Science and Technology Studies Commons^™

Critical Thinking In The Age Of Misinformation: Information Literacy For Citizenship, Tamra Ortgies-Young, Jennfer Lobo Meeks, Barbara Robertson

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

As recent political events across the globe have shed a light on the fragility of democratic values, the role of the University in creating a framework for civic education becomes more urgent. Informed, caring and engaged citizenry must be a goal of higher education. Students currently face the emergence of faulty types of information - such as misinformation and disinformation, which undermines the notion of collective or public inquiry, not only within universities, but also within society as a whole. This challenge must be acknowledged and addressed by academic institutions.

Session presenters will provide an overview of their work, “Critical …

Exploring Youths’ Decision To Participate In Stem Afterschool Programs, Brooke M. Stafford, Virginia L. J. Bolshakova

Indiana STEM Education Conference

STEM afterschool programs offer a range of academic, social, and emotional outcomes to support positive youth development. In particular, STEM afterschool programs have been shown to increase student self-efficacy and interest in pursuing STEM careers (Chan et al., 2020; Dabney et al., 2012). Youth must first choose to attend the STEM afterschool programs to gain the many benefits offered. However, participation in such programs decreases as youth get older and encounter additional competing interests (i.e., home responsibilities, jobs, etc.). To get youth to attend, STEM afterschool programs must meet the needs of youth by leveraging resources, activities, and relationships.

This …

What Are The Benefits Of Stem Integration In Mathematics Classrooms In Underserved Schools? A Literature Review, Steve Heinold

Indiana STEM Education Conference

The importance of mathematics education and STEM education in K-12 education in the United States is peaking. High stakes testing and focus on 21st Century skills have many schools scrambling to increase test scores while better preparing their students for the “real world.” This literature review looks at the history of STEM education in the United States and the recent focus on STEM integration into core individual subject classrooms, especially mathematics. This review also analyzes the effectiveness of STEM integration to help students from underserved schools and communities. While there is some evidence that engaging and responsive after-school STEM programs …

Sociological Impacts Of Wind Farms In Maine, Jeanne Barthold

CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium

Renewable power has emerged in the last decade as a viable alternative for our societies' fossil fuel dependence. The Maine Wind Energy Act of 2009 made lofty goals for the amount of wind power that Maine wanted to produce by the year 2020. The many sides of the debate on Maine windmills that have arisen in the past six years create a picture that is extremely complicated. There is clearly not one solution to the problems that came with the rapid construction of windmills since the passing of the Maine Wind Energy Act. The rural communities most directly affected by …

Bad Blood: Investigating The Ban On Msm Blood Donation, Lauren Lacy

CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium

In 1983, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), responding to the AIDS epidemic, adopted a policy of deferring men who have had sex with men (MSM) at anytime since 1977 from donating blood. The current policy, adopted in 1992, continues to defer this group indefinitely. This paper investigates the societal implications of the deferred status. I will first examine the unique relationship gay and bisexual men have with the AIDS epidemic in American history.I challenge the FDAs claim that the ban is solely rooted in behavioral practices, using data on rates of contraction, behavioral practices relevant to MSM (condom use, …

Winded: Evaluating Community And Operator Relations In Maine Community-Based Wind Energy Projects, Madeline Wilson

CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium

Maines promising wind energy industry is growing and rural and island communities have begun pursuing wind turbine-generated electricity. The Fox Islands have, through the Fox Islands Electric Cooperative, successfully established a wind operation to provide the 1,500 island residents with electricity produced by three 1.5 megawatt turbines situated on Vinalhaven Island. However, shortly after the turbines began operation, a small but vocal group of Vinalhaven residents began to speak out against the noise issues they found as a product of living in the vicinity of the project. After numerous newspaper articles from both sides and formal complaints submitted to the …

Russia's Unveiling; An Examination Of Political Construction Through Media Coverage, Sydney Hammond

CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium

On February 7, 2014, the day of Fisht Stadiums Winter Olympic Opening Ceremony, NBC ran an eight-hour tape-delay, releasing their idea of a more complete version of the 11:00 a.m. ET ceremony at 7:30 p.m. ET. The tape-delay allowed NBC to make edits to their film, which would include the exclusion of entire segments of the games. These abandoned segments, although no longer then five minutes each, depict a shifting image of Russia that gone unseen, can easily hinder American perceptions of Russia, allowing NBC to exploit dated notions of the countrys character. In the pages to follow, I will …