Science for life - a conceptual framework for construction and analysis of socio-scientific cases (original) (raw)
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Socio-scientific issues: a way to improve students' interest and learning?
… : 2009 conference: 31 …, 2009
According to many documents, there is a strong need to renew science education. One way could be to work with SSI (socio-scientific issues). This paper reports on both students' and teachers' experiences and learning when working with socio-scientific issues in science education in secondary school (aged from 13 to 16). The approach is multidimensional, as factors that influence cognition as well as motivation and the forming of attitudes are complex.
Teachers’ Experience of Working with Socio-scientific Issues: A Large Scale and in Depth Study
Research in Science Education, 2012
The research is an investigation of teachers' experience of working with socioscientific issues (SSI). A large group of teachers (55) chose one of six cases with the characteristics of SSI and were free to organize the work as they found appropriate. The research focuses on how teachers chose content, organized their work and experienced the students' interest and learning. The teachers answered a questionnaire after working with the cases and seven of them were interviewed to provide in-depth understanding of issues raised in the questionnaire. The teachers found the SSI to be current topics with interesting content and relevant tasks and they felt confident about the work. They were quite content with the students' learning of scientific facts, how to apply scientific knowledge and to search for information. However, they found that the students did not easily formulate questions, critically examine arguments or use media to obtain information about the task. The interviewed teachers did not find this work new, but they organized it as 'a special event'. They understood SSI work as 'free' work and group work was frequent, but only a few of the teachers developed explicit strategies for teaching SSI. They had different ideas about learning but they all talked about knowledge as a set of facts to be taken in by the students. They all included elements of SSI but mostly to introduce the regular science content. However the teachers started to reflect upon the potential of using SSI to cover more goals in the curriculum.
Research in Science Education, 2012
This research project aims to investigate how students in lower secondary school experience work with socioscientific issues (SSI). The six socioscientific cases developed and used in this project are relevant according to characteristics of SSI and to the national curriculum. Approximately 1,500 students in Sweden have worked with one SSI case chosen by the teachers. A questionnaire-based instrument was used to measure the affective domain of students' attitudes towards and interest in science before starting to work with the case and a second questionnaire after finishing a case. The second student questionnaire, measured the situational characteristics of the SSI work and perceived cognitive and affective outcomes. According to the students' self-reported experience, all cases were interesting and related to a current issue. Most cases were equally interesting to boys and girls, the only exception was You are what you eat, which girls found more interesting than boys did. Almost all students claim that they learnt new facts, learnt to argue for their standpoint and to search and evaluate information during the work with the cases. The girls' average scores were higher on several aspects of learning outcomes. Furthermore the students, especially the girls, perceived that the outcome of working with SSI had relevance for their future, with some cases more relevant than others. The more interesting the student found the case, the more they claimed they learnt. The students do not, however, claim that they learnt more science than during ordinary lessons.
Science Teachers’ Views of Socio Scientific Issues
The International Journal of Progressive Education, 2020
The aim of this study is to determine the awareness of science teachers about socio-scientific issues, the methods and techniques used in the teaching of socio-scientific issues, and the suggestions about effective teaching of socio-scientific issues. The sample of the study consisted of 75 science teachers (50 women, 25 men) who serve in various regions of Turkey. All participants answered the questionnaire consisting of open-ended questions. Afterward, interviews were conducted with 10 selected teachers. Content analysis was used to analyze the data. By the content analysis, it is aimed to reach the relations and concepts that can explain the collected data (Yildirim and Şimsek, 2013). When the findings of the open-ended questionnaire were examined, it was determined that teachers did not associate the definition and content of the concept of the socio-scientific issue with science and they have a low level of awareness about the content. In addition, it was observed that the teac...
International Journal of Information and Education Technology
The pedagogical use of Socioscientific Issues (SSI) in formal education has increased in the last decade, specifically as a way to improve STEM teaching processes and results. However, several theoretical interpretations coexist about SSI in formal education, thus posing a challenge to developing knowledge from practice. An examination of recent papers was conducted to elicit the conceptualizations of SSI in science education research according to three theoretical dimensions of the curriculum: purpose, contents, and teaching and learning strategies. Results show that as for purpose, SSI is currently conceptualized as citizenship education, and scientific literacy or competence. As for contents, SSI is related both to knowledge of science and knowledge about science, as well as some skills such as argumentation. Finally, SSI is associated to pedagogical strategies, mainly Inquiry-Based Learning; and to pedagogical techniques such as dilemmas and group discussions. This conceptualiza...
Different perspective on teaching socio-scientific subjects
Journal of Education and Learning (EduLearn), 2022
In the ever-changing world based on the needs, curiosity and entrepreneurial drive of the humankind, interest in socio-scientific issues has been increasing every day with the discussion and different approaches in society. It could be suggested that the increase in this interest has been due to both the contribution and damages of these issues to the environment. The present study aimed to analyze the socio-scientific issues instructed with various strategies, methods and techniques in different learning environments in educational institutions as a result of the developments in science and technology due to social needs based on teacher perceptions. The study group included 50 teachers in different fields and employed in various schools in Turkey. The study sample was assigned with criterion sampling technique and the admission criterion was employment in Turkish public schools. In the study, the data were collected with a semi-structured interview form developed by the authors, and the findings were analyzed with content analysis. The study findings demonstrated that the teachers in the study group had different and significant perceptions on the instruction of socio-scientific topics in learning environments.