This edited volume discusses major issues in present-day science and technology education (STE). It is divided into three thematic sections: philosophical foundations and curriculum development; sustainable development, technology and society; and the learning sciences and 21st century skills. Section I examines the history and future of STE curriculum development, along with specific issues within this dynamic area. Section II explores sustainable development in three important aspects: economic development, social development, and environmental protection. Section III covers the 21st century skills that are of overarching importance to the success of learners in school and the world of work. Anchoring each chapter is an assemblage of veteran science and technology education specialists selected from across the world. The book’s target is a worldwide audience of undergraduate / post-graduate students and their teachers, as well as researchers. This book’s exploration of the ever-increasing advances in STE and its narrative writing style will be of interest to a broad range of readers.

In this careful articulation of science, the editors provide an intellectual marriage of Indigenous science and science education in the African context as a way of revising schooling and education. They define science broadly to include both the science of the natural/physical/biological and the ‘science of the social’. It is noted that the current policy direction of African education continues to be a subject of intense intellectual discussion. Science education is very much at the heart of much current debates about reforming African schooling. Among the ways to counter-vision contemporary African education this book points to how we promote Indigenous science education to improve upon African science and technology development in general. The book also notes a long-standing push to re-examine local cultural resource knowings in order to appreciate and understand the nature, content and context of Indigenous knowledge science as a starting foundation for promoting African science and technology studies in general. It is argued that these interests and concerns are not mutually exclusive of each other but as a matter of fact interwoven and interdependent. The breadth of coverage of the collection reflect papers in science, Indigeneity, identity and knowledge production and the possibilities of creating a truly African-centred education. It is argued that such extensive coverage will engage and excite readers on the path of what has been termed ‘African educational recovery’. While the book is careful in avoiding stale debates about the ‘Eurocentricity of Western scientific knowledge’ and the positing of ‘Eurocentric science’ as the only science worthy of engagement, it nonetheless caution against constructing a binary between Indigenous/local science and knowledges and Western ‘scientific’ knowledge. After all, Western scientific knowledge is itself a form of local knowledge, born out of a particular social and historical context. Engaging science in a more global context will bring to the fore critical questions of how we create spaces for the study of Indigenous science knowledge in our schools. How is Indigenous science to be read, understood and theorized? And, how do educators gather/collect and interpret Indigenous science knowledges for the purposes of teaching young learners. These are critical questions for contemporary African education?

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.

This book examines Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education in different countries with a focus on recent developments and emerging trends. STEM education has become a gateway for socio-economic and technological development of nation-states. In light of this, many countries have prioritized STEM education and made it an integral part of their education at all levels. Moreover, many approaches have been used to develop STEM education and teach students to compete with the fast-developing world. However, despite its infinite benefits, it is also important to note that there is inequality in the access and delivery of STEM education within and across countries, which requires new approaches to improve STEM education and its teaching and learning. Therefore, this book consists of chapters on the development, teaching, and access of STEM education from different education levels, countries, and perspectives. The chapters discuss the concept of STEM education in general or on a particular level of education (. g., PreK–12 education, vocational education, and higher education), or subjects such as mathematics, computer science, and architecture. Moreover, the book includes chapters based on the nexus of STEM education and other subjects, including arts and culture, to teaching STEM education. The book contributes to understanding and improving STEM education and instruction globally.

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.

This book defines STS—science, technology, and society—education and discusses current thinking about its conceptual evolution. It synthesizes a broad range of research and thought in the history and philosophy of science and technology, STS studies, and education as they are informed by the the dual perspectives of cognitive and social psychology. A model for STS curriculum development in science, social studies, or technology education is presented with well-chosen examples. The book includes an extensive and invaluable bibliography that will enable students, teachers, and researchers to explore the richness of this emerging field.

This book brings together significant international research in technology education through a focus on contemporary Ph.D. theses. It highlights the conceptual underpinnings and methodology of each research project and elaborates on how the findings are relevant for practitioners. This book addresses the common disjunction between research conducted and an awareness of that research by practitioners. It examines the extent to which the research aligns with different justifications for teaching technology in schools in economic, utilitarian, democratic, cultural, and other such contexts.

EDUCATING ABOUT SOCIAL ISSUES IN THE 20th and 21st Centuries: A Critical Annotated Bibliography, Volume 3 is the third volume in a series that addresses an eclectic host of issues germane to teaching and learning about social issues at the secondary level of schooling, ranging over roughly a one hundred year period (between 1915 and 2013). Volume 3 specifically addresses how an examination of social issues can be incorporated into the extant curriculum. Experts in various areas each contribute a chapter in the book. Each chapter is comprised of a critical essay and an annotated bibliography of key works germane to the specific focus of the chapter.

Fostering Human Development Through Engineering and Technology Education (ETE) is a collaborative work offered to students, scholars, researchers, decision-makers, curriculum developers, and educators interested in the rich learning opportunities afforded by engineering and technology education. This book provides perspective about the roles ETE might uniquely play in applying contemporary pedagogical practices to enhance students' intellectual, cognitive, and social skills in the service of promoting equitable and sustainable human development. Education about engineering and technology has become an imperative for all people due to the exponential rate of technological change, the impact of globalization on culture and economy, and the essential contributions engineering and technology make in addressing global and environmental challenges. Many of today’s students wish to use their education to influence the future, and school-based engineering and technology education programs meet the needs of these “millennial students” who are civic-minded, team-oriented, and want to make a difference. Therefore, support has been rapidly increasing for the establishment of school-based engineering and technology education (ETE) programs in many countries across the globe. Chapters in this book provide discussion about dimensions of learning; capabilities, concepts and skills for third millennial learners; culturally relevant learning through ETE; and the promise of new pedagogies such as gaming and other project-based learning approaches in our digitally connected world. The author team includes renowned educational theorists, cognitive scientists, scientists and engineers, instructional designers, expert practitioners, and researchers who have coalesced best practice and contemporary thought from seven countries.

Science & technology education on the one hand, and communication on the other, are, to a large extent, still separate worlds and many opportunities for synergy and cross-fertilisation are yet unused. This divide is unfortunate, since educators need communication skills and communicators often use aspects of education in their strategies. Moreover, innovation processes in both domains ask for education and communication insights and skills. Therefore, scholars and practitioners in both domains must seek connections and synergy by exchanging insights and ideas. This book discusses the shared aims of science & technology education and communication, such as science literacy and engagement, as well as common processes and challenges, such as social learning, social design and professionalisation, and assessment. Aims, processes, and challenges that inspire, enhance and deepen the education and communication synergy from a theoretical and practical side. If one reads the various chapters and reflects on them from one’s own perspective as a scholar or practitioner, the question is no longer if cross-fertilisation and synergy are needed, but when are we seriously going to take up this challenge together. This book aims to initiate the dialogue that the situation in the development of the topic requires at this point.