Enhancing Socioscientific Reasoning Through Nature of Technology

Fostering informed Socioscientific Reasoning (SSR) is an essential component of developing scientific literacy. In this chapter, the authors suggest that enhancing Nature of Technology (NOT) understanding can be one way to leverage students' informed socioscientific reasoning. The authors describe a proposed NOT conceptual framework with four dimensions and detailed components, and present an analysis of students' reasoning of various socioscientific issues using this framework. Finally, the authors present the finding that NOT components were present in student discussions with varying levels of understanding. The SSR analysis reveals that students with NOT informed understanding can appreciate the integrated characteristics of technology, so as to make sophisticated decisions about science and technology that will change society in fundamental ways, for both better and worse.

Integrating Scientific Modeling and Socio-Scientific Reasoning to Promote Scientific Literacy

Socio-scientific issues (SSI) are widely advocated as a productive context for promoting scientific literacy that aims to prepare responsible citizens who can use science in their daily lives. However, many teachers find it challenging to enact SSI and consider SSI and discipline-based instruction as mutually exclusive approaches to science teaching. In this chapter, the authors present their framework for SSI instruction, socio-scientific issue and model-based learning (SIMBL), that emphasizes both disciplinary knowledge and its social implications. In particular, the authors argue that the integration of scientific modeling and socio-scientific reasoning (SSR) can advance students' competencies in both areas, thus promoting students' scientific literacy. The authors use an illustrative example from their work with elementary students to demonstrate the connection between students' modeling practice and their SSR. The authors conclude the chapter by introducing the epistemic tools developed to support students' modeling practice and SSR as well as implications for classroom enactments.

Unifying Themes in Socioscientific Issues-Based Instruction for Scientific Literacy Development

This chapter presents the unifying themes in socioscientific issues-based instruction for scientific literacy development. Section 1 presented an overview of how to effectively implement socioscientific issues in the elementary grades to provide students with opportunities to apply science to their everyday lives. Section 2 built upon where the authors left off in section one. In this section, the authors used real-world scientific context to provide opportunities to use character and values and moral reasoning as they think about finding solutions to real-world scientific problems. Section 3 showed the continued use of socioscientific issues with an upward trajectory to enhance scientific literacy at the college level. Section 4 demonstrated socioscientific issues being successfully implemented at the core of the P-12 educational system. In Section 5, the authors revealed the integrative nature among STEM, model-based learning, and socioscientific issues in achieving scientific literacy.

Socio-Scientific Issues and Model-Based Learning

This chapter aims to provide a literature analysis on socio-scientific issues and model-based learning. The position of socio-scientific issues in the process of raising science literate students is indisputable. On the other hand, modeling gives students opportunities to construct their own models and use them through the learning process to formulate hypothesis, make investigations, explain scientific phenomena, and communicate and justify their ideas. Therefore, embedding modeling practice to SSI-based instruction through a framework is an innovative tool for scientific literacy in science education.

Intersections of Integrated STEM and Socio-Scientific Issues

Current policy documents across the world call for changes in K-12 science teaching to use integrated STEM strategies to provide a more authentic learning environment for students. Though the importance of integrated STEM education is established through national and international policy documents, there remains disagreement on focus, models, and effective approaches for integrated STEM instruction. A primary focus of STEM policies is addressing STEM workforce issues. However, other important foci for global STEM initiatives are more equitable education, poverty reduction, and increased STEM literacy and awareness. This chapter critiques current implementations of STEM as focused only on technical aspects of engineering design which will not meet any of the goals of integrated STEM. Rather, the authors propose that integration of SSI into STEM lessons will promote the social thinking necessary in engineering design and enhance work toward achieving not only STEM workforce preparation, but also increased STEM literacy and equity within STEM.

