Socioscientific Issues Research Articles

Solar Energy and Midwestern Farms: Utilizing Place-Based Socio-Scientific Issues to Foster Students’ Literacy

Solar Energy and Midwestern Farms: Utilizing Place-Based Socio-Scientific Issues to Foster Students’ Literacy

It's in the Syllabus: What Syllabi Tell us about Introductory Biology Courses.

Biology education researchers seek to improve biology education, particularly at the introductory level, yet there is little documentation about what is actually happening in introductory biology. To characterize the landscape of learning expectations for introductory biology, we analyzed course-level learning objectives (n = 1108) and course schedules from 188 nonmajor, mixed major, and major introductory biology syllabi. We analyzed syllabi collected from a diverse range of U.S. institution types to uncover insights about instructional design decisions for introductory biology. Our analysis revealed two distinct nonmajor course types: content and issues-based courses. We found syllabi tend to focus on low-cognitive skills and factual content that is essentially a march in step with a typical textbook table of contents, rarely including core competencies or socioscientific issues (SSIs) other than in nonscience major issues-based courses. Our work contributes more evidence that faculty struggle to write course-level learning objectives. Our findings suggest that there is much work to do if Vision and Change are to become more than simply a vision-to be actualized as change-including developing CLOs for introductory biology as a first step toward creating actionable instructional change.

Effectiveness of STEM-Based Activities on Middle School Students’ Views About Socio-scientific Issues

Effectiveness of STEM-Based Activities on Middle School Students’ Views About Socio-scientific Issues

Exploring the role of science education as a catalyst for students’ willingness to take climate action

ABSTRACT Science education aims to encourage students’ active engagement in socio-scientific issues like climate change. While existing research has predominantly focused on science education as a provider of climate science knowledge, this study seeks to broaden our understanding by examining its role not only in knowledge acquisition but also in promoting intrinsic motivation and the perceived value of science. In turn, this study relates science education to climate-action-related variables, including biospheric values, climate concern, personal responsibility, and willingness to take climate action. Data were collected from 1864 students across five public upper secondary schools in Finland, and structural equation modeling was employed to explore the relationships between science education-related variables and climate action-related variables. Results revealed non-significant associations between climate science knowledge and willingness to take climate actions, with a negative relationship observed with the sense of personal responsibility for climate change. Conversely, intrinsic motivation in science exhibited positive associations with willingness to take both individual and societal climate action, mediated through biospheric values. Similarly, students’ perceived value of scientific knowledge on climate change showed positive direct and indirect associations with willingness to take climate action. The perceived value of science also mediated the effect of scientific knowledge on climate action.

Designing and teaching socio-scientific issues online: digital curation in the science classroom

ABSTRACT This case study explored how Digital Curation (DC) can be applied to classroom Socio-Scientific Issues (SSI) instruction. It examined teachers’ perspectives on whether and how DC contributes to fostering the social and scientific dimensions of the SSI – the key components of the SSI-Teaching and Learning (SSI-TL) framework. Data were gathered from seven teachers during and after a professional development program on DC for science teachers designed to equip educators with resources to develop their own SSI-DC teaching units. The teachers indicated that DC enhanced the scientific and social dimensions of SSI, while also bolstering students’ digital skills, thus effectively addressing common hurdles to integrating both social and scientific dimensions in SSI instruction. Beyond presenting innovative strategies for the effective implementation of DC, the findings contribute to confirming the validity of the SSI-TL framework.

Peningkatan Literasi Lingkungan Siswa Melalui Penggunaan E-Modul Berbasis Socio-Scientific Issues pada Materi Perubahan Lingkungan

In 21st century learning, students are required to master 21st century themes, one of which is environmental literacy. This research aims to analyze the increase in students' environmental literacy using Socio-Scientific Issues based e-modules. The research method used was pre-experimental with a quantitative approach. The sampling technique uses purposive sampling where the class used is class X-2. The research data shows that the increase in environmental literacy for class Based on the data from this research, the use of e-modules based on Socio-Scientific Issues can increase students' environmental literacy in environmental change material.

