Issues In Science Education Research Articles

Preface

The 1st International Conference on Chemistry and Science Education (ICChSE) is organized by Department of Chemistry, Universitas Negeri Padang in collaboration with Faculty of Sciences and Mathematics of Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Malaysia. This conference is a wonderful example of creativity that provides opportunities for the delegates which are academics, researchers, professionals, practitioners, observers, teachers and students to exchange new ideas and application experiences, to establish research networks and to find global partners for future collaboration trough present their current research in chemistry and related fields as well as current issues in science education (chemistry, biology and physics).The theme of the conference is “Accelerating and fostering research’s innovations in chemistry and Science Education to meet the challenges of the 5th industrial revolution”. There are 66 papers from various topics including chemistry and related fields as well as current issues in science education (chemistry, biology and physics). 48 papers are selected to go through a peer reviewed process, and these papers will be published in conference proceedings.We would like to thank the organizing committee and the members of reviewers for their kind assistance in reviewing the papers. We would also extend our best gratitude for Professor Prof. Dr. Taufiq Yap Yun Hin, Prof. Minda Azhar and Associate Professor Mauro Mocerino for their invaluable contribution and worthwhile ideas shared in the conference.The EditorsBudhi Oktavia, Ph,DProf. Lim Lee WahDr. Eng. Muhammad AminList of Editorial Team are available in this pdf.

History of science meets history of art on Galileo's telescope: An integrated approach for science education

An interdisciplinary approach to science education through history of art is proposed. The approach is innovative, as the artworks complement the history, philosophy and sociology of science contents to increase students’ interest and motivation. The approach integrates humanities and science education through history of art, which request interdisciplinary cooperation of the teachers of the school subjects involved with historical curriculum contents. The approach is elaborated through the case of Galileo's telescope, which provides specific features on the relationships between science and technology (scientific instrumentation applied to generate knowledge), nature of science, and science-technology-society relationships, where history and art meet each other. Further, history of art contributes some contemporary artworks on Galileo case that highlight all those relationships. The explicitness, perception, beauty and accessibility of the paintings may also be a key element to develop teachers’ and students’ interest and motivation in teaching and learning science through its integration with history of art. Finally, the interdisciplinary educational approach develops a teaching-learning sequence on the basis of Galileo's telescope to guide teaching the issue in science education through history of art. This didactic exemplification elaborates some aims, contents, resources and activities throughout the human, social, philosophical, artistic, scientific and historical aspects involved in the case of Galileo that teachers must adapt to specific subjects, degree and students. 

COVID 19 PANDEMIC AS A SOCIOSCIENTIFIC ISSUE IN SCIENCE EDUCATION AND SUGGESTIONS FOR SAMPLE APPLICATIONS

Tüm Dünya ülkelerinde yaygın bir pandemi haline dönüşen COVID 19, bireysel ve toplumsal açıdan yaşantılarımızın her alanını etkilemiş ve etkilemeye devam etmektedir. Kuşkusuz bu süreç fen eğitimini de etkilemiştir ve gelecekte fen eğitimi açısından yeni yollar, yöntemler ve stratejiler ön plana çıkacaktır. COVID 19 pandemi döneminin, eğitimcilere hatırlattığı bir önemli yaklaşımda sosyobilimsel konulardır. Bu nedenle, araştırmanın amacı fen eğitiminde sosyobilimsel bir konu olarak COVID 19 pandemisini incelemek ve fen öğretimine yönelik örnek uygulama önerileri sunmaktır. COVID 19 pandemi döneminde, toplumun fertleri, tartışmalı, ikilem taşıyan ve risk yönetimini gerektiren birçok sosyobilimsel durum ile başa çıkmak durumunda kalmıştır. Araştırmada, bu durumlardan “COVID 19 hastalığı mevsimsel gripten daha tehlikeli mi?”, “COVID 19 hastalığını engellemek için maske kullanılmalı mı? Kullanılmamalı mı?” ve “Aşılanmalı mı? Aşılanmamalı mı?” sosyobilimsel durumları ele alınarak, sırasıyla karikatür, ikilem kartı ve problem senaryosu olarak sunulmuş ve öğrenme-öğretim sürecinde başvurulabilecek uygulama örnekleri olarak önerilmiştir. Pandemi dönemi ve sonrası süreçte, mevcut derleme makalesinin fen eğitim araştırmacılarına, öğretim programı geliştirme uzmanlarına, öğretmenlere ve öğretmen adaylarına yardımcı olacağı ve katkılar sağlayacağı düşünülmektedir.

