Students who find science to be enjoyable are more likely to engage in their science classes and perform at higher levels on science exams. Such students may also have higher levels of interest in science-related careers and become informed citizens on science-related issues. Rather than simply accepting that some students (in primary, secondary, and tertiary education) are naturally intrigued by science, some science practitioners and educators are now devising approaches to science concepts intended to stimulate such enjoyment and engagement. Teaching support, hands-on activities, nature-of-science frameworks, and self-paced (yet mentored) online instruction are just a few of these approaches.  In addition, educators are finding that some students feel excluded from science by virtue of their gender, ethnic or racial background, or socio-economic standing; those educators are actively seeking ways to help such students find their identity in science fields (for example, by addressing science issues especially relevant to such possibly excluded students). Science need not be taught as a set of disjointed facts; instead, compelling science narratives can be invoked, drawing students into the story (and study) of science. Consider contributing to this conversation regarding student engagement in science. As a special note, we are eager to honor approaches that can be utilized in low-resource communities (or countries) on a sustainable basis.  

This special issue (Engaging Students in Sustainable Science Education) is intended to compile effective approaches to student engagement in science-related classes. Of special interest, we are hoping to involve not only science education researchers, but also science educators of all levels.  Such educators/practitioners may well have insights into student engagement in science that could escape high-level researchers.  In many parts of the world, the disciplines of science and education have only a modest level of interaction.  Abundant literature on engaging approaches to science education exists; however, relatively few classroom/laboratory/field educators seem to have access to such literature.  Ideally, this issue will serve to bring together science and education—identifying approaches to science that create stimulating science learning environments.  Note that our intent is to encourage practitioners to not only bring their best ideas, but also to relate them to the existing literature on their areas of science study and student learning.

Prof. Larry J. Grabau
Guest Editor

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• science engagement
• science enjoyment
• science self-efficacy
• inclusive science
• nature-of-science
• teaching support
• science narratives

Title: Exploring the Effects of Task Order in Inquiry Learning on Interests and Concept Achievement in Science Education
Authors: Yu-Sheng Su
Affiliation: Department of Computer Science and Engineering, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung City, Taiwan
Abstract: As one of the important concepts of educational constructivism, inquiry-based learning has been valued. Different inquiry learning models may have different order on doing task and discuss. In this study, the Discuss-Do (D-DO) inquiry model and the Doing-Discuss (DO-D) inquiry model were constructed and applied to science learning on fifth-grade students. The unit of Light Reflection was selected to investigate the effect of two kinds of the inquiry model on students’ interest and concept achievement. To examine the learning effect, the interest measurements and Light Reflection Test were used to the two groups prior to and following the experiment. The group one (N = 41) participated in D-DO inquiry learning model whereas the group two (N = 38) participated in DO-D inquiry learning model. Results showed a significant difference in situational interest between the two groups. In addition, there were no significant differences in individual interest and concept achievement between the two groups. Findings suggested that under the adoption of the DO-D inquiry model, it is more conducive for learners to develop situational interest, which has implications for exploring task order adjustments for inquiry-based learning, as well as in education of science instructors.