The Network for Emergent Socio-Scientific Thinking (NESST): collaboration for a shared transformative future through STEM Education

Impact networks are formed to address complex social or environmental issues and are often needed to maximize human and financial resources, impact, and scale of individual organizations, including those serving students in Kindergarten through college (K-16). However, contrary to existing network models described by the literature, networks designed to address complex emergent socio-scientific issues such as climate change and biodiversity loss should themselves be emergent. This paper uses a critical analysis to outline our theory of change for one type of impact network—the emergent network—whose structure, function, and purpose are based on the emerging needs of its members and the needs of a changing world; and, whose members work across borders, disciplines, and generations to educate for a shared transformative future. We apply our theory to a case study called the Network for Emergent Socio-Scientific Thinking (NESST), which brings together people with a commitment to think differently about educating youth for the future outlined in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Together, through the lens of complexity theory and emergence, we reimagine the future of K-16 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education for Sustainable Development (STEM4SD) and demonstrate what collaborative STEM education within the context of SDG 17 and SDG 4.7 can look like.

“On Mars, we will speak Arabic”: Negotiating identity in upper secondary physics in Denmark

AbstractSeeking to make upper secondary school physics more relevant and engaging, an online collaborative learning curriculum was designed. Each of the curriculum's lessons was structured as a goal‐based scenario about human scientists on Mars. Video and audio data from the curriculum's implementation in Denmark was collected. This study utilized the theoretical lenses intersectionality, repertoires of practice, and epistemic agency. The use of comics as an analytical tool provided a novel and accessible way to depict the complex dynamics within the physics classroom. It allowed for a multimodal representation of the data and enabled a nuanced examination of the students' interactions. Findings suggest that interactions were shaped by the students' identities and these dynamics shaped their repertoires of practice. Moreover, the interactions had a profound impact on students' epistemic agency in physics. Collaborative learning with a goal‐based scenario can include and empower diverse gender, racial, and language identities. It can also, however, work to disempower and exclude when the hegemonically white and masculine culture of physics is left unproblematized. This leads to the conclusion that if reform‐based science education is untethered from a critical stance on socioscientific issues, students and teachers may reproduce social problems as much as they also may challenge them.

Content analysis of research in the context of socio-scientific issues in chemistry learning

This article aims to describe research in the context of socio-scientific issues from 2016 to 2022. The method used is descriptive content analysis method to analyze 30 journal articles of national and international repute. The variables to be analyzed include the method, purpose, year of publication, region, sample, data collection tools, and data analysis techniques. The result showed that most research aims to improve student learning outcomes, interest and motivation to learn. Most of the research methods applied are qualitative and quantitative methods using the experimental class and control class and a small portion using the R&D/Development method. The instruments used were questionnaires, observation sheets and interviews. The data analysis technique used is quantitative analysis technique using statistics (Ancova, Manova, t-test) and qualitative data analysis. Most of the samples consist of students and a small part consists of teachers. This research is spread across Europe, the United States and Asia, with the most publication year being 2021. The issues raised are health and environmental issues related to organic chemistry and environmental chemistry. The most published articles are from the Journal of Chemical Education (JCE) and Journal Science Education (JSE), with the publication years 2021 and 2019.

Cognitive ease at a cost: LLMs reduce mental effort but compromise depth in student scientific inquiry

This study explores the cognitive load and learning outcomes associated with using large language models (LLMs) versus traditional search engines for information gathering during learning. A total of 91 university students were randomly assigned to either use ChatGPT3.5 or Google to research the socio-scientific issue of nanoparticles in sunscreen to derive valid recommendations and justifications. The study aimed to investigate potential differences in cognitive load, as well as the quality and homogeneity of the students' recommendations and justifications. Results indicated that students using LLMs experienced significantly lower cognitive load. However, despite this reduction, these students demonstrated lower-quality reasoning and argumentation in their final recommendations compared to those who used traditional search engines. Further, the homogeneity of the recommendations and justifications did not differ significantly between the two groups, suggesting that LLMs did not restrict the diversity of students’ perspectives. These findings highlight the nuanced implications of digital tools on learning, suggesting that while LLMs can decrease the cognitive burden associated with information gathering during a learning task, they may not promote deeper engagement with content necessary for high-quality learning per se.

