International Science Education

Abstract

Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ and https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode), which grants the public the nonexclusive right to copy, distribute, or display the published work. The importance of STEM crosses geographical boundaries: research advances continue to help improve the quality of our lives and our environment worldwide (1). Scientific breakthroughs benefit us all-from improved healthcare to healthy living, environmentally friendly transportation and agricultural systems, more efficient manufacturing processes, accessible information technology, and beyond. It is therefore of the utmost importance to support the global dissemination of successful STEM education practices. Worldwide access to evidence-based STEM pedagogy will facilitate the training of professionals to lead the next generation of inventions and discoveries and their applications. Several strategies that have become popular in North America and Europe have yielded impressive results in terms of improving learning gains, student participation, and engagement. For example, teaching methods such as active learning, inquiry-based learning, and the inverted or "flipped" classroom have been repeatedly shown to be more effective than traditional methods across disciplines, institutions, grades, and countries (2-6). However, several vital questions remain unanswered. For example, are these new pedagogical approaches compatible with the diverse educational and cultural systems that exist worldwide? Are the facilities, training, and systems necessary to support the introduction of such teaching methods available? Are there other novel instructional approaches used outside North America and Europe that are not widely reported in the literature? We currently know little about STEM education in countries beyond the few that heavily dominate the peda-gogical literature. However, as the world becomes increasingly connected, the full benefit of STEM education can be realized only if we understand global educational systems and develop mechanisms to strengthen and standardize instructional provisions where possible. This themed issue of the Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education (JMBE) provides insight into STEM education trends, practices, challenges, and progress on the international front. The 16 manuscripts accepted for publication cover a broad range of topics categorized into three main sections: teaching and curriculum resources, international collaborative education, and learning within a cultural context. To extend the reach of these international articles, the abstract of each article appears in English as well as a major language in the country where the activity took place or where one of the authors comes from. Teaching and curriculum resources The articles in this section describe the design, implementation , and evaluation of new curricula and other novel teaching resources proven to deepen students' engagement, inquiry, and participation. Morel and colleagues describe an innovative approach developed in Uruguay but adaptable to a variety of settings that uses a comic book to teach students about the benefits of microorganisms. Smith-Keiling and Hyun demonstrate how to use software, available in several languages, to monitor trends and progress in students' linguistic development. Sumranwanich and colleagues describe an inquiry-based curriculum strategy first implemented in Thailand that promotes student engagement in a zoology laboratory course. Oliveira and colleagues introduce a science communication initiative developed for young scientists in Brazil that combines face-to-face training with online engagement and can easily be adapted