This paper presents a cooperative learning activity on a nuclear power plant to develop students' reasoning skills on socioscientific issues. To this end, the steps in the implementation of the activity have been given in detail. The activity was implemented in an undergraduate course with senior preservice science teachers, whose reflections were…

One of the challenges that science teachers face is the lack of strategy/method to train students in data collection and developing analytical skills, which are pre-requisites to resolve socio-scientific problems and an important element in scientific literacy. In this activity, the SWOT analysis proposed by the Stanford Research Institute in the…

Science and society are inseparably linked, shaping each other in ways that define our world, emphasizing the need to teach science for empowering students capable of taking meaningful action toward building a sustainable and just society. Developing sustainability competencies in students is an important step toward this goal, with controversial…

Socio-scientific inquiry-based learning (SSIBL) engages learners with local and global issues in which science and technology are interwoven, aiming to empower them to become active agents of change for their local communities. Within the PARRISE project, we worked with pre-service teachers on prioritising an "it matters" approach to…

Radiation, radiation detection and radiation protection are topics in physics and its applications which generate a wide interest in the public. This interest is either generated through medical procedures, applications of nuclear energy or nuclear accidents. The technical nature of these topics usually means that they are not well covered in the…

Nutrition labelling, which helps consumers to make informed choices, can be used as both a context and a vehicle for students to consolidate and apply their knowledge of food and nutrition to improve health. It also facilitates students' ability to negotiate socio-scientific issues from scientific and other perspectives. This article reports a…

A central goal of nonmajors chemistry courses is to instill within students the sense that chemistry does not occur in a vacuum but rather permeates everyday life. To encourage students to consider chemistry within the broader context of society and public policy, a week-long module in a survey course for nonmajors was designed to connect…

Science education researchers have long advocated the central role of the nature of science (NOS) for our understanding of scientific literacy. NOS is often interpreted narrowly to refer to a host of epistemological issues associated with the process of science and the limitations of scientific knowledge. Despite its importance, practitioners and…

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of an activity-based explicit nature of science (NOS) instruction undertaken in the context of a "Science, Technology and Society" course on the prospective science teachers' (PSTs') understandings of NOS. In this course, social science based inquiry activities were used to as a context…

The late 20th century and beginning of 21st century have witnessed unprecedented rapid economic development due to advances in technology and globalization. In response to this development, a renewed call for science literacy has become louder in the USA and many other countries. Common to all science education reforms around the world is emphasis…

The rapid development of science and technology has become a global issue in modern society, since it will not only bring conveniences into people's lives but it may also cause extensive environmental damage to the planet earth. Therefore, it is important to propagate the notion of Science Technology and Society (STS) and the awareness of…

Formative computer-based assessments (CBAs) for self-instruction were introduced into a Year-2 field biology module. These CBAs were provided in "tutorial" mode where each question had context-related diagnostic feedback and tutorial pages, and a self-test mode where the same CBA returned only a score. The summative assessments remained…