Our purpose in this article is to discuss the roles for HPSS in Science Education considering the crisis of COVID-19, as well as to think what Science Education could look like beyond the pandemic. Considering the context of a pandemic as a starting point, we defend in this article the thesis that contours of public controversy involving COVID-19…

The present study analyses the impact of negotiation processes on activating argumentative resources for decision-making in a socioscientific issue (SSI) in biology classes. The research focuses on the potential of group-based negotiation processes to activate the use of relevant argumentative resources without any prescribed or explicit…

Socio-scientific reasoning (SSR) is key to helping students take informed positions around socio-scientific issues (SSI). SSR comprises four competencies: recognising complexity of SSI's, multiple perspectives around SSI's, the need for ongoing inquiry around SSI's, and skepticism around different parties' claims made about SSI's. The Quantitative…

Given that society combines a poor ability to predict future technology with a good ability to forget poor past predictions, the author decided to create a course on "the history of future technology." The initial idea was to simply showcase a litany of failed technofuturist attempts and projects, and, in so doing, teach students to be…

The epistemic understanding of science has always been an important part of science education, and critical engagement with socioscientific issues (SSI) is a desirable outcome of scientific literacy. However, investigations into the link between these two concepts have been inconclusive. Many students have very limited interest in epistemic…

Embedding science learning in real-world issues is a research-based way to generate student enthusiasm, interest, and motivation for science. The authors advocate teaching secondary science in the context of "socio-scientific issues" (SSI). SSI are authentic societal challenges with connections to science, such as climate change,…

Engaging environmental socioscientific issues (SSI) requires navigating diverse positions regarding people and nature. This qualitative investigation determined how 24 undergraduates experiencing place-based SSI instruction in the Greater Yellowstone Area (includes a national park and its surrounding areas in the western USA) expressed emotive…

This study aims to categorize the scenarios designed on socio-scientific issues (SSIs) by prospective teachers who participated in an SSI-based instructional practice and to analyze these scenarios in terms of representing the nature of science (NOS) components. Sample of the study comprised SSI scenarios written by 30 third-year prospective…

The rapidly growing field of epigenetics is now beginning to reveal how our genes are affected by environmental factors such as nutrition, exercise and stress. As it has such profound effects on our everyday lives, this article argues for the inclusion of epigenetics in the compulsory school science curriculum, and explores trainee science…

This study aimed to investigate how the community-based socioscientific issues program (SSI-COMM) affected middle school students' sense of place (SOP) and character development as citizens. We designed and implemented SSI-COMM on fine dust, abandoned pets, and recycling issues that were closely related to the students' local communities. SSI-COMM…

This is the technical appendix for the report, "Science and Technology: Public Attitudes, Knowledge, and Interest." It provides more information on the General Society Survey (GSS) and the other data sources used in this report. Categories in the technical appendix include: (1) Methodology Notes for General Social Survey Data; (2) Other…

Science continuously interacts with the social environment. Science develops with social needs, and society develops and changes with scientific advances. These changes and developments may cause dilemmas in society. Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate the improvements among pre-service science teachers in terms of socio-scientific…

In this program profile, we describe the development of a new track in Science Communication (SciComm) for an existing Professional Writing minor offered by an independent Writing Program. We identify the international and local exigencies for improving SciComm; the resources needed for this new track--both those already in place and those…

In this study, the effects of the STEM activities integrated with socio-scientific issues on students' 21st century skills were investigated. In this research, nested mixed design was used. The study group of this research consisted of 16 middle school students who studied in the seventh grade of a public school in an eastern province of Turkey.…

An increasingly important aim in education is to develop students capable of addressing complex, interdependent problems. This study integrates theories of situated learning, authentic science research, socioscientific issues, and interdisciplinary STEM education to construct a program for high school students. Drawn from Vygotsky and Dewey's…