Science Education calls for papers / publications

Brain Awareness Video Contest

Convey a neuroscience concept on video

The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) challenges you to produce an original video demonstrating a concept about the brain that could be used as a teaching tool or resource. Whether it's an animation, song, or hands-on classroom activity, share the wonders of science through the Brain Awareness Video Contest.

Questions? Contact BAW@SfN.org.

Brain Awareness Week (BAW) is an inspirational global campaign that unites those who share an interest in elevating public awareness about the progress and benefits of brain and nervous system research.

Prizes

Win up to $1,000 and a trip to SfN's annual meeting, Neuroscience 2012, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Top videos will be showcased at the meeting and will be featured online.

First Place — $1,000 Cash Prize, complimentary registration to Neuroscience 2012, two nights hotel, and economy air travel
Second Place — $500 Cash Prize
Third Place — $250 Cash Prize
People's Choice Award — $500 Cash Prize
Honorable Mention — Classroom Activity

Submit by June 11, 2012

How to Enter

Step 1: Make Your Video
Create a video up to five (5) minutes long.

Step 2: Upload Your Video to YouTube
If you don't already have one, create an account on YouTube.

Upload your video.

Tag your video as "Brain Awareness Video Contest"

Set your video's privacy settings to "Unlisted".

Disable comments on your video.
Copy the video URL and save it for Step 3.

Step 3: Submit Your Entry to SfN
After uploading your video to YouTube, you're ready to submit your entry to the Brain Awareness submission site. Click "Submit Your Video" and follow the instructions on the form.
Entries must be submitted by an SfN member.

Submissions must include:

The YouTube video URL
A digital copy of your video
Entrants are encourage to include a full transcript
Incomplete entries will not be eligible to win prizes in the Video Contest.

Eligibility

Anyone can participate, whether you are an educator, a student, or someone interested in the brain; however, videos must be submitted by a member of SfN. Don't know an SfN member? Use the Neuroscientist-Teacher Partner Program to connect with a neuroscientist near you. http://www.sfn.org/index.aspx?pagename=neuroscientistTeacherPartners

All content must be less than five minutes, original, non-published, and non-grant-funded. Videos will be judged by neuroscience experts on scientific accuracy, creativity, and usefulness in an educational setting.

Call for Papers for a Special Issue of CBE—Life Sciences Education: Education at the Intersection of Physics and Biology

Recent reports have called for curricular changes that integrate physical sciences in the education of life science and premedical students. The National Research Council report, BIO2010, emphasizes quantitative and computational training for future biologists. Vision and Change, led by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Science Foundation, states that biologists must develop sufficient expertise in physics to address complex issues in the life sciences. Scientific Foundations of Future Physicians, prepared by a joint committee of the Association of American Medical Colleges and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, clearly articulates that prospective medical students will be required to apply major principles of physics to explain biological processes and disease pathologies, as well as the physical mechanisms of major technologies used in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease. Multi- and interdisciplinary approaches are increasingly prevalent in science, with physicists modeling biological systems and biologists drawing more heavily on physics to understand fundamental processes within living organisms. Further, discipline-based education research provides a fertile ground for multidisciplinary research efforts.

The biology and physics communities have a unique opportunity to collaborate in responding to these calls for reform. To this end, CBE—Life Sciences Education (CBE-LSE; http://www.lifescied.org/) will publish a special issue in 2013 on the integration of physics and biology education. Topics that fit this issue include:

• Research on how students learn physics in biology classes and biology in physics classes,
• Evaluation of curricular or programmatic innovations that are evidence-driven and contribute to the national discussion about learning at the intersection of physics and biology,
• Examples of how physics education research is informing or can inform biology education research, and vice versa,
• Examples of curriculum shown to be effective in helping biology students to master physics concepts, and physics students to master biology concepts,
• Models and impacts of education programming and policy, such as graduate programs or undergraduate biophysics majors, that are informed by research on physics and biology teaching and learning, and
• Study of faculty professional development that promotes integration of physics and biology education.

Manuscripts are welcomed that detail qualitative, quantitative, and theoretical discipline-based education research, as well as the integration of physics and biology education in both formal and informal contexts.

Authors are strongly encouraged to submit a brief abstract (250 words or less) to the guest editors for this special issue, Eric Brewe (eric.brewe@fiu.edu) and Todd Cooke (tjcooke@umd.edu), by June 1, 2012.

Abstracts will be reviewed by the editors in consultation with Erin Dolan, editor-in-chief of CBE-LSE (eldolan@uga.edu), to determine fit with the theme and to ensure that a range of topics and perspectives are represented in the issue. Manuscripts submitted by September 1, 2012, will be guaranteed full consideration.

Manuscripts that are favorably reviewed but beyond the scope of this theme may be published in a different issue of the journal. If you have questions about this issue, please contact the guest editors or editor-in-chief.