THE EFFECT OF SOCIO SCIENTIFIC ISSUES BASED LEARNING ON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENT’ SCIENTIFIC LITERACY ABILITIES

Scientific literacy is very important since by learning scientific literacy, one can solve all the challenges that occur in life. Students have difficulty in scientific literacy because of uninteresting learning. Therefore, efforts are needed to make learning more meaningful. This research aims to determine whether there is an effect of Socio Scientific Issues (SSI) based learning on elementary school students' scientific literacy abilities. The research method used was one group of pre-test and post-test design. The sampling technique used simple random sampling with a sample size of 14 students. Data analysis used the paired sample t-test and n-gain. The research results show that there were differences before and after implementing SSI learning with the n-gain test in the practical category

Addressing the climate emergency with educational approaches: a bibliometric analysis of climate change education scholarship

This study uses bibliometric techniques to explore the international knowledge base on climate change education (CCE), which considers education as crucial for addressing the climate emergency through fostering climate-literate citizens. Analyzing two decades of scientific literature on CCE, we identify evolving considerations, foci, trends, and recommendations, examining a total of 1,264 articles published between 2000 and 2022 in educational-related fields in Web of Science. Using bibliometric techniques, we assessed research trends, author co-citations and journal citations to reveal an evolving publication landscape, including shifts in locations of productive researchers, influential articles, and leading journals publishing CCE studies. Bibliometric techniques help to identify the intellectual knowledge structure and inter-journal referencing, encompassing Theoretical Basis of CCE, Psychology of CCE and Communication, Climate Change within Socioscientific Issues, Conceptions of Climate Change, and Epistemology in CCE. Based on the trends, association networks, limitations and gaps revealed by this analysis, we conclude with suggestions for future research.

The Use of Socioscientific Issues in Science Lessons: A Scoping Review

Socioscientific issues represent an innovative approach within the realm of STEM education as they integrate real-world problems, promote critical thinking, and encourage interdisciplinary learning, thus preparing students to address complex societal challenges through scientific inquiry. The objective of this scoping review was to analyze the use of SSIs in science lessons. A database search of Web of Science and Scopus focused on articles published between 2013 and 2023. When applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 106 articles were selected. The scoping review revealed a focus on socioscientific issues within high school and undergraduate curricula, particularly pertaining to environmental, genetic, and health-related concerns, as well as localized SSIs. A variety of methodological approaches, predominantly qualitative, were applied to capture the educational dynamics of integrating socioscientific issues into pedagogy. Inquiry-based learning emerges as a preferred pedagogical model, stimulating student engagement with real societal challenges. The educational resources employed encompass both conventional texts and digital tools, such as data mapping and visualization software, facilitating a multifaceted comprehension of SSIs. Pedagogical techniques are diverse, incorporating argumentation, role-playing, and digital media to enrich the teaching and learning experience. Nevertheless, the incorporation of socioscientific issues faces obstacles, including resistance to pedagogical innovation, the inherent complexity of the topics, and the demand for specialized teacher training.

Analysis of Students' Problem-Solving Abilities in Learning with an Ethnoscience-Based Socio-Scientific Issues (SSI) Approach

Analysis of Students' Problem-Solving Abilities in Learning with an Ethnoscience-Based Socio-Scientific Issues (SSI) Approach

Teaching Socioscientific Issues: A Systematic Review

AbstractTo provide a comprehensive picture of socioscientific issues (SSI) pedagogy in primary and secondary school contexts, we present a systematic review of research on how SSI in science education practice is characterized in studies of teaching and learning from 1997 to 2021. The review addresses the identified need for guidance on SSI teaching as experienced by practicing teachers. The aim of the study is to define and describe how SSI as a pedagogical approach is characterized in studies of teaching and learning in science education research. From a sample of 5183 peer-reviewed articles, 157 were selected for the data extraction and systematic review process. The result is structured around teaching objectives, teaching topics, and teaching methods. Our findings show that much of the research revolves around the development of students’ higher-order thinking skills and science content knowledge. The topics identified fall mainly within two themes: the environment and sustainable development, and health and technology. Group discussions stand out as the primary teaching method. The findings are discussed in the light of previous reviews, and recommendations for future research are suggested.

Engaging in Socioscientific Issues

Engaging in Socioscientific Issues

Promoting Reflections on Decision-Making in Socio-Scientific Issues

Abstract Socioscientific issues (SSIs) require reflective decision-making. Findings have indicated that decision-making is more often based on heuristics than rational considerations. To improve one’s decision-making, it is essential to reflect upon decisions to increase awareness of the initially applied heuristics. Furthermore, research has indicated that decision-making depends on the decision-maker’s perspective on an SSI. Using a 2x2- experimental-design, we have investigated effects of two variables on secondary students’ ability to reflect their own decision-making. Variables were (1) instruction regarding the “method of reflection”, and (2) the “perspective adopted on an SSI”, which was either individual or collective. Data on students’ reflections were collected three times. Findings showed that students who had learned a specific method of reflection outperformed others regarding the quality of their reflections. Thus, this study provides evidence for the effectiveness of explicitly teaching and learning in terms of reflecting on one’s own decision-making in the context of an SSI.

