Sustainable Science Education Research Articles

Teaching Sustainability in Science Education: Pre-Service Science Teachers’ Perceptions of the Role of Indigenous Knowledge

Encouraging sustainability in science education demands a collaborative approach, involving the integration of diverse knowledge systems, including indigenous and formal scientific knowledge. Nevertheless, educators’ perceptions of these knowledge systems are crucial factors to consider. This study investigated the perceptions of pre-service science teachers about the role of indigenous knowledge in promoting sustainability science education. The study was conducted at the Department of Integrated Science Education University of Education Winneba, Ghana and predominantly adopted a qualitative approach. A sample size of 54 Level 300 undergraduate pre-service science teachers were purposively chosen. These pre-service teachers have engaged with the science curriculum and syllabus through on-campus peer teaching and are prepared to take their internships in the country’s various second-cycle institutions. Emphasis is laid on the teaching of science to promote education for sustainable development in these institutions. Data were collected through an online questionnaire comprising open- and closed-ended items. The closed-ended items were quantified and analysed for clearer inference whereas thematic analysis was employed for qualitative data. The findings of the study established pre-service teachers’ affirmation of the potential of indigenous knowledge in providing education for sustainability if integrated into the teaching of science. The study recommended targeted interventions including the integration of indigenous knowledge into pre-service science teachers’ curriculum, training programmes, workshops, courses and campaigns aimed at increasing awareness, fostering positive attitudes, and promoting understanding and appreciation of indigenous knowledge and its role in sustainability.

Lessons for Sustainable Science Education: A Study on Chemists’ Use of Systems Thinking across Ecological, Economic, and Social Domains

This paper explores how concept maps can be structured based on researcher narration as a systems thinking (ST) approach in science education to portray the systemic nature of developmental work by chemists on solutions related to sustainability. Sustainability cannot be achieved without a systemic approach that considers all the domains of prosperity and well-being—ecological, social, and economic. Science education must respond to this challenge accordingly and find effective ways to include the ST approach. Data were collected from three semi-structured, in-depth interviews with chemists. The analysis was carried out using qualitative content analysis and modelling the systemic structures in concept maps as articulated by the chemists. The results show that authentic narratives of chemists’ developmental work can be used as material in a concept mapping exercise to reveal several ST elements and learning objectives, including leverage points and delays, that have not been presented in previous exercises. The chemists’ descriptions were also found to address the challenge of sustainability education by depicting a holistic and multidimensional picture of the reality where the developmental work is conducted. Furthermore, all three domains of sustainability were identified. The economic and industrial perspectives were especially valuable from the science education viewpoint.

Education for Sustainability Through Field Activities and Game-Based Tasks

Abstract There is a consensus that the content of education for sustainability should be integrated into the curriculum, engaging students in activities that promote awareness and practice of sustainability. To achieve this goal, it is essential to adopt a student-centered approach that involves creative, stimulating, and challenging activities. This research reports a case study in which 8th grade students had the opportunity to develop these types of activities. Field activities were conducted on a local river combined with a game-based task focused on the role of benthic macroinvertebrates in ecosystems. These activities enabled collaborative learning and the social construction of knowledge, which are pivotal for more sustainable education. It should be noted that students learned how to collect, observe, describe, organize, and classify species to make inferences about water quality. The main issue we intended to address was how to improve and integrate scientific activities into the students’ curriculum to foster a more sustainable education. The specific research questions were put forward: a) Do the implemented activities instigate collaboration for a more sustainable education? b) Do the implemented activities increase scientific curiosity and develop critical thinking and attitudes? c) Do the implemented activities increase students’ knowledge concerning aquatic resources, such as benthic invertebrates? The results confirmed the important role of student-centred activities, in this particular case fieldwork and game-based tasks, in the development of knowledge and scientific thinking skills, which could be scaffolded through feedback, rewards and flow states. This study provides a more holistic perception of local river ecosystems, their role in improving environmental attitudes, and promoting a more sustainable science education.

