特集 科学教師教育

International comparisons point to a substantial difference in attainment between the highest and the lowest attaining students in science. This gap suggests a need for improved pedagogies which can be addressed through pre- and in-service education. Recent government changes aimed at improving the quality of science education have led to the creation of a number of new routes into teaching and a determined focus on raising the number of physics specialist teachers. The process of allocating teacher training numbers by subject specialism rather than by simply identifying ‘science’ places has had an impact on the balance of biological and physical sciences. A new system of financial bursaries rewards students with good degrees. While some success has been achieved in increasing pre-service numbers, teachers still do not appear to be getting the in-service training that they need and want

Community Strength and Economic Challenge: Civic Attitudes and Community Involvement in Rural America

In any given year, close to one in three Americans volunteer with a local organization and get involved in various activities that benefit their community. Community leaders and policy makers are interested in levels of community engagement because there is a presumption that a community's civic health can translate into community wealth as a result of local residents working together to improve their community's economic sustainability and quality of life. Although rural Americans are slightly more likely than urban and suburban residents to participate in community activities, not all rural communities demonstrate a similarly high level of community trust and engagement

Editorial: Research on learning in informal contexts: advancing the field?

Special Issue: Research on Learning Science in Informal Contexts (Editors: Justin Dillon & Jonathan Osborne). Contents: Editorial: Research on Learning in Informal Contexts: Advancing the Field? Jonathan Osborne & Justin Dillon. 1. Conversations about Science across Activities in Mexican-Descent Families - Deborah Siegel, Jennifer Esterly, Maureen A. Callanan, Ramser Wright. 2. The Value of 'Dialogue Events' as Sites of Learning: An Exploration of Research & Evaluation Frameworks - Jane L. Lehr, Ellen McCallie, Sarah Davies, Brandiff R. Caron, Benjamin Gammon, and Sally Duensing. 3. School Site to Museum Floor: How Informal Science Institutions Work with Schools - Michelle Phillips, Doreen Finkelstein, Saundra Wever-Frerichs. 4. Conceptualizing Learning from the Everyday Activities of Digital Kids - Sherry Hsi. 5. Participation at exhibits: Creating engagement with new technologies in science centres - Robin Meisner, Dirk vom Lehn, Christian Heath, Alex Burch, Ben Gammon, Molly Reisman. 6. The use of questions in exhibit labels to generate explanatory conversation among science museum visitors - Jill Hohenstein and Lynn Uyen Tran. 7. Talk, Tools, and Tensions: Observing Biological Talk Over Time - Doris Ash, Rhiannon Crain, Carol Brandt, Molly Loomis, Mele Wheaton, Christine Bennett

Improving the Welfare of Companion Dogs—Is Owner Education the Solution?

Vets, animal welfare charities, and researchers have frequently cited educating owners as a necessity for improving the welfare of companion dogs. The assumption that improving an owner’s knowledge through an education intervention subsequently results in improvements in the welfare of the dog appears reasonable. However, the complexity of dog welfare and dog ownership and the context in which these relationships occur is rapidly changing. Psychology has demonstrated that humans are complex, with values, attitudes, and beliefs influencing our behaviours as much as knowledge and understanding. Equally, the context in which we individuals and our dogs live is rapidly changing and responding to evolving societal and cultural norms. Therefore, we seek to understand education’s effectiveness as an approach to improving welfare through exploring and understanding these complexities, in conjunction with the relevant research from the disciplines of science education and communication. We argue that well designed and rigorously evaluated education interventions can play a part in the challenge of improving welfare, but that these may have limited scope, and welfare scientists could further consider extending cross-disciplinary, cross-boundary working, and research in order to improve the welfare of companion dogs