International Science And Technology Education

Education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is crucial for taking advantage of the prospects of new scientific discoveries initiating or promoting technological changes, and managing opportunities and risks associated with innovations. This book explores the emerging perspectives and methodologies of STEM education and its relationship to the cultural understanding of science and technology in an international context. The authors provide a unique perspective on the subject, presenting materials and experiences from non-European industrialized as well as industrializing countries, including China, Japan, South Korea, India, Egypt, Brazil and the USA. The chapters offer a wide scope of interpretations and comparative reviews of STEM education by including narrative elements about cultural developments, considering the influence of culture and social perceptions on technological and social change, and applying innovative tools of qualitative social research. The book represents a comprehensive and multidisciplinary review of the current status and future challenges facing STEM education across the world, including issues such as globalization, interdependencies of norms and values, effects on equity and social justice as well as resilience. Overall the volume provides valuable insights for a broad and comprehensive international comparison of STEM philosophies, approaches and experiences.

This collection examines issues of agency, power, politics and identity as they relate to science and technology and education, within contemporary settings. Social, economic and ecological critique and reform are examined by numerous contributing authors, from a range of international contexts. These chapters examine pressing pedagogical questions within socio-scientific contexts, including petroleum economies, food justice, health, environmentalism, climate change, social media and biotechnologies. Readers will discover far reaching inquiries into activism as an open question for science and technology education, citizenship and democracy. The authors call on the work of prominent scholars throughout the ages, including Bourdieu, Foucault, Giroux, Jasanoff, Kierkegaard, Marx, Nietzsche, Rancière and Žižek. The application of critical theoretical scholarship to mainstream practices in science and technology education distinguishes this book, and this deep, theoretical treatment is complemented by many grounded, more pragmatic exemplars of activist pedagogies. Practical examples are set within the public sphere, within selected new social movements, and also within more formal institutional settings, including elementary and secondary schools, and higher education. These assembled discussions provide a basis for a more radically reflexive reworking of science and technology education. Educational policy makers, science education scholars, and science and technology educators, amongst others, will find this work thought-provoking, instructive and informative.

For decades, politicians, businessmen and other leaders have been concerned with the quality of education, including early childhood education, in the United States. While more than 50% of the children between the ages of three and five are enrolled in preschool and kindergarten programs in the United States, no state, federal, or national standards exist for science or technology education in preschool or kindergarten programs. Knowledge about science and technology is an important requirement for all in contemporary society. An increasing number of professions require the use of scientific concepts and technological skills and society as a whole depends on scientific knowledge. Scientific and technological knowledge should be a part of every individual’s education. There are many ways to enhance young children’s scientific thinking and problem-solving skills as well as their technological abilities. The purpose of this volume is to present a critical analysis of reviews of research on science and technology education in early childhood education. The first part of the volume includes contributions by leading scholars in science, while the second part includes contributions by leading scholars in technology.

Science and technology education research, influenced by inquiry-based thinking, not only concentrates on the teaching of scientific concepts and addressing any misconceptions that learners may hold, but also emphasizes the ways in which students learn, and seeks avenues to achieve better learning through creativity. New developments in science and technology education rely on a wide variety of methods, borrowed from various fields of science, such as computer science, cognitive science, sociology and neurosciences. This book presents papers from the first international conference on “New Developments in Science and Technology Education” that was structured around seven main thematic axes: namely modern pedagogies in science and technology education; new technologies in science and technology education; assessment in science and technology education; teaching and learning in the light of inquiry learning methods; neuroscience and science education; conceptual understanding and conceptual change in science; and interest, attitude and motivation in science. It explores the beneficial impact of pedagogically updated practices and approaches in the teaching of science concepts, and elaborates on future challenges and emerging issues that concern science and technology education. By pointing out new research directions, the volume will inform educational practices and bridge the gap between research and practice, providing new information, ideas and perspectives. It will also promote discussions and networking among scientists and stakeholders from worldwide scientific fields, such as researchers, professors, students, and companies developing educational software.

In this landmark book, the UN-commissioned Gender Working Group outlines its policy proposals for national science and technology programs. Its goal is to ensure that women and men have equal access to and benefit equally from science and technology. The proposals are supported by essays written by distinguished scholars and experts.

With the increasing technology orientation in modern societies Technology Education is gaining more and more importance. It should help in developing an understanding of technology as well as skills and self-concepts to deal with technology. However, there is a lack of knowledge in how Technology Education operates and what its outcome will be. Thus, research work has to be done in different fields of Technology Education. Upcoming academics of the CETE network have dedicated themselves to such research questions. The Center of Excellence for Technology Education (CETE) is an international network consisting of six Universities (University of Missouri; University of Cambridge; University of Luxembourg; University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland; Delft University of Technology and University of Duisburg-Essen) with the mission of development work. One aim of CETE is to support the qualification of young academics in the research field of Technology Education. Thus, the present book will attempt to resolve the lack of research in Technology Education by presenting the research work of upcoming academics. In this way, CETE contributes to its development work by extending the research results in Technology Education as well as by supporting young academics. Beside two basic articles about Technology Education research, there are different studies and their results presented. Three different drafts of studies offer future prospects for research results.

Design-Based Concept Learning in Science and Technology Education brings together contributions from researchers that have investigated what conditions need to be fulfilled to make design-based education work.

This international handbook reflects on the development of the field of technology education. From reviewing how the field has developed and its current strengths, consideration is given to where the field might go and how it can be supported in this process.