This case study aimed to enhance students' scientific argumentation through the Science-Technology-Society (STS) approach. There were two phases in this study: (a) Exploring the current situation of grade 10 students' scientific argumentation in real classrooms, and (b) Developing and implementing the STS learning unit to enhance students'…

Employing the Twenty Statements Test and a framework of self-motives (self-esteem, self-efficacy, authenticity), this paper examines the self-concept of Ukrainian doctoral students while means-ends decoupling takes place at the state level. The latter implies that the practices of state policies are disconnected from the state's core goal of…

Physics as a school subject is in general very unpopular. This fact is especially true for the situation in Austria. PISA results show that motivation, interest and self-efficacy of Austrian highschool students are significantly lower than the OECD average. In addition, a significant gender-gap in disadvantage for girls was shown. In general, one…

This paper draws together two important agendas in science education. The first is making science education more inclusive such that students from non-Western or indigenous cultures can benefit from culturally relevant curricula. The second is integrating technology into the curriculum under the umbrella of Science-Technology-Society (STS)…

The aim of this study was to investigation of the prospective science teachers' views on the problems (as are the waste of natural resources, the information pollution, sharing information without confirming their validity of information, communication problems among people, spending extra time and money, the laziness, the obesity, the…

This thematic report presents indicators about people's attitudes toward issues related to science and technology (S&T), awareness of basic S&T facts, and how people interact with science. It shows that most Americans hold positive beliefs about the benefits of S&T, have relatively high confidence in the scientific community compared…

Nowhere is the need for handling complexity more pertinent than in addressing environmental issues. Our study explores students' situated constructs of complexity in unfolding discourses on socio-scientific issues. Students' dialogues in two group-work episodes are analysed in detail, with tools from Systemic Functional Linguistics. We identify…

A great deal of the nation's attention has turned to the sky as new technologies open the door for new opportunities with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). UAVs are powered aerial vehicles that do not carry an operator, use aerodynamic forces to provide vehicle lift, and can fly autonomously or be piloted remotely. As people become accustomed to…

This article explores Science-Technology-Society (STS), Science-Technology-Society-Environment (STSE) and Socio-Scientific-Issues (SSI) in science education, and critically examines their contributions to science education and science teaching, and how they are underpinning values and ethics in society. The article presents rationales for the…

Socioscientific Inquiry (SSI) represents an instructional approach designed to target interest and knowledge in science. In this context, students consider scientific issues that have social implications and comprise a range of trade-offs, concepts, and considerations in order to arrive at informed conclusions (Sadler, 2004, 2011). Given the…

This study investigates how middle school students make hypothetical purchasing, consuming, and voting decisions about environmental and science-related issues--a key component of environmental literacy. Fifty-three female students were given a packet containing multiple excerpts of information from conflicting positions from stakeholders and…

Rapid growth in public communication of science and technology has led to many diverse training programs. We ask: What are learning goals of science communication training? A comprehensive set of learning goals for future trainings will draw fully from the range of fields that contribute to science communication. Learning goals help decide what to…

In this excerpt from their new book, "Moral Combat: Why the War on Violent Video Games Is Wrong" (BenBella Books, 2017), the authors present an argument in defense of video games while dispelling the myth that such games lead to real-world violence. The authors define and examine moral panics and provide guidelines for identifying and…

Background: Many international science curriculum documents mandate that students should be able to participate in argument, debate and decision-making about contemporary science issues affecting society. Termed socioscientific issues, these topics provide students with opportunities to use their scientific knowledge to discuss, debate and defend…

Previous research has documented that students who engage with socioscientific issues can acquire some of the complex competences and skills typically related to scientific literacy. But an emerging field of research on science teachers' understanding and use of socioscientific issues, has documented that a range of challenges hinders the uptake…