Los gráficos y la pandemia. Reflexiones para la educación científica en tiempos de incertidumbre

The COVID-19 pandemic shows that certain knowledge and ways of knowing linked to science education do not reach the common denominator of citizenship. In particular, this work focuses on the use of different types of graphical representations during the pandemic in mass media communication and political discourse. This invites a detailed reflection based on our research results on the role of graphics in science education. Thus, it is possible to raise perspectives for a post-pandemic education that includes the representational issue in science education for citizenship.

Towards a Viable Response to COVID-19 from the Science Education Community

The COVID-19 pandemic has touched almost every corner of the planet and continues to impact on lives, livelihoods, economies and cultures. It is both a human and a global phenomenon. Making sense of what is happening requires an understanding of a number of scientific ideas including viruses, transmission, incubation and vaccination. These are life and death issues and yet the public and their political leaders often display a deliberate mistrust of the science and scientists. How might the science education community respond? We pose a series of questions designed to provoke a strong response to COVID-19 from our community and our colleagues: “How well has the science curriculum prepared the world’s public for COVID-19?”; “How much science education should be online from now on?”; “Are we learning from the current situation?”; “Is science education research producing knowledge that protects society from catastrophic events?”; “How should our working practices change to make science education more resilient, more useful and more transparent?”; “What are the ethics and politics of social distancing and how do they affect science education?”; “What pedagogies might we need to turn to in the future?”; and, “What role should business and industry play in funding science education research and development?” In our attempt to stimulate the development of a vision for science education in the post-pandemic era, we offer initial thoughts about moving forward. What we offer is a departure point, an invitation for the community to engage with pressing issues in science education. The main question we pose is the following: What can be done, and what can be done differently? We envision that this paper will provide some guidance to the readers to re-think the complex systems and socio-political contexts within which people come to learn and practice science and to conceptualize these processes through a social justice lens. We argue that a social justice informed approach towards shaping a vision for science education in the post-pandemic era is of paramount importance and that failure to do so will only serve as a way of perpetuating existing inequalities.

How Socio-Scientific Inquiry Based Learning (SSIBL) promotes inquiry in climate issues – An example for enacting socio-scientific issues in science education

The project “Mobility, Traffic and Renewable Energies” is a joint project between the University of Klagenfurt and the University of Teacher Education in Carinthia. Pre-service science teachers, teachers and school students engage in real-world issues. This participatory project was implemented in two rounds (academic year 2015-2016 and 2016-2017) and was part of the EU-FP7-Project PARRISE (Promoting Attainment of Responsible Research and Innovation in Science Education). An essential goal of PARRISE was to implement the pedagogic framework of Socio-Scientific Inquiry Based Learning – SSIBL. In this paper practical activities at schools are described and selected findings of an evaluation about the learning of school students and pre-service science teachers are presented.

Questões sociocientíficas: origem, características, perspectivas e possibilidades de implementação no ensino de ciências a partir dos anos iniciais do Ensino Fundamental

Este ensaio tem como objetivo discutir a importância das questões sociocientíficas como uma possibilidade de implementar em sala de aula um ensino de ciências crítico, que contemple as diferentes opiniões dos estudantes e que amplie a compreensão das relações entre ciência e tecnologia, imersas em uma sociedade dominada por interesses econômicos. Para isso, retoma a origem dessa perspectiva de educação no movimento Ciência, Tecnologia e Sociedade (CTS), explica a natureza das questões sociocientíficas e sua presença na mídia, articuladas aos desafios encontrados pelos docentes que decidem trabalhar com temas científicos controversos em suas aulas. Por fim, argumenta que é promissor o estudo de questões sociocientíficas no ensino de ciências a partir dos anos iniciais do Ensino Fundamental.

