Abstract
This paper presents a case study looking at the use of daily life contexts and socio-scientific issues by pre-service science teachers (PSTs) in Indonesia during their final year teaching internship. The study is based on a questionnaire distributed to 42 PSTs at a State University in East-Java after they took part in a teaching internship program. The questionnaire focuses on the contexts the PSTs used in their teaching and how the contexts were used. Additionally, eight of the PSTs who taught a unit on environmental pollution were interviewed to more deeply explore how deeply they referred to real-world contexts in their teaching practice and whether or not they presented the topics as socio-scientific issues (SSIs). Most of the PSTs stated that they had used daily life contexts quite often when teaching. The most frequent contexts the PSTs used were daily life objects and questions related to society and the environment. The contexts were mostly introduced at the beginning of the lesson, before the science content was taught. They suggested that the function of contexts was generally for motivational purposes and for student engagement with science concepts. The contexts were rarely used to provoke societal discussions, even though the PSTs acknowledged that many contexts can be used in the sense of socio-scientific issues and were considered to potentially provoke discussions beyond science.
Highlights
In the past, school science in many countries, such as in Sweden, England, and Australia, has been characterized as generally being structured around decontextualized content which is often perceived as difficult to learn by many students (Lyons, 2006)
A recent study of Indonesian educational context found that to date most experienced junior high school teachers rarely implement socio-scientific issues (SSIs) in their teaching (Nida et al, 2020). This is why the current study explored whether pre-service Indonesian science teachers choose to use SSIs when asked to gather first-hand teaching experience during the final year of their teaching internship program
This study investigates the use of contexts and socio-scientific issues-based science education among pre-service science teachers (PSTs) attending a State University in East-Java
Summary
School science in many countries, such as in Sweden, England, and Australia, has been characterized as generally being structured around decontextualized content which is often perceived as difficult to learn by many students (Lyons, 2006). In previous studies of teachers’ perception regarding SSIbased education in Indonesia, both in-service science teachers (ISTs) (Nida et al, 2020) as well as pre-service science teachers (PSTs) (Nida et al, in press) acknowledged the potential of SSI-based education They saw it as a means to both enhance students’ general educational skills and to broaden teachers’ competencies. They include lessons in science teaching strategies, media use in teaching, science-technology-society (STS), student assessment, etc In their sixth semester, student teachers are introduced to context-based learning in an STS course. The latest curriculum changed STS education into STEM education, which still does not necessarily cover an explicit focus on SSIbased learning or the controversial nature of SSIs in society By their final semester the student teachers have completed both a teaching internship and an undergraduate thesis. The topic of environmental pollution, for example, receives a maximum
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