Table of Contents

Applying New Research to Improve Science Education
Fall 2012
Forum
The U.S.-Mexico connection; Drug policy research; Communicating uncertainty; The trouble with STEM
From the Hill
R&D funding picture remains mixed, as budget negotiations stall ; House Republicans hold controversial hearings on EPA rules; Bills introduced to improve forensic science; Senate committee examines EPA rule on air pollution from fracking; Federal science and technology in brief
Perspective: Qualitative Metrics in Science Policy: What Can’t Be Counted, Counts
Rahul Rekhi, Neal Lane
Applying New Research to Improve Science Education
Carl Wieman
Insights from several fields on how people learn to become experts can help us to dramatically enhance the effectiveness of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education.
Do High-Stakes Tests Improve Learning?
Michael Hout, Stuart Elliott, Sara Frueh
Test-based incentives, which reward or sanction schools, teachers, and students based on students' test scores, have dominated U.S. education policy for decades. But a recent study suggests that they should be used with caution and carefully evaluated.
Decoupling Water and Violent Conflict
Ken Conca
A basic human need, water can be the source of social conflicts. With safeguards, including informed government polices and management decisions, the dangers can be defused.
The Limits of Knowledge: Personal and Public
Amitai Etzioni
Human beings and governments typically make irrational decisions. Taking this into account in personal planning and in policymaking offers improved results.
Affordable Access to Space
Jonathan Coopersmith
Rockets are 20th-century technology. A government effort to develop new launch technologies could open the door to a vast array of new opportunities for space exploration and development.
Escape from the Great Distress: The Role of Rules
Paul Romer
Technological innovation alone will not revive the U.S. economy. We must also update some of the underlying rules that govern the ways that we make economic decisions.
Back to Basics on Energy Policy
Bruce Everett
For the past 40 years, political leaders have promised that government can plan and engineer a fundamental transformation of our energy industry They were wrong.
Global Bioethics: Hopes, Fears, and New Voices
Jennifer Liu, Deborah Gardner
As science increasingly crosses borders, so do the implications of deeply personal health sciences. Can new voices help in bioethical dialogue?
Book Review: The climate struggle heats up
Martin W. Lewis
Book Review: Controlling the arms bazaar
Jo. L. Husbands