Investigating Power and Agency in Singular Diversity-Requirement Education Courses: Moving Beyond Content Analysis to Engage with Critical Praxis Analysis

Given recent pushes toward homogenous teacher education, teacher educator pedagogy necessitates modeled critical practice. The research presented here provides an analysis to ground the call for a move beyond teacher education pedagogy focused on the dissemination of knowledge about critical issues in classrooms. Utilizing two methodological traditions – namely, critical discourse analysis and phenomenography – this paper reports on the discursive moments enacted in a graduate course that sought to foster critical understandings of issues in urban science education, intending to lead to critical practices employed by this population of teacher candidates and doctoral students. Findings support that not only was there a preponderance of the dissemination model of teaching and learning, but also that the students within this course, even when working in groups, were unable to generate critical unit plans for prospectus science lessons in K-12 classrooms. Implications for this study are discussed in relation to the literature on critical teacher education.

Fundamental Issues Regarding the Nature of Technology

Science and technology are so intertwined that technoscience has been argued to more accurately reflect the progress of science and its impact on society, and most socioscientific issues require technoscientific reasoning. Education policy documents have long noted that the general public lacks sufficient understanding of science and technology necessary for informed decision-making regarding socioscientific/technological issues. The science–technology–society movement and scholarship addressing socioscientific issues in science education reflect efforts in the science education community to promote more informed decision-making regarding such issues. Now Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) education has emerged as a major reform movement impacting science education. STEM education efforts emphasize literacy across the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, but with rare exceptions, treat issues of technology superficially and uncritically. Informed decision-making regarding many personal and societal issues requires technological literacy beyond merely becoming an enthusiastic designer or skilled user of technology, but the science education community has given little attention to what such literacy entails. Here, we present results of an extensive review of the literature regarding the nature of technology (NOT) in order to identify key issues among scholars who study technology. We then provide predominant perspectives among those scholars and suggest which identified NOT issues are most essential to address as part of STEM education efforts that seek to promote informed personal and societal decision-making.

Science Process Skills and Attitudes toward Science of Lower Secondary Students of Merbau Island: A Preliminary Study on the Development of MaritimeBased Contextual Science Learning Media

Science learning outcomes such as science process skills and attitudes toward science are still important issues in science education. In this study the researchers tried to get a picture of the students' learning outcomes to get input on the learning process of science in the coastal area. As an initial study of the development of maritime-based contextual science learning media, the purpose of this research is to know the extent of science process skill level, attitude toward science, and academic achievement of students in coastal area. There were 114 students of the 8th grade of four lower secondary schools in Merbau Island participated as respondents in this study. Instruments used in data collection are science process skills tests and attitude toward science questionnaires for lower secondary school students. The results showed that 8th grade lower secondary school students in Merbau Island had high attitude toward science. On the contrary, the science process skills and academic achievement of their science are relatively low.

RESEARCH TRENDS IN SCIENCE EDUCATION.

RESEARCH TRENDS IN SCIENCE EDUCATION.

PARRISE, Promoting Attainment of Responsible Research and Innovation in Science Education, FP7

The PARRISE (Promoting Attainment of Responsible Research & Innovation in Science Education) project aims at introducing the concept of Responsible Research and Innovation in primary and secondary education. It does so by combining inquiry-based learning and citizenship education with socio-scientific issues in science education. This approach is called socio-scientific inquiry-based learning (SSIBL) which is implemented in teacher professional development courses across Europe. Based on practical experiences the approach is laid down in a new educational framework, and learning tools and materials for in/pre-service training courses are developed. The PARRISE educational methodology seeks to promote democratic citizenship through the integration of social issues and related scientific knowledge. Drawing from recently acquired IBSE insights and individual partner expertise, the PARRISE partners collectively develop a community of learners, who will bring together selected good practices examined from a Research and Responsible Innovation perspective.

