Towards a viable response to COVID-19 from the science education community

This is the final version. Available on open access from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto via the DOI in this recordThe COVID-19 pandemic has touched almost every corner of the planet and continues to impact on lives, livelihoods, economies and cultures. It is both a human and a global phenomenon. Making sense of what is happening requires an understanding of a number of scientific ideas including viruses, transmission, incubation and vaccination. These are life and death issues and yet the public and their political leaders often display a deliberate mistrust of the science and scientists. How might the science education community respond? We pose a series of questions designed to provoke a strong response to COVID-19 from our community and our colleagues: “How well has the science curriculum prepared the world’s public for COVID-19?”; “How much science education should be online from now on?”; “Are we learning from the current situation?”; “Is science education research producing knowledge that protects society from catastrophic events?”; “How should our working practices change to make science education more resilient, more useful and more transparent?”; “What are the ethics and politics of social distancing and how do they affect science education?”; “What pedagogies might we need to turn to in the future?”; and, “What role should business and industry play in funding science education research and development?” In our attempt to stimulate the development of a vision for science education in the postpandemic era, we offer initial thoughts about moving forward. What we offer is a departure point, an invitation for the community to engage with pressing issues in science education. The main question we pose is the following: What can be done, and what can be done differently? We envision that this paper will provide some guidance to the readers to re-think the complex systems and socio-political contexts within which people come to learn and practice science and to conceptualize these processes through a social justice lens. We argue that a social justice informed approach towards shaping a vision for science education in the post-pandemic era is of paramount importance and that failure to do so will only serve as a way of perpetuating existing inequalities

“I am a young immigrant woman doing physics and on top of that I am Muslim”:Identities, intersections, and negotiations

Framed within intersectionality and using science identity as a unit of analysis, in this single case study I explore the barriers, difficulties, and conflicts that Amina, a young Muslim woman, immigrant in Western Europe confronted throughout her trajectory in physics and the ways in which her multiple identities intersected. The main sources of data consisted of three long biographical interviews, which were analyzed through a constant comparative method. The analysis of the data provided insights into how intrapersonal, interpersonal, sociocultural factors, alongside a myriad of experiences nurtured Amina's intersectional identities and what this may mean for Muslim women's participation in physics. The findings are summarized in two main assertions: (a) Amina was confronted with various barriers across her journey in physics with the intersection of religion and gender being the major barrier to her perceived recognition due to cultural expectations, sociopolitical factors, and negative stereotypes and (b) Amina's social class, religion, gender performance, and ethnic status positioned her as Other in various places throughout her trajectory in physics, and consequently hindered her sense of belonging. These findings suggest the urgency and importance of: (a) examining the intersection of science identity with other identities, especially, religion, gender, and ethnicity for the purpose of extrapolating a more comprehensive understanding of how minoritized groups participate in science; (b) rethinking recognition through an explicit intersectionality lens across various geographical and sociopolitical contexts; and (c) transforming physics into a diverse world where multiple ways of being are recognized, where minoritized groups will not have to compartmentalize parts of their identities to exist, and where they can perform their authentic and intersectional identities

The use of mobile games in formal and informal learning environments: A review of the literature

Our purpose in this paper is to review studies that explored the impact of the use of mobile games in both formal and informal learning environments. Through a review of studies on mobile learning that have been published between 2000 and 2013, we aim to identify the ways in which researchers used mobile games in a variety of learning environments, and to synthesize current literature about the impact of the use of mobile games on student achievement and attitudes towards and learning. We first provide definitions of the constructs "mobile technologies," "mobile games," and "informal learning environments." Following that, we present the outcomes of our analysis by describing the purpose, the contexts, and the findings of each of the studies we reviewed. We then offer general conclusions that came out of our analysis and we offer some recommendations for future research. © 2014 © 2014 International Council for Educational Media

Facebook: a potentially valuable educational tool?

This paper is concerned with the educational value of Facebook and specifically how it can be used in formal educational settings. As such, it provides a review of existing literature of how Facebook is used in higher education paying emphasis on the scope of its use and the outcomes achieved. As evident in existing literature, Facebook has been used mainly for social networking purposes through the establishment and collaboration of social groups in educational settings. However, a set of recent studies has exemplified how Facebook can provide an empowering means for achieving educational goals and supporting students develop crucial skills (e.g., writing, networking, collaborating) by serving as members in various learning communities. Concluding, we argue that Facebook can provide a valuable pedagogical tool that enhances student learning. Hence, future research towards further exploring Facebook’s use in educational settings is warranted for the purpose of producing scientific evidence about the ways in which Facebook could be utilized to enhance learning. © 2018 International Council for Educational Media

'It is not the time for intifada': a framing and semiotic analysis of televised representations of the 2013 cypriot protests

The study of the media–protest relation ‘is perhaps the oldest and most-travelled trail in studying the media/social movement dynamic’ (McCurdy, 2012, p. 244). Yet although ‘social movements and the protests they launch are essentially visual phenomena’ (Mattoni and Teune, 2014, p. 876), scant attention has been paid so far to the visual as a site of semiotic struggle over media representations by protest movements (exceptions being Corrigall-Brown and Wilkes, 2012; Doerr et al., 2013; Phillips, 2011). Television, as a prime site for visual rhetoric, has been shown to be deeply ambivalent towards protest, oscillating between delegitimising and legitimising practices (Fahlenbrach, 2014). The Cypriot protests in March 2013, addressed in this chapter, failed to evolve into a robust anti-austerity protest movement (Charalambous and Ioannou, forthcoming). As mainstream media constitute an important ‘opportunity structure’ for social movements (Cammaerts, 2012) and define, along with other factors, their dynamics, it is important to study media representations of the Cypriot protests

The use of augmented reality games in education: a review of the literature

This paper provides a review of the literature about the use of augmented reality in education and specifically in the context of formal and informal environments. It examines the research that has been conducted up to date on the use of those games through mobile technology devices such as mobile phones and tablets, both in primary and secondary education. The review of the relative literature was carried out in the period 2000 to early 2014 in ScienceDirect and ERIC. The outcomes of this review illustrated a set of studies that provide evidence of positive outcomes regarding student learning. These studies, which focused mainly on the natural sciences and took place within informal learning environments, used both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods. The earliest study that was conducted about this topic used personal digital assistants, while the more recent one used smart (mobile) phones and tablets. The services of augmented reality focused on markers/quick response codes, virtual items, global positioning system services as well as on platforms for game creation. The findings of the literature review are discussed in relation to research approaches that are needed for augmented reality games to be played either in formal or informal learning environments. © 2016 International Council for Educational Media

Does Research on Nature of Science and Social Justice Intersect? Exploring Theoretical and Practical Convergence for Science Education

Even though enhancement of students’ understanding of social justice is thought to contribute to good citizenship, contextualising social justice in science education remains challenging for teachers because social justice is not conventionally a common feature of science teaching and learning. A separate issue in science education concerns a vast body of work on nature of science (NOS) elated to understanding of and about science. Understanding NOS is thought to contribute to scientific literacy as well as citizenship. Although social justice and NOS literatures share similar themes such as citizenship goals, the precise intersection of these literatures remains relatively understudied. In this chapter, we present an argument about how contemporary conceptualizations of NOS as well as NOS instruction might be used to promote goals related to social justice. In so doing, we aim to contribute to NOS literature by drawing on theories of social justice grounded in political philosophy. We trace the potential overlap of social justice and NOS concepts and draw out example recommendations for curriculum statements and practical teaching as well as practical teaching and learning approaches. Overall, we advocate the promotion of educational goals related to social justice through NOS instruction