KESAN PENDEKATAN ISU SOSIOSAINTIFIK DAN PEMIKIRAN REKA BENTUK DALAM STEM TERHADAP PEMIKIRAN KREATIF KEUSAHAWANAN MURID SEKOLAH MENENGAH

The Socioscientific Issues Approach (SIA) engages students to study and connect science, daily life and society in the community. While Design Thinking (DT) encourages students to understand the needs of the local community regarding real-life problems, and then apply the knowledge to generate ideas for solutions. The integration of PIS and PRB in STEM teaching and learning is rarely documented in the literature. Thus, this research aimed to examine the effects of integrating SIA an DT approaches in STEM education on entrepreneurial creative thinking among rural secondary school students. A comprehensive instructional module was meticulously designed to facilitate teachers in implementing the SIA-DT framework, aimed at augmenting entrepreneurial creative thinking skills among Form Four students. A quasi-experimental quantitative study was conducted on 267 Form Four students enrolled in rural secondary schools in Tawau, Sabah. These students were randomly assigned to three groups: i) Socioscientific Issue and Design Thinking Integration (SSA-DT, n=89), ii) Design Thinking Approach (DT, n=90), and iii) Traditional Approach (TRD, n=88). The Entrepreneurial Creative Thinking Test (ECTT) instrument was developed and applied to measure pre- and post-intervention levels of entrepreneurial creative thinking. Rigorous statistical analyses employing MANCOVA, ANCOVA, and Effect Size techniques were conducted. MANCOVA results revealed statistically significant effects across all instructional groups, indicating the effects of the interventions in fostering entrepreneurial creative thinking. Furthermore, ANCOVA analysis results indicated that the SSA-DT method significantly fosters entrepreneurial creative thinking, investigation constructs, new ideas, design, creation, and commercialization compared to the DT and TRD methods. These findings support the view that the SSA-DT module has a positive impact on cultivating entrepreneurial creative thinking among students.

SMART-Problem Solving Strategy to Improve Students Scientific Argumentation Skills on "Rain and Malin Kundang Stone Issue" as Local Socio-Scientific Issues (LSSI)

Argumentation skills are needed to prepare the generation to face the industrial era 5.0. This research aims to find out whether the SMART-Problem Solving strategy can improve students' scientific argumentation skills in the context of LSSI "Batu Malin Kundang" which is integrated in chemistry learning to encourage students to make good scientific arguments. This research is a quasi-experimental research with Pretest Posttest Control Group design, involving 101 class XI students at one of the State High Schools in Padang City. The research sample was selected using a convenience sampling technique, namely sampling based on availability in the field or samples that have easy access to researchers. Scientific argumentation skills were measured through pretest and posttest using scientific argumentation skills test instrument in the form of an essay (N=4). The data analysis used in this research is parametric (one way ANOVA). The results of the study showed that there was a significant difference in the average students' scientific argumentation abilities between the SMART-Problem Solving class (average score of 74.09), ADI (average score of 62.94) and the control class (average score of 43. 35), where learning SMART-Problem Solving with the LSSI context can improve argumentation skills effectively

Science Education in Indonesia: A Bibliometrics Study in Terms of Science Teachers’ and Students’ Perspectives

In recent years, Science Education (SE) in Indonesia has grown into a dedicated focus for all stakeholders in scientific education. All players in the field of education unanimously agree to enhance the prominence of SE among all stakeholders, particularly teachers and learners. The research analyzed the students' attitudes regarding Science Education and the impact of Science Education by SE teachers in higher educational institutions. Science Education outcomes are analyzed using a survey and descriptive evaluation. To gather details, a survey includes closed-ended and open-ended questions developed and controlled on SE teachers’ and students’ viewpoints and knowledge. This research assessed Indonesian Science Education teachers’ perspectives and experiences with Science Education teaching focused on Socio-Scientific Issues (SSI). The students were asked how they integrated relevant SSI methods into their Science Education and their difficulties. Teachers were asked what subjects they learned would be best for SSI-based learning, and most students replied that subjects like technology or environmental sciences would be good for the learning. Despite many hurdles, most Science Education teachers continued to be interested in using SSIs in their classrooms.