The first chapter of this dissertation examines the effects of peers on charitable giving. While these types of effects have been of considerable interest to social scientists, there is little empirical evidence on their magnitude. A correlation between giving or volunteering by one's peers and one's own giving can be driven by self-selection into…

This dissertation focused upon non-formal and informal learning practices and knowledge production amongst [adult] participants involved in local sea turtle conservation practices along the US Atlantic coast. In the United States, adult learning and adult education has historically occurred within non-formal settings (e.g., through community-based…

Objective: Media are a main source of medical information for the public, as well as for decision makers. This scenario demands a good selection of stories and correct medical reporting. Design: Our study aimed to analyze if journalistic guidelines or similar documents were already available and whether they provided satisfactory advice for…

Mentoring is believed to be one of the most influential factors in US efforts to encourage college-aged students to seek careers in science, yet the role that mentoring plays in this process has not been elucidated. The researchers were interested in understanding whether the long-held beliefs about the importance of mentoring would be revealed as…

The National Science Education Standards suggest that students work as real scientists in the classroom (NRC 1996; 2000). To accomplish this task, the authors developed community-based inquiry lessons (CBILs) that provide students with the opportunity to solve problems as a class, based on the concept of whole-class inquiry (WCI) presented by…

We estimate the magnitude of spillovers generated by 161 academic "superstars" onto their collaborators' research output. These life scientists died while still being actively engaged in science, thus providing an exogenous source of variation in the structure of their collaborators' coauthorship networks. Following the death of a superstar, we…

Traditionally, philosophical inquiry into pedagogical issues has occurred far from the classrooms in which pedagogy materialises. However, an organised form of inquiry into issues of a normative nature (about what ought to be done pedagogically) and of an analytic nature (about the meaning of pedagogical concepts), making use of ideas obtained in…

This spring 12 scientists found themselves in an unusual position--they have to figure out how to spend $2-million every year for the next five years. The money adds up to $10-million per researcher. In May the researchers made a pilgrimage to the source of the generous grants: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, a graduate…

This article highlights contrasts between the identity and values of sociology faculty members versus the identity and values of college administrators. Some of these contrasts include: questioning authority and speaking truth to power versus being in a position of authority and engaging in political compromise; taking a critical, reflective, and…

Although the push to get universities to accumulate IP by commercializing their scientific research was a conscious movement, dealing with the blowback in the form of contracts over the transfer of research tools and inputs, called materials transfer agreements (MTAs), was greeted by universities as an afterthought. Faculty often regarded them as…

This article describes how academic scientists appear to have put their names on papers that are actually ghostwritten by for-profit companies and then published in medical journals. Some of the scientists accused of doing so deny any wrongdoing, but journal editors are already outlining measures to prevent future breaches of academic integrity.…

In 1906, Pierre Marie triggered a heated controversy and an exchange of articles with Jules Dejerine over the localization of language functions in the human brain. The debate spread internationally. One of the timeliest responses, that appeared in print 1 month after Marie's paper, came from Christofredo Jakob, a Bavarian-born neuropathologist…

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education has become a critical focus in the United States due to economic concerns and public policy (National Academy of Sciences, 2007; U.S. Department of Education, 2006). Part of this focus has been an emphasis on encouraging and evaluating career choice and persistence factors among…

Students in science and engineering (S&E) are preparing for careers in fields where international partnerships are increasingly important to advancing knowledge and discoveries. It has been over a decade since the National Science Board (NSB) highlighted the importance of international collaboration and called for increased government…

The New Social Studies movement was an effort by social scientists to reform US social studies/history curriculum at all levels during the 1960s and early 1970s. In the end, more than 50 different projects attempting to revitalise social studies were developed. Many of the projects focused on inquiry-based teaching practices and curriculum.…