Contested Campus Landscape Placemaking of Socio-Ecological Systems through Actor-Network Theory

This research study analyzes placemaking tension and dynamics at a university in the southern United States known for its beautiful landscape as well as its dedication to sustainability science education. This study aims to discover the decision-making framework of the University’s Grounds Department using actor-network theory to explore relationships among actors of turfgrass, soil, water, oak trees, and humans as a socio-ecological system within the institutional context of the university. Methodology includes participatory observation, interviews, focus groups, document analysis, and quantitative data collection. Data collected showed a high aesthetic expectation and high human intervention on a site-by-site level. The turfgrass at the front of campus is a symbol of the university. It is intensely managed by the Grounds Department and aesthetic quality is the highest priority. Our results reveal that legacies of intense management have caused more frequent turfgrass patchiness and plant inconsistency. The study reveals a highly contested socio-ecological system of dynamic interactions among humans, soils, water, trees, and turfgrass. This research provides the decision-making framework of the Grounds Department and describes feedbacks within the socio-ecological system. Nonetheless, alternatives exist to balance the demands of the socio-ecological system with the desire to maintain the aesthetic of campus.

Neutrosophic-Operational and Multi-Decision Analysis Study for Meeting the Demands of FinTech Education Marketing

FinTech marketing education poses unique challenges that require new research directions. The constantly-evolving nature of the industry, coupled with the need to keep pace with technological advancements, demands an innovative approach to curriculum design and evaluation. Traditional education methods may not be sufficient to prepare students for careers in FinTech marketing, emphasizing the need for a multi-dimensional evaluation framework that considers business requirements, market trends, and customer needs. A Neutrosophic-Operational and Multi-Decision Analysis approach can provide a new direction for research, enabling educators to meet the evolving needs of the industry and better prepare students for successful careers in FinTech marketing. Throughout this article, we demonstrate a hybrid application of the Neutrosophic-AHP and the Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis technique for determining and assessing the most important characteristics of e-learning systems in the field of sustainability science education. Sustainability, scientific education, e-learning, and technological criterion are some of the most important to consider in order to reach this stated objective. The participative neutrosophic AHP method examined sixteen sub-criteria in terms of the value and calculation of coefficients within the framework of impact and evaluation. The most crucial factors for the ultimate choice issue are gathered. Therefore, techniques such as neutrosophic-operational and multi-decision analysis, as well as expert surveys, may be used to identify the most important criteria for e-learning in the field of sustainability science, which can then be employed to develop adaptable and relevant decision features.

Humanistic school science: Research, policy, politics and classrooms

AbstractThis article establishes a rational, feasible, and necessary conclusion to reform high school science content into an equitable experience for its wide diversity of students' self‐identities. Research indicates that 85% of graduates would not normally have enrolled in any science course unless required. Their values are more aligned with their everyday world and/or the world of the humanities, to varying degrees. The 15% had already fulfilled their science prerequisite for postsecondary science‐related programs, to varying degrees. The article's conclusion rests mainly on historical and economic evidence, respectively: (1) The Sputnik crisis that instilled public fear and anxiety about the perceived technological gap between the United States and Soviet Union. This led to reforming high school science and implementing National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (2) The on‐growing climate‐change crisis for which the smart international money is increasingly investing in sustainable businesses and industries, which catalyze a shift in public values from the current “profit society” to a “sustainable society.” The article's rationale connects the two historical events. Over the past 30 years, the nature of normal science has evolved into post‐normal science. Today the public square also includes: (a) an international assessment project that receives a negative validity audit in this article; (b) a vocal small minority within the 85%, proud of their antiscience self‐identities and their leaders' hostile behavior (a problem to ameliorate by a reformed sustainable science education); and (c) instances of small‐scale, suitable reform examples developed over the last 70 years, often referred to as humanistic school science.