La controversia Pasteur vs. Pouchet sobre la generación espontánea: un recurso para la formación inicial del profesorado en la naturaleza de la ciencia desde un enfoque reflexivo

Resumen: Se presenta la controversia entre Pasteur y Pouchet sobre la generación espontánea como un relato de la Historia de la Ciencia interesante para abordar en las clases de ciencias algunas cuestiones de Naturaleza de la Ciencia (NDC), desde un enfoque explícito y reflexivo. La propuesta se dirige a la formación de Estudiantes de Profesorado de Educación Secundaria (EPES) en NDC y su didáctica. Se presta atención tanto a los aspectos epistémicos como a los no-epistémicos en el texto de la controversia y en las cuestiones que se plantean. Asimismo, se proponen algunas recomendaciones metodológicas para su implementación y evaluación en el aula, que se concreta en: (1) lectura de la controversia y respuesta en equipo a unas cuestiones sobre NDC; (2) discusión en clase de las primeras respuestas; y (3) revisión de las respuestas iniciales a partir de la discusión en clase.

From FRA to RFN, or How the Family Resemblance Approach Can Be Transformed for Science Curriculum Analysis on Nature of Science

The inclusion of Nature of Science (NOS) in the science curriculum has been advocated around the world for several decades. One way of defining NOS is related to the family resemblance approach (FRA). The family resemblance idea was originally described by Wittgenstein. Subsequently, philosophers and educators have applied Wittgenstein’s idea to problems of their own disciplines. For example, Irzik and Nola adapted Wittgenstein’s generic definition of the family resemblance idea to NOS, while Erduran and Dagher reconceptualized Irzik and Nola’s FRA-to-NOS by synthesizing educational applications by drawing on perspectives from science education research. In this article, we use the terminology of “Reconceptualized FRA-to-NOS (RFN)” to refer to Erduran and Dagher’s FRA version which offers an educational account inclusive of knowledge about pedagogical, instructional, curricular and assessment issues in science education. Our motivation for making this distinction is rooted in the need to clarify the various accounts of the family resemblance idea.The key components of the RFN include the aims and values of science, methods and methodological rules, scientific practices, scientific knowledge as well as the social-institutional dimensions of science including the social ethos, certification, and power relations. We investigate the potential of RFN in facilitating curriculum analysis and in determining the gaps related to NOS in the curriculum. We analyze two Turkish science curricula published 7 years apart and illustrate how RFN can contribute not only to the analysis of science curriculum itself but also to trends in science curriculum development. Furthermore, we present an analysis of documents from USA and Ireland and contrast them to the Turkish curricula thereby illustrating some trends in the coverage of RFN categories. The results indicate that while both Turkish curricula contain statements that identify science as a cognitive-epistemic system, they underemphasize science as a social-institutional system. The comparison analysis shows results such as the “scientific ethos” category being mentioned by the Irish curriculum while “social organizations and interactions” category being mentioned by the Turkish curriculum. In all documents, there was no overall coherence to NOS as a holistic narrative that would be inclusive of the various RFN categories simultaneously. The article contributes to the framing of NOS from a family resemblance perspective and highlights how RFN categories can be used as analytical tools.

Asia-Pacific Science Education (APSE): expanding opportunities for publishing science education research

© I a l We are pleased to introduce a new journal, Asia-Pacific Science Education, which was created to provide researchers in the Asia-Pacific region with a central channel for disseminating research in local contexts about issues in science education to both science educators in the geographical region and researchers in the extended international community. APSE is unique in that our journal focuses on the publication of scholarly articles examining issues related to science teaching and learning in Asia as well as articles that address the issues facing science teachers and science learners who are members of the Asian Diaspora. As a result, we expect the scholarly works published in APSE will encompass diverse topics of interest that will be significant for a wide readership. In this introductory issue, we describe the origins of APSE and we share findings from an analysis of publication data from other major journals in the field that demonstrate a need for APSE. Next we share our vision for the role APSE can play in supporting the development of an academic community where studies conducted in the Asia-Pacific region and studies conducted with participants from the Asian Diaspora will be valued and accessed by scholars who are concerned about science education issues affecting these communities. We conclude by offering a detailed description of the unique features APSE offers our authors and readers, including a supportive peerreview process that is considerate of the challenges facing non-native English speakers. Finally, we explain how our open access (OA) publication model ensures that researchers and teachers anywhere in the world can access and read all content in our journal for free.