About CBE – Life Sciences Education: CBE-LSE is an online journal published by the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) with partial support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute under the Creative Commons 3.0 agreement. CBE-LSE publishes peer-reviewed articles written by and for professionals engaged in biology teaching in all environments. The journal’s authors and readers include faculty at research universities who teach but do not view teaching as their primary mission, as well as those in primarily undergraduate institutions, museums and outreach programs, junior and community colleges, and K–12 schools, for whom teaching is a major focus.

Call for Nominations: Society for Neuroscience Science Educator Award

The Science Educator Award honors an outstanding neuroscientist who has made significant contributions to educating the public about neuroscience.

Deadline to Nominate: Friday, June 1

Eligibility Requirements

Nominee must be actively involved in teaching and/or outreach activities at the time the prize is given.

Types of activities considered include:

Programs for professional development of teachers and for student research mentorships
Development of educational resources, books, magazines, and newspaper articles
Broadcasting
Lectures
Exhibit design
Web site development and other public education and outreach activities about neuroscience

Nominators are encouraged to identify candidates whose contributions reach broad audiences that include children, K-12 teachers, women, minorities, and persons with disabilities.

Award Information

The recipient receives:

$5,000 honorarium
Opportunity to write a feature commentary on science education in The Journal of Neuroscience.

For the SfN annual meeting:
Economy airfare or ground transportation
Two nights hotel accommodations
Complimentary registration

The SfN President presents the award at a lecture at the SfN annual meeting.

The recipient is selected by the Science Educator Award Selection Committee.

Nomination Criteria

Nominations must be made or endorsed by an SfN member.
Nominees do not need to be SfN members.
Self-nomination is not permitted.
No person may nominate more than one candidate.
Current SfN officers and councilors are ineligible for nomination.

Nomination Materials

All materials must be submitted using SfN's award nomination site.

One required nomination letter (max. five pages) that includes a summary of the activities that demonstrate the nominee's contributions to public education

Maximum of two optional letters of recommendation

Maximum of three optional letters of support from members of the public impacted by the nominee's efforts

An abbreviated portfolio* of the nominee's work containing documentation of his or her efforts, including educational materials (e.g., video files, photographs, links to Web sites), publications (e.g., newspaper articles, manuscripts, books), and other printed matter (e.g., curriculum)

Current CV

* All materials must conform to format and file size specifications listed on SfN's award nomination site.

If you have questions, e-mail awards@sfn.org.

Call for Papers for a Special Theme Issue of Science & Education: Mendel, Mendelism and Education: 150 Years Since the 'Versuche'

A noteworthy Mendel anniversary occurs in 2015: It will be 150 years since the presentation of Mendel’s famous Versuche über Plfanzen-Hybriden paper. Although Mendel himself did not write much, a great deal has been written about him and his impact. His 1865 paper was adopted in 1900 as the foundational document of modern Genetics. For some this was a delayed recognition of Mendel’s contribution; for others it gave a rise to a myth about the rise of Genetics and more generally about science as a process.

Contributions are sought that deal with Mendel, the history of mendelism, and the incorporation of mendelian principles in genetics education.

Examples of topics may include (but are not limited to) the following:

· The impact of Mendel’s work
· The reception of Mendelism
· Differing interpretations of Mendel
· The concept of “Mendelian” inheritance
· Mendel and classical genetics
· Mendelism and genetics education
· Mendel and nature of science
· Mendelism as “field” science; Mendelism as “lab” science
· Mendelism and the unified field of “Biology”
· Mendel and contemporary genetics
· Mendelism, Ideology and Politics

The following scholars are contributing invited essays:

· Garland Allen, Washington University: Morgan and Muller on mendelian mutation
· Nicholas Gillham, Duke University: The battle between the Biometricians and the Mendelians
· Charbel El-Hani, Federal University of Bahia: How Mendel and his story are portrayed in articles for teachers
· Norman G. Lederman, Illinois Institute of Technology: The case of Mendel and Nature of Science
· Robert Olby, University of Pittsburgh: The place of hybrids--natural and horticultural-- in our understanding of Mendel's
achievement
· Vítězslav Orel, The Mendelianum, Brno, and Staffan Müller-Wille, University of Exeter: Mendel's discovery in the broad historical network
· Margaret Peacock, University of Alabama: Mendel Lives: The survival of Mendelian Genetics in the Stalinist classroom
· Hans-Jörg Rheinberger, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science: Re-discovering Mendel: The case of Carl Correns
· Marsha Richmond, Wayne State University: Women as Mendelians and geneticists
· Mike Smith, Mercer University: Mendel in the modern classroom
· Ida Stamhuis, Free University, Amsterdam: Hugo de Vries and theories of inheritance around the rediscovery of Mendel.

Submission Date: December 31, 2012

Manuscripts, with Abstract, should be submitted for review directly to:
www.editorialmanager.com/sced/

Notification of intention to submit and subject matter is appreciated as it assists coordination and planning of the issue. Questions and inquires should be directed to either of the guest editors:

Erik L. Peterson
Department of the History of Science
University of Wisconsin-Madison
USA
email: epeterson6@wisc.edu

Kostas Kampourakis
Geitonas School
Athens
GREECE
email: kkamp@ath.forthnet.gr ; kamp@geitonas-school.gr