Developing an Innovative Sustainable Science Education Ecosystem: Lessons from Negative Impacts of Inequitable and Non-Inclusive Learning Environments

Societal stereotypes and biases about who belongs in science courses and who can excel in them can impact short- and long-term outcomes of students from marginalized groups, e.g., women, including their grades and beliefs about science as well as retention in science disciplines. Therefore, developing a sustainable science education ecosystem requires fostering equitable and inclusive learning environments in which students from all demographic groups have comparable outcomes. Here we describe a study with more than five hundred students in an introductory physics course at a large research university in the US that investigated female and male students’ perceptions of the inclusiveness of the learning environment (including their sense of belonging, perceived recognition by others such as instructors, and perceived effectiveness of peer interaction) and how it predicted their physics course grades, self-efficacy, interest, and identity at the end of the course. We find gender differences in perceptions of the inclusiveness of the learning environment disadvantaging female students and that these perceptions played a major role in explaining student outcomes. These inequitable trends in the context of physics can be useful for contemplating how to develop an innovative sustainable science ecosystem using hands-on and minds-on science and create an equitable and inclusive learning environment to help all students excel in science.

A Rubric to Evaluate Critical Science Education for Sustainability

Social and environmental problems are increasing, as is the urgency that they be addressed in educational institutions to form critical, responsible and active citizens. In this training process, the dialogue between science education and education for sustainability is crucial if we want to understand socio-environmental problems in complex and uncertain contexts, which is why we define Critical Science Education for Sustainability (CSES). In addition to reflecting on which contents and methodologies are most appropriate in CSES, it is also necessary to reflect on the development of assessment instruments that allow diagnosing and evaluating the practice, materials and educational activities from such a perspective. Only with an appropriate instrument and suitable diagnosis can we make decisions to transform education and move towards CSES. This article presents an investigation based on the Delphi method with the participation of 37 international researchers, which resulted in a rubric, the Science, Technology and Society Assessment Tool. A rubric is a kind of evaluation tool that can assess education programs using qualitative or quantitative descriptors. This rubric is meant to analyze and guide critical science education in the context of teaching, policies and educational programs that favor sustainability.

Engaging Students in Sustainable Science Education

Students who find science to be enjoyable are more likely to engage in their science classes [...]

Repositioning Secondary School Science Teachers’ Pedagogical Beliefs and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Classroom Practices for Sustainable Science Education in Post Covid-19 Era

In today’s global Education system, science education is much more than fact-based knowledge. Science education becomes meaningless and incomprehensible for learners if they are unable to relate it with their lives. This paper critically examines some issues and challenges of secondary school science teachers’ pedagogical beliefs, information and communication technology (ICT) classroom practices, Covid-19 pandemic and the need to adopt science, technology and society approach for delivery of Science Education for sustainability in the post covid-19 Era. The paper concludes with recommendations for the overall improvement of Science Education in Nigeria. Keywords: Science Teachers, Pedagogical beliefs, information and communication technology, class room practices, post-covid 19 era. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/13-6-02 Publication date: February 28 th 2022

Translation: A Key Component of a Hundred-Year Project

The Emory-Tibet Science Initiative (ETSI) has embarked on a historic endeavor of introducing a systematic and sustainable science education program within the traditional Tibetan monastic institutions. His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who conceived and supports this initiative, calls it a hundred-year project. From the very beginning, translation from English to Tibetan has been an integral part of this project because of the need to prepare course materials as well as to facilitate on-site classes and lab activities in the Tibetan language. Our translation process involves not just conveying novel and foreign concepts across cultures but doing so with a scientific language peppered with technical terms that are not readily representable in the target language. In addition to the linguistic barriers, cultural and technical ones further complicate the process of communication. A case in point is the concept of life, or correlation versus causation, or the view that consciousness is an emergent property of the brain, where each construct has its corresponding but differing concept in Tibetan Buddhism. When engaging with such existing parallel yet divergent terms or concepts, the translators must strike a delicate balance and avoid forsaking the distinctive characteristics and connotations involved. In this article, the ETSI translation team shares its journey—highlighting the needs felt, challenges faced, and solutions sought. We discuss the translation principles guiding our work and the handling of such scientific features as graphs, acronyms, units, chemical names, and formulas. We hope our work will inspire other similar projects around the globe and encourage them to continue bridging barriers to cross-cultural dialogues, promoting cross-fertilization of knowledge for human flourishing.