Succeeding Michael R. Matthews

That history, philosophy and sociology of science (HPS) have a lot to contribute to science education has been clearly shown by this journal ever since 1992. Numerous scholars from science education, history of science, philosophy of science, sociology of science, cognitive science and other disciplines have contributed to Science & Education over the years. These contributions have enriched our understanding of the concepts and processes of science, which in turn has contributed to improving the teaching and learning of science. Currently, it seems that there is an increased interest for exploring the relationship between science education and HPS further. More and more science educators have started delving into the details of HPS scholarship, often in collaboration with HPS scholars. In addition, more and more HPS scholars have come to realize that they have a lot to contribute to science education, by writing articles for Science & Education, or chapters for anthologies devoted to theoretical or pedagogical issues in science education (e.g., Kampourakis 2013a; Numbers and Kampourakis 2015). This journal is the most appropriate venue for scholars who want to explore how science education can be HPS-informed and HPS-enriched. It is an honor and a challenge for me to take over the editorship of Science & Education, succeeding its founding editor: Michael R. Matthews. My aim during my term is to continue what he has been doing for the past 25 years, and hopefully add to that. A major goal is to further expand the readership of the journal and make clear to people not (yet) related to IHPST that this is a journal of interest to all science educators. Science & Education is not a niche journal; it is a science education journal with a strong emphasis on conceptual and theoretical issues, which is informed by the history, philosophy and sociology of science and mathematics.

The Philosophy and Approach on which the PROFILES Project is Based

This article sets out to describe the PROFILES project, an European Commission FP7 science and society project, addresses problems and issues in science education by guiding teachers to embrace a range of teaching factors, such as a context-based approach, motivational constructivist learning; student centred inquiry teaching; enhancing cognitive conceptualisation, and including socio-scientific decision making. The PROFILES project bases the teaching on a theoretically derived, 3 stage model, which is supported through carefully designed PROFILES modules, providing for both the students and the teacher. The major focus of the project is promoting more relevant school science education at the secondary level (grade 7 and above) by guiding teachers to gain ownership of the PROFILES philosophy and approach.

English

Green has a common use among the public. Both natural and social environment have an important effect on this expression. People tend to explain the scientific concepts using well-known situations which they intensively see around the living area. In this sense, photosynthesis is one of the most important biological concepts including social and cultural connections. Therefore this study mainly investigated the importance of green in explaining such concept. Data obtained from the document analysis of textbooks and content analysis of Primary School Teaching Students’ (PSTS) answers to open ended questions. Evaluating the writings belongs to 200 PSTS, it is understood that most of them could not explain the photosynthesis of non-green plants scientifically. They think that this explanation is mainly based on the green pigment dominance of plants. Additionally it is an expected result of intensive and haphazardous repeatings as green plants instead of only plants originated from school education and public use. In fact, green is not a requirement for explaining the photosynthesis reaction of plants. This unecessary use in explaining the photosynthesis function of non-green plants is an interesting result for identifying the connection between scientific concepts and socio-cultural issues.   Key words: Social, Linguistic and Cultural Issues in Science Education, Misconception.

