The discovery of frog abnormalities by students on a school field trip in 1995 sparked hundreds of scientific studies in search of the cause of abnormality. This Socio-Scientific Issue has been used as an inquiry-based learning exercise for training in the practice of science, but it is also well-suited to teaching the nature of science. Our goal…

This research aimed to understand the features of the informal reasoning skills performed by students who debated the socio-scientific contentious issue of breastfeeding versus milk formula during an Indonesian biology lesson. A class of 30 students in grade 11 discussed this issue by participating in a role play represented by four organisations…

This paper presents an analysis of the socio-scientific dimensions which 46 11th graders, enrolled in the subject scientific culture, consider to justify their COVID-19 vaccination decision and how they managed to combine and integrate these dimensions before and after working on a sequence of activities aimed at learning about argumentation in…

Biology education emphasises producing scientifically literate students, mastering biological knowledge, and developing critical thinking. However, in reality, biology instruction only focuses on academic achievement in the Indonesian biology curriculum. Previous research has found that scientific inquiry is a practical approach to improve…

Science education is an important dimension of the European Commission's Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) objectives; however, RRI is not an explicit focus of biology teaching and few biology teachers have experience in integrating RRI in classroom practice. This study examines the impact of a three 80-minute RRI and active citizenship…

Understanding how science is done increases trust in science as it can be seen to be built on reliable data, rational argument and repeated testing. If science is taught as just an assemblage of facts without dealing with the process which gave rise to those facts, then why should pupils trust science more than fables or pseudoscience? Everyone…

Despite efforts to increase teaching of biotechnology worldwide, there are concerns that public literacy of genetic technologies remains insufficient. Improved education strategies are expected to empower individuals to make informed decisions about biotechnology. To evaluate the teaching and learning of this complex topic, qualitative assessment…

Decision-making in socioscientific issues (SSI) constitutes a real challenge for both biology teachers and learners. The assessment of students' performances in SSIs constitutes a problem, especially for biology teachers. The study at hand was conducted in Germany and uses a qualitative approach following the research procedures of grounded theory…

Socio-scientific issues (SSI) have proven to be suitable contexts for students to actively reflect on and argue about complex social issues related to science. Research has indicated that explicitly teaching SSI argumentation is a good way to help students develop their argumentation skills and make them aware of the complexity of SSI. However,…

This study considers how students change their coherent conceptual understanding of natural selection through a hands-on simulation. The results show that most students change their understanding. In addition, some students also underwent a transformative experience and used their new knowledge in a leisure time activity. These transformative…

The use of animals in biomedical research is a socio-scientific issue in which decision-making is complicated. In this article, we describe an experience involving a role play activity performed during school visits to the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB) to debate animal testing. Role playing games require students to defend different…

Scientific expertise and outcomes often give rise to controversy. An educational response that equips students to take part in such discussions is the teaching of socially acute questions (SAQs). With SAQs, the understanding of uncertainty, risk and how knowledge is developed is central. This study explores the way in which students from different…

Reviewed are three controversial incidents from the history of biomedical science for the lessons they may teach about the nature and context of scientific discoveries. Considered are William Harvey and blood circulation, Louis Pasteur and spontaneous generation, and Frederick Banting's discovery of insulin. (Author/CW)

Gives an account of a variety of approaches to science, technology and society courses in universities and colleges. Discusses courses which concentrate on a study of the history of biology. (CW)

Reviewed are some of the techniques being used in plant biotechnology laboratories. Described are tissue culture and genetic manipulation. Advantages and disadvantages of this approach and ethics and public concern issues are discussed. (CW)