This issue of the journal continues our tradition of publishing peer-reviewed scholarship that uses issues of civic importance to enhance science and mathematics education.
We are pleased to highlight three articles in a featured section on “Mathematics and Civic Engagement.” Rikki Wagstrom from Metropolitan State University (Minneapolis, MN) contributes a research article titled “Teaching Pre-College Algebra Mathematics Through Environmental Sustainability: Curriculum Development and Assessment.” Prabha Betne provides a project report on “Project Quantum Leap,” an innovative mathematics curriculum at LaGuardia Community College in New York City. A second project report by Laura Jacobsen and Jean Mistele at Radford University (Radford, VA) describes challenges and effective strategies when introducing social issues into a mathematics education curriculum for pre-service teachers.
This issue also includes a “Teaching and Learning” section in which the authors share strategies to promote student learning and engagement. Antonio Villaseñor and Farahnaz Movahedzadeh from Harold Washington College (Chicago, IL) describe the impact of inviting a research scientist as a guest lecturer in a community college biology course. We should also mention that the first author of this article is an undergraduate student at the college. On a different topic, a team of three authors – B.D. Stillion and J.M. Pratte of Arkansas State University (Jonesboro, AR), and A. Romero of Southern Illinois University–Edwardsville (Edwardsville, IL) – describe their use of “Science in the Cinema” to examine and challenge students’ stereotypes of scientists.
The remaining articles in the issue contain a diverse set of project reports that provide insights into teaching molecular biology, connecting physics with service learning, and engaging non-majors with the chemistry of global warming. We wish to thank all the authors for sharing their work with the readers of this journal.
— Trace Jordan and Eliza Reilly, Co-Editors-in-Chief
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