Science Education as/for Sociopolitical Action is about alternative ways of looking at science education. Rather than focusing on the transfer or construction of knowledge, the authors focus on the role of science education as a starting point for engaging students in social action. Sometimes, social action is the starting point and students learn science and about science as they pursue their goals. The authors provide concrete descriptions for curriculum design, or how an alternative curriculum design has worked in practice. This book shows that science education can be radically different from current practice without losing its appeal.

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The Editors: Wolff-Michael Roth is Lansdowne (endowed) Professor of Applied Cognitive Science at the University of Victoria. His interests are broad and concern science and science learning in formal (elementary school to university) and informal settings (community activists and research labs). He is the author of Authentic School Science and Designing Communities, and with K. Tobin and S. Ritchie, Re/constructing Elementary Science (Peter Lang, 2001). Jacques Désautels is Professor of Education at Laval University, Québec. His main area of research is epistemology of science. He is the co-author, with M. Larochelle, of Autour de l idée de science: Itinéraires cognitifs d étudiants et d étudiantes.