Sustainability science education: our animalistic response-ability.

In this paper, we craft a dialogue between “The Anthropocene as we know it: posthumanism, science education and scientific literacy as a path to sustainability,” by Sophia Jeong, Brandon Sherman, and Deborah Tippins and, “The quest for sustainable futures: designing transformative spaces for youth through critical response-ability,” by Shakhnoza Kayumova and Deborah Tippins. We argue for an optimistic approach to post-Anthropocene science education that acknowledges humans as the animals we are, albeit with a more sophisticated understanding of our place in the world. It is this understanding that gives us both responsibility and a response-ability to our human and non-human actors within our earthly entanglement. To do this requires reimagining science classrooms as locations of opportunity where students develop agential literacy. These classrooms provide an environment that allow students to develop their skills as sustainability engineers. We advocate for embracing indigenous ways of knowing, opening locations of possibilities through policy reform, fostering an integrated model of STEM education, and re-imagining teacher education to promote and move toward equitable science education.

The Anthropocene as we know it: posthumanism, science education and scientific literacy as a path to sustainability

As products of the Anthropocene, the epoch of human ecological impact, models of environmental and social sustainability have been rooted in humanism, centering human agency and taking humanity as the prime reference point in understanding the world. Discourses around sustainability pose questions of how we are trying to sustain our world and our central place in it. With these questions in mind, we examine the role of science education for sustainability and as a tool for enacting societal change and interacting with the world responsibly. Science education is particularly concerned with helping learners cultivate tools and develop scientific literacy for understanding and interacting with the world. This is key to the ability of current and future generations to meet the challenge of building and maintaining a sustainable world. Yet, these tools are rooted in anthropocentric and Western ways of understanding our relationships with and in the world, which maintains myths such as the neutrality of digital technology or linear forms of progress. We turn to posthuman perspectives to consider an alternative onto-epistemological stance that decenters human agency and foregrounds the co-constitutive and intra-active nature of the world. We argue that scientific literacy and science education for sustainability can act as channels for our species to move beyond ecological sustainability to an understanding of humanity’s entanglement with the world. Life in all its forms, from micro to macro is about relationships with cultural and natural ecologies. Any changes in these relationships can lead to the sustaining, altering, or threatening of these ecologies. In light of this recognition, we explore the implications of posthumanist thought for science education and literacy as learners seek a more sustainable world and a more harmonious place for humanity within it.

A STEM Model to Engage Students in Sustainable Science Education through Sports: A Case Study in Qatar

Sports has the potential to integrate with different scientific subjects, including materials science and engineering, making it an ideal approach to enhance the students’ affinity toward sustainable education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Amid gradual educational reformations in the state of Qatar, a distinctive STEM program titled, “Science in Sports” (SIS) was launched to investigate STEM integrated learning in secondary school students. The participant students, 248 students (112 females and 136 males) from 15 different government-operated (public) secondary schools, from rural and urban areas, were given STEM workshops on one of the sports materials, during this pilot study, resultantly challenging them to engineer a sports product. The study employed a mixed-method study in which quantitative approaches were applied to analyze the program effectiveness, with a t-test statistical analysis performed over data collected from a period of five continuous years from 2012 to 2017 in five different cycles. A more dominant data collection included pre and post surveys, substantiating observations of the program facilitator and their schoolteachers were included in this research and development (R&D) study to review the student learning behavior for a qualitative approach. Moreover, the results of the strength, weakness, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis provided an overview of the program’s effectiveness in implicating the engagement of the students in exhibiting their prototypical skills in engineering sports products along with STEM literacy. Apart from understanding the scientific concepts/principles applied in simple sports applications, student attitudes toward STEM fields augmented, as witnessed by the student productivity.