A Socioscientific Issue Approach to Understanding Middle School Students' Beliefs and Intentions Toward Climate Change

This chapter is a demonstration of how to use socioscientific issues to impact middle school students' beliefs and intentions towards climate change. Fifty-one middle school students from a summer enrichment program in the Northeastern United States participated in this study. The duration of this curricular unit took place over six consecutive one-hour class periods. The researcher utilized quantitative and qualitative procedures to analyze the students' abilities to think critically and to argue persuasively about their beliefs and intentions about climate change. The results indicate that the students concluded that human actions are a significant factor in climate change. The students' intentions to act, as well as their desire to encourage others to take actions necessary to mitigate climate change, were compelling. Additionally, the knowledge the students gained from the interventions used enhanced their abilities to write persuasively to the chief executive officers from power plants and waste treatment facilities to a round table discussion on ways to mitigate climate change.

Impact of Socioscientific Issues on Middle School Students' Character and Values for Global Citizenship

This chapter demonstrates the impact of an animal cloning socioscientific issues instructional unit on a group of middle school students' abilities to use their ecological worldview, social and moral compassion, and sense of socioscientific accountability to determine the permissibility of animal cloning. Seventy-seven 7th grade students at a public middle school in the Southeastern region of the United States participated in this investigation. Results from a non-parametric two-tailed Wilcoxon test indicated the students' social and moral compassion (Z = -2.505, p = .012) and socioscientific accountability scores (Z = -2.381, p = .017). In contrast, the results did not demonstrate a statistically significant difference between students' pre and post ecological worldview (Z = -1.185, p = .236). Qualitative analyses of the data revealed several interesting trends and themes discussed in the chapter. The findings from this investigation support the use of SSI as key pedagogical strategies in promoting character and values for global citizens among middle school students.

Blending Creative Drama and Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning for Socioscientific Argumentation

Argumentation has received a significant amount of attention from the science education community. To implement this important teaching method and scientific practice in science classrooms, curriculum reforms have recommended incorporating socioscientific issues. Research indicates that students have difficulty organizing information about complex socioscientific issues; students also tend to ignore counterclaims and only use evidence that supports their own views. Therefore, alternative teaching strategies should be used to overcome this barrier. This chapter advocates for blending creative drama and computer-supported collaborative learning in the context of socioscientific argumentation; it concludes with an instructional sequence for successful decision making about these issues.

The Association Between Course Context and Preservice Teachers' Perceptions of SSI Instruction

This chapter explores the association between elementary preservice teachers' (PSTs) perceptions of teaching using socioscientific issues (SSI) and the context in which the PSTs initially engaged with SSI. One course engaged with SSI while learning pedagogical strategies during an elementary science methods (decontextualized) course. The second course engaged with SSI via an environmental sciences course (contextualized). The contextualized course examined gray wolf management in Northern California as part of an ecology unit, which was followed by a series of debriefings regarding the implementation of the SSI. The findings indicate that while PSTs from both courses generally held more positive perceptions of SSI instruction after engaging with SSI, the students in the contextualized course perceived a greater ability to answer SSI-related questions and expressed more positive attitudes towards science content in the post-course data. Additionally, students in both courses perceived a greater need for teacher training on SSI implementation post-course.

No Child Too Young

Research on the Socioscientific Issues (SSI) framework provides compelling evidence of its ability to provide contextualized science learning as preparation for informed citizenship. However, few SSI studies provide insight as to whether the pedagogical demands of SSI warrant modification or refinement when implemented with young children. Through this exploratory teacher research study, SSI units were developed and implemented in the teacher-researcher's first, second, and fourth grade science classrooms over a one-year period. Results suggest that while SSI provided a critical real-world context for science learning and student discourse, several developmentally-influenced challenges were evident including students' difficulties in shifting from emotional to cognitive bases of argumentation, unintended activation of student fears, confusion between real and imaginary scenarios, and uneven emotion regulation. Findings and recommendations provide a foundation for future research on curricular and pedagogical supports that can facilitate successful elementary SSI implementation.