"For the Winter 2024 issue of Science Education and Civic Engagement: An International Journal, we are delighted to feature an article from Kerri Shelton from Columbus State University in Georgia, who reports on work done by a team of undergraduate researchers (chemistry and nursing majors) who worked to analyze 20th-century medical kits at the Columbus Museum.
This is a great example of the value of museum collections for undergraduate research In STEM that also contributes to deepening the civic and historical knowledge about the community. (download the PDF here)
Grant Fore et al. (Indiana University—Purdue University Indianapolis, University of Michigan, Butler University) share a study of student learning outcomes in courses that utilized farm-situated place-based experiential learning modules. The authors also examine the potential influence of two significant external experiences—the COVID-19 pandemic and the protests against police brutality after the murder of George Floyd. The study explore how place-based experiential learning and these significant societal events impacted student learning. (download the PDF here). A third article is a revised and adapted transcript of a conversation between Sara Tolbert and Geraldine Mooney Simmie from the 2023 SENCER Summer Institute on the topic of science/STEM education, democracy, and civic engagement in a fast globalizing and increasingly unequal world. The dialogue draws from the four SENCER ideals to examine the complexity of constantly changing ethical, sociocultural, and political relations between STEM education and democracy. Tolbert and Mooney- Simmie explore commonly used phrases such as “teaching and learning,” “problem-posing,” “civic engagement,” and “inclusion” in the context of STEM education policy in Ireland and New Zealand. The conversation provides an international perspective on ideas important to the larger SENCER community and argues for a reappraisal of how we frame the problem of STEM learning and democracy. (download PDF here)