The Impact of Professional Development, Modern Technologies on Lecturers’ Self-Efficacy: Implication for Sustainable Science Education in Developing Nations

This study evaluated the impact of a professional development program (PDP) on science lecturers' level of knowledge/understanding and the extent of use of modern technologies for improving their self-efficacy in teaching in the areas of students' engagement, instructional strategies, and classroom management, in some selected universities in Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The sample was 269 lecturers. The researchers adapted the teacher sense of efficacy scale (TSES) developed by Tschannen-Moran and Hoy (2001) for the study. The TSES has two parts (1) and (2) that contained 12 questions each. It was a validated instrument, with overall reliability indices of 0.92 and 0.95 respectively determined using Cronbach’s Alpha. The data obtained were analyzed with mean, standard deviation, and paired sample t-test. The study found that the PDP improved the lecturers' understanding of modern technologies and self-efficacy in teaching (t (268) = 30.959, p = 0.000 ˂ 0.05). Also, the PDP improved the lecturers’ extent of utilisation of modern technologies and self-efficacy in teaching (t (268) = 28.510, p = .000 ˂ .05). The study also found that the lecturers’ understanding of modern technologies after the PDP was high, but their use of modern technologies in teaching was still low. The researchers recommended that science lecturers' participation in PDPs should be regular to improve their understanding and use of modern technologies in teaching for enhanced self-efficacy and sustainable science education in developing nations.

Key experiences for the transdisciplinary approach: fieldwork-based training in sustainability science education

Purpose This paper aims to describe how a sustainability-focused program in higher education can provide training and key experiences for implementing transdisciplinary approaches. The case is a fieldwork-based training course called the Global Field Exercise (GFE) at the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science, The University of Tokyo. The GFE is a methodological training course that emphasizes generating locally relevant research questions on sustainability. Design/methodology/approach This research is a case study regarding how a sustainability science program can offer a fieldwork-based training course that focuses on a transdisciplinary approach. Five students from diverse academic disciplines and cultural backgrounds participated in the GFE in QwaQwa where they conducted semi-structured interviews with six local entrepreneurs to identify the challenges and opportunities of entrepreneurship. The authors investigated the learning process and outcomes of the students through participatory observation in preparatory meetings, daily reflection sessions during fieldwork and a content analysis of feedback reports. Findings Four learning outcomes of the students were suggested: the reexamination of assumptions, managing misunderstanding and miscommunication, mutual learning and being empathic toward the local people. Research limitations/implications This paper suggests three key opportunistic experiences for the transdisciplinary approach: discuss the normative dimension of sustainability; build intersubjectivity among team members and adopt methodological pluralism; and become empathetic to diverse stakeholder groups to facilitate the cogeneration of knowledge. Originality/value How to design training on a transdisciplinary approach in educational programs remains an area for further exploration. This study addresses this knowledge gap by establishing a link between sustainability education and sustainability in practice.

Science Education for Sustainability: Strengthening Children’s Science Engagement through Climate Change Learning and Action

Scientists and sustainability scholars continue to make urgent calls for rapid societal transformation to sustainability. Science education is a key venue for this transformation. In this manuscript, we argue that by positioning children as critical actors for sustainability in science education contexts, they may begin to reimagine what science means to them and to society. This multi-site, mixed-methods study examined how children’s climate change learning and action influenced their science engagement along cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions. For fifteen weeks, ten- to twelve-year-olds participated in an after-school program that combined on-site interactive educational activities (e.g., greenhouse gas tag) with off-site digital photography (i.e., photovoice process), and culminated in youth-led climate action in family and community settings. Participants were 55 children (M = 11.1 years), the majority from groups underrepresented in science (52.7% girls; 43.6% youth of color; 61.8% low-income). Combined survey and focus group analyses showed that, after the program, science became more relevant to children’s lives, and their attitudes towards science (i.e., in school, careers, and in society) improved significantly. Children explained that understanding the scientific and social dimensions of climate change expanded their views of science: Who does it, how, and why—that it is more than scientists inside laboratories. Perhaps most notably, the urgency of climate change solutions made science more interesting and important to children, and many reported greater confidence, participation, and achievement in school science. The vast majority of the children (88.5%) reported that the program helped them to like science more, and following the program, more than half (52.7%) aspired to a STEM career. Lastly, more than a third (37%) reported improved grades in school science, which many attributed to their program participation. Towards strengthening children’s science engagement, the importance of climate change learning and action—particularly place-based, participatory, and action-focused pedagogies—are discussed.