Socioscientific Issues in Science Education: The Case of Turkey

AbstractThe purpose of this study is to identify the foci and results of studies on socioscientific issues (SSI) conducted in Turkey. Additionally, the study aimed to compare the results of this study with ones conducted internationally. For this aim, a literary review of empirical studies related to conducted in was carried out. Four criteria were used to identify the research studies included in this review: studies which are contemporary (2002-2012), were conducted in (sampling populations), which focus on in science education, and which used first-hand data gathered through empirical investigations. Related databases were searched using SSI and Turkey and SSI and Turkish keywords in both English and Turkish. The search resulted in 13 empirical research articles and 17 Master's and Doctoral theses. After the initial review of the studies based on the established criteria, 11 articles and 13 theses were identified for inclusion in this review. The results showed that related studies conducted in Turkey, similar to international studies, have two roles. While the aim was to teach in some studies, in other studies, were used as a context to reach other broader, science education related aims. Studies mostly focused on the knowledge of pre-service science teachers regarding various SSI, the self-efficacy beliefs of teaching and the informal reasoning ski Us in the context of SSI. The majority of the studies were master's theses. Another important point that needs to be paid attention to is that related studies in tended to employ quantitative methods while very few studies utilized in-depth qualitative methods.KeywordsSocioscientific Issues, Literature Review, Turkey, Teacher Education, Science Education.Science and society reciprocally influence each other. While societal needs drive science, society is influenced by science in many respects as well (Sadler & Zeidler, 2005b). With the rapid advancement of science, many science-related, societal dilemmas appear, such as whether to use nuclear power. Such complex, open-ended, controversial and uncertain issues involving both science and society are called (Eastwood, Sadler, Zeidler, Lewis, Amiri, & Applebaum, 2012; Fleming, 1986a, 1986b; Kolsto, 2001; Patronis, Potari, & Spiliotopoulou, 1999; Sadler, 2004; Sadler & Zeidler, 2005a; Topcu, Yilmaz-Tuzun, & Sadler, 2011; Zeidler, Walker, Ackett, & Simmons, 2002).Prominent science education organizations (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1990; Ministry of National Education in [MONE], 2013; National Research Council, 1996; and Queensland School Curriculum Council, 2001) emphasized that the argumentation, analysis and knowledge-based decision making skills of students regarding need to be improved because these skills are important components of scientific literacy. Many studies utilizing report that such contexts improve a student's conceptual understanding (Klosterman & Sadler, 2010), attract their interest (Albe, 2008; Zeidler, Sadler, Applebaum, & Callahan, 2009), provide additional motivation for learning (Parchmann, Grasel, Baer, Nentwig, Demuth, & Ralle, 2006), and improve their epistemological development (Zeidler et al., 2009) and attitudes towards science (Lee & Erdogan, 2007).Starting from 2013, have been specifically included in the Science and Technology curriculum by the Ministry of National Education (MONE, 2013). This new emphasis on in the curriculum necessitates understanding what has been done by science education researchers in with respect to and how this research compares with ones conducted internationally. Considering that the context of these studies has its own sociocultural structure and belief system and deals with regarding these characteristics, a national-level analysis will help to better understand the teaching and learning of in the context of Turkey. …

A Reflection of Biological Education in the United States

This issue concludes the NABT’s celebration of its 75th Anniversary. Since my term as ABT editor will also be over at the end of this year, this will be one of my last official opportunities to share my ideas about biology education. First I will tell you a little about myself, and then I will share some reflections on biology education past, present, and future. I was always interested in a career in teaching, and biology was my favorite subject. During my senior year in college as a pre-med biology major, I was sent a military draft notice. The draft board gave me three choices: (a) graduate, and we send you to OCS and you will go to Vietnam; (b) graduate and go to med school; when you finish you will go to Vietnam, as we need physicians badly; or (c) get certified to teach secondary science as a critical industry, and you are deferred indefinitely. The decision was a no-brainer. I began a 12-year career teaching high school biology in San Jose, California, the next year. My classroom curriculum emphasized evolution, ecology, genetics, and the human body. My students said that all I ever emphasized was sex and evolution. Well, why not? I also taught about every science except physics, and my favorite class was a six-week summer session in field ecology with lots of field trips. After teaching biology for just a few years in the late 1960s, I attended an NABT Convention in San Francisco. One of the featured sessions was a debate over evolution versus creation. Speakers on the evolution side included none other than Theodosius Dobzhansky, who made his now famous statement, “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.” The creation side was represented by Duane Gish from the Creation Research …