Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge. Edited by I. Lakatos and A. Musgrave. Pp. viii, 282. £3·50, paperback £1. 1970. (Cambridge University Press.)

An important distinction can be made between the science, technology, and society (STS) movement of past years and the domain of socioscientific issues (SSI). STS education as typically practiced does not seem embedded in a coherent developmental or sociological framework that explicitly considers the psychological and epistemological growth of the child, nor the development of character or virtue. In contrast, the SSI movement focuses on empowering students to consider how science-based issues reflect, in part, moral principles and elements of virtue that encompass their own lives, as well as the physical and social world around them. The focus of this paper is to describe a research-based framework of current research and practice that identifies factors associated with reasoning about socioscientific issues and provide a working model that illustrates theoretical and conceptual links among key psychological, sociological, and developmental factors central to SSI and science education. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed, 89:357–377, 2005

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/sce.20048

Beyond STS: A research‐based framework for socioscientific issues education

The research reported in this study focuses on an investigation into the teaching of argumentation in secondary science classrooms. Over a one-year period, a group of 12 teachers from schools in the greater London area attended a series of workshops to develop materials and strategies to support the teaching of argumentation in scientific contexts. Data were collected at the beginning and end of the year by audio and video recording lessons where the teachers attempted to implement argumentation. To assess the quality of argumentation, analytical tools derived from Toulmin's argument pattern (TAP) were developed and applied to classroom transcripts. Analysis shows there was development in teachers' use of argumentation across the year. Results indicate that the pattern of use of argumentation is teacher-specific, as is the nature of change. To inform future professional development programmes, transcripts of five teachers, three showing a significant change and two no change, were analysed in more detail to identify features of teachers' oral contributions that facilitated and supported argumentation. The analysis showed that all teachers attempted to encourage a variety of processes involved in argumentation and that the teachers whose lessons included the highest quality of argumentation (TAP analysis) also encouraged higher order processes in their teaching. The analysis of teachers' facilitation of argumentation has helped to guide the development of in-service materials and to identify the barriers to learning in the professional development of less experienced teachers.

Learning to Teach Argumentation: Research and development in the science classroom

The purpose of this study is to contribute to a theoretical knowledge base through research by examining factors salient to science education reform and practice in the context of socioscientific issues. The study explores how individuals negotiate and resolve genetic engineering dilemmas. A quali- tative approach was used to examine patterns of informal reasoning and the role of morality in these processes. Thirty college students participated individually in two semistructured interviews designed to explore their informal reasoning in response to six genetic engineering scenarios. Students demonstrated evidence of rationalistic, emotive, and intuitive forms of informal reasoning. Rationalistic informal re- asoning described reason-based considerations; emotive informal reasoning described care-based consi- derations; and intuitive reasoning described considerations based on immediate reactions to the context of a scenario. Participants frequently relied on combinations of these reasoning patterns as they worked to resolve individual socioscientific scenarios. Most of the participants appreciated at least some of the moral implications of their decisions, and these considerations were typically interwoven within an overall pattern of informal reasoning. These results highlight the need to ensure that science classrooms are environments in which intuition and emotion in addition to reason are valued. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed. 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 42: 112-138, 2005 The phrase ''socioscientific issues'' has come to represent a variety of social dilemmas with conceptual, procedural, or technological associations with science (Fleming, 1986; Kolsto, 2001; Patronis, Potari, & Spiliotopoulou, 1999; Zeidler, Walker, Ackett, & Simmons, 2002). Socioscientific issues typically involve the products or the processes of science and create social debate or controversy. Current socioscientific issues frequently stem from biotechnological advances such as cloning, stem cells, and genetically modified foods and environmental challenges such as global climate change, land-use decisions, and the introduction of exotic substances (both biotic and abiotic). The delineation of socioscientific issues should not imply that

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED481211.pdf

Patterns of Informal Reasoning in the Context of Socioscientific Decision Making.

/pdf/closing-of-the-american-mind-2ghni28h74.pdf

Closing of the American Mind

I. INTRODUCTION. 1. Becoming a Science Teacher. 2. Beginning Your Instructional Theory. II. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES AND CONTEMPORARY TRENDS. 3. Historical Perspectives on Science Education. 4. National Standards and Scientific Literacy. III. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES. 5. The Goals of Science Teaching. 6. The Objectives of Science Teaching. IV. CURRICULUM PERSPECTIVES. 7. Designing School Science Curriculum. 8. The Middle School Science Curriculum. 9. The High School Science Curriculum. 10. Science and Other Disciplines: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Curriculum. V. INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES. 11. Inquiry and Conceptual Change. 12. Questions and Discussion. 13. Investigation and Problem Solving. 14. Demonstration and Laboratory Work. 15. Models for Effective Science Teaching. 16. Planning for Effective Science Teaching. 17. Controversy in the Classroom. VI. ASSESSMENT. 18. Assessing Student Learning. 19. New Models for Assessment. VII. UNDERSTANDING AND WORKING WITH STUDENTS. 20. The Psychological Basis for Effective Science Teaching. 21. Individual Differences in Science Classrooms. 22. Teaching Science for Cultural and Gender Differences. 23. Classroom Management and Conflict Resolution. VIII. TEACHER RESOURCES. 24. Incorporating Educational Technology into the Science Classroom. 25. Materials for Science Teaching. IX. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. 26. Student Teaching and Professional Growth. 27. Being a Science Teacher. Appendixes. Appendix A. Interesting Web Sites for Science Educators. Appendix B. Teaching Science Activities. Appendix C. Daily Lesson Plans.

Teaching Secondary School Science: Strategies for Developing Scientific Literacy

(2002). Changing teachers' practice: curriculum materials and science education reform in the USA. Studies in Science Education: Vol. 37, No. 1, pp. 107-135.

Changing teachers' practice: curriculum materials and science education reform in the USA

The decade of the 1980s was a period of pressure for and movement towards educational reform. During the early 1980s, numerous reports focused attention on the failure of education in general, and science and mathematics education in particular, to prepare American students for the 21st century. These efforts, in turn, influenced calls for reform in the fields of science and social studies education. Several trends have particular relevance for the teaching of the history and nature of science and technology. First, there is a push for the general improvement of scientific literacy. Second, there is a resurgence of interest in history instruction. And third, the trend toward the integration of sciencetechnology-society themes into contemporary school programs. Authors such as Bertrand Russell and C. P. Snow addressed the importance of understanding science and society connections in their books The Impact of Science on Society (Russell, 1951) and The Two Cultures (Snow, 1962). These insights, however, had little influence on school programs. The situation in which individuals neither perceive nor understand connections between science and society is partially due to the fact that we do not teach about those connections. Presenting students with the historical influences of science on society and society on science could help fulfill the goal of citizenship.

Janet Carlson Powell

Papers

Teaching Secondary School Science: Strategies for Developing Scientific Literacy

Changing teachers' practice: curriculum materials and science education reform in the USA

Integrating the history and nature of science and technology in science and social studies curriculum

Teaching history and the nature of science in science courses: a rationale