Growing demands and expectations on the side of policy makers and the public have changed the conditions for academics' engagement in public discussions. At the same time, risks related to this engagement for the professional and even private lives of academics have become apparent. Conducting a survey experiment among 4091 tenured professors in…

This research aimed to assess the quality of arguments and informal reasoning abilities of pre-service science teachers concerning various socio-scientific issues (SSI), utilizing dilemma cards. The case study method, a qualitative research approach, was employed, involving 12 pre-service science teachers. Participants completed the dilemma cards…

Although argumentation is a critical historical component of scientific literacy, the recent coronavirus pandemic and associated issues have highlighted the importance of argumentation in science practice. Argumentation that aligns with functional scientific literacy requires gathering evidence and reasoning to support or refute claims related to…

The aim of the present study is to explore pre-service elementary teachers' evaluations of the evidence and models and their positions on a socio-scientific topic, namely genetically modified organisms (GMOs), after evaluating them through Model Evidence Link (MEL) diagrams. The findings of this study show that the participants mostly constructed…

A common practice amongst scientists is to evaluate the connections between evidence and claims about natural and human-induced phenomena. Teacher education coursework may improve understanding of this important activity and facilitate teachers to implement evidential thinking approaches into their future science teaching. Instructional scaffolds…

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) offer a novel avenue for engaging students in the scientific process (Bangera and Brownell, 2014). In contrast to traditional laboratories, CUREs are designed to foster autonomy through student-driven hypothesis generation, experimentation, data analysis, and dissemination of findings…

The purpose of this study was to examine processes experienced by students of different achievement levels in small group discussions in argumentation applications conducted in scientific and socio-scientific issues. Case study which is a qualitative research design was used for the study. In this line, a success test including mechanical subjects…

General education must develop in students an appreciation of the power of science, how it works, why it is an effective knowledge generation tool, and what it can deliver. Knowing what science has discovered is desirable but less important.

Scientific literacy is an important goal for science education, especially within controversial socioscientific issues. In this study, we analysed 143 students' research reports about stem cell research (SCR) for how they addressed specific source evaluation criteria provided within the assignment. We investigated students' opinions about SCR, how…

Prior to this research little was known about the ways in which people draw upon their science backgrounds. An earlier CSHE [Centre for the Study of Higher Education] study for the ACDS [Australian Council of Deans of Science] examined employment outcomes and confirmed that many science graduates pursue careers outside scientific research. There…

Preparing students to take informed positions on complex problems through critical evaluation is a primary goal of university education. Socioscientific issues (SSI) have been established as effective contexts for students to develop this competency, as well as reasoning skills and content knowledge. This mixed-methods study investigates the…

Decision making is influenced by multiple factors, especially when approaching controversial socio-scientific issues, such as stem cell research. In the present study, we used qualitative data from 132 college student papers in a biotechnology course to investigate how students made decisions about stem cell research issues. Students indicated…

Not being listened to, or having their advice mistrusted, is a daily problem for teachers and parents, as well as for doctors, scientists, technologists and other experts. It is also a serious dilemma in applied social psychology (Eiser, 1986) as well as in education where educators talk persuasively with strong evidence about not taking drugs,…