Assessment of sustainability science education criteria in online-learning through fuzzy-operational and multi-decision analysis and professional survey

Sustainable development in education is growing a public awareness and is gaining an increasing importance to improve a long-term learning program. However, a higher sustainability education is an initial phase as ever in many universities. E-learning systems in science education based on innovative information and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have close relationship in effective long-standing learnings of sustainability and numerous criteria. Also, the technological challenge integrated to sustainability science education has been focused on e-learning programs, which can fill current educational niche. This paper presents a combined application, Fuzzy-DEcision-MAking Trial and Evaluation Laboratory/Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (F-DEMATEL/MCDA) technique, identifying and analyzing e-learning systems' the most essential criteria for sustainability science education. The main criteria to accomplish this goal proposed are delineated, weighted, appraised and assigned into four groups such as sustainability, science education, e-learning and technology criteria. Sixteen sub-criteria were analyzed by the participatory F-DEMATEL technique on the basis of coefficients' value and computation in the context of impact and examination. For the final decision problem, the most important criteria are acquired with the help of Weighted Linear Combination (WLC) assessed by six implementation strategies’ sensitivity analysis (A to F) and the sub-criteria by a professional online survey. Analysis on F-DEMATEL/MCDA shows sustainability criteria (Strategy A, 0.54 with 84% most likely and likely professional perception survey) that is the most essential criteria in sustainability and e-learning systems science education. Also, it indicates information environmental (0.57 with 77% most likely and likely professional perception survey) is the most essential variable among sub-criteria. Strategy F considering the most important criteria as equal (0.25) got 19% positively perception professional assessment. Consequently, fuzzy-operational and multi-decision analysis and professional survey could be utilized to find out the most essential sustainability science e-learning criteria that also could be engaged to make pliable and pertinent decision features.

Collaborative Inquiry Approaches and Level of Thinking and Reasoning Skills: Basis for Sustainable Science Education

The study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of collaborative inquiry approaches such as problem-based learning and project-based learning on improving the thinking and reasoning skills of students. Furthermore, it aimed to determine the difference in pretest and posttest scores, and correlate the students’ perceived effectiveness on the approaches’ process, implementation and outcomes to the mean posttest scores. Descriptive-comparative research design was used. Sixty Grade 10 students clustered into two groups were selected as respondents in San Pablo City Science Integrated High School during the academic year 2018- 2019. Survey questionnaires and pretest-posttest questions were utilized to obtain the data. Results revealed that there was a significant relationship between the students’ perceived effectiveness of collaborative inquiry approaches and their mean posttest scores in thinking and reasonings skills. However, the results of the pretest and posttest of the students were significantly different. On the other hand, there was no significant difference between the students’ mean posttest scores exposed to problem-based learning and project-based learning. Both learning approaches can co-exist inside the classroom as effective modes of teaching real-world learning and building future-ready skills.

A Multi-Perspective Reflection on How Indigenous Knowledge and Related Ideas Can Improve Science Education for Sustainability

Indigenous knowledge provides specific views of the world held by various indigenous peoples. It offers different views on nature and science that generally differ from traditional Western science. Futhermore, it introduces different perspectives on nature and the human in nature. Coming basically from a Western perspective on nature and science, the paper analyzes the literature in science education focusing on research and practices of integrating indigenous knowledge with science education. The paper suggests Didaktik models and frameworks for how to elaborate on and design science education for sustainability that takes indigenous knowledge and related non-Western and alternative Western ideas into consideration. To do so, indigenous knowledge is contextualized with regards to related terms (e.g., ethnoscience), and with Eastern perspectives (e.g., Buddhism), and alternative Western thinking (e.g., post-human Bildung). This critical review provides justification for a stronger reflection about how to include views, aspects, and practices from indigenous communities into science teaching and learning. It also suggests that indigenous knowledge offers rich and authentic contexts for science learning. At the same time, it provides chances to reflect views on nature and science in contemporary (Western) science education for contributing to the development of more balanced and holistic worldviews, intercultural understanding, and sustainability.