefs -- one's beliefs about the nature of knowledge -- have been recognized as important predictors of learning outcomes. This study focuses on the role of epistemic beliefs in predicting citizen engagement with science and technology. In accordance with theories of learning and domain knowledge acquisition, the findings highlight the…

In this paper we argue that investigators using citizen science should attend, as much as possible, to certain ethical considerations when conceptualizing projects by embracing 1) inclusivity (finding ways to include those who have traditionally been excluded), 2) adaptation (modifying projects to provide greater opportunities for varied…

Given the double risk of exclusion caused for women with a low educational level, adult education can be a fundamental element that allows them to actively participate in their social, political, and cultural environments. Moreover, because educational level has been reported by the scientific literature to be a factor that directly favors…