Science, Society, and Technology—Three Cultures and Multiple Visions

The article reviews the strikingly divergent viewpoints of intellectuals—scientists and non-scientists—about Science and Technology. It shows that while scientists implicitly accept the difference between Science and Technology, to non-scientists that difference is irrelevant. The most important differences between Science and Technology that lie in their relative scales, outputs and accuracy of predictions are highlighted. The complexity of and difficulty in trying to quantify the contribution of science and technology to economic growth are discussed. Views of science and technology that include their societal perceptions are recommended.     

Changes in Attitudes Towards Science–Technology–Society of Pre-service Science Teachers

This research focuses on use of a triadic teaching approach in a science–technology–society (STS) course designed for future science teachers for middle schools in Turkey. Forty-three pre-service science teachers were enrolled in a semester-long course organized around issues students identified and used throughout the semester. The triadic teaching approach includes library-online searches that lead the students to design and conduct investigations, to carrying out mini-scientific symposia, and to preparing and conducting poster presentations open to the entire student body and faculty. The results of a 30-item Likert scale, administered to the students as a pretest and a posttest, indicated that there were significant increases in positive attitudes towards STS issues from the beginning to the end of the study. Individual interviews were also conducted with the students to determine the individual effects of each component of the triadic teaching approach on their attitudes towards STS issues. All aspects of the new approach provided significant contributions to the development of more positive attitudes among the students towards STS via interviews and on all sub-scales of a survey administered that include: (1) pupil interest in STS issues; (2) teacher interest in STS issues; (3) general perceptions regarding importance of STS issues.

Translator’s Subjectivity in Science and Technology Translation

Science and technology translation involves various industries and professions,with its own system of terminology and unique language features.For a translator,who is not a professional scientist or technician,it seems to be difficult to do science and technology translation accurately and properly.Consequently,it is necessary for the translator to give play to his subjectivity when translating science and technology documents or related interpretation:searching for related data to replenish necessary professional knowledge,consulting with professional technicians actively to clarify the jargon and common sayings,and thinking critically to scrutiny the source text.     

Decision‐Making in Future Science and Technology Curricula

Summaries

English

In this article, the author argues in favour of a decision‐making orientated science and technology curriculum for secondary school students. To achieve this, the curriculum should (i) expose students to open‐ended problems within their natural setting, (ii) provide students with real decision‐making situations and (iii) involve them in scientific‐technological social actions, e.g. in community institutions or industrial plants.     

Scientists,Engineers and the Society of Free Choice: Enrollment as Policy and Practice in Swedish Science and Technology Education 1960–1990

This article portrays the formation of a new problem area within Swedish educational policy in the 1960s, namely the need of scientific manpower and the demands to entice more individuals into studies in science and technology. As a consequence school science was given the mission to be interesting, fun and to change young people’s attitudes towards these subjects. In the 1970s and 1980s many initiatives were taken to increase the numbers of applicants at high school and university levels, both within curricular frames and out-of-school activities such as science clubs. Through an approach inspired by governmentality studies, I describe the strategies deployed to remedy the problem as rationalities of liberal governmentality. The actions taken were executed in a way to make school children choose science or technology out of their free will. It was an exercise of power that was not meant to restrain but instead to enable action.     

Science and Technology in Greek Newspapers, 1900–1910. Historiographical Reflections and the Role of Journalists for the Public Images of Science and Technology

Based on our research on two Athenian daily newspapers for the first decade of the twentieth century, we present some historiographical reflections concerning the role of the daily press in the circulation of scientific knowledge, ideas and practices. From the wealth of material provided, we examine some of the ways in which scientific and technical knowledge was made available to a wider public and contributed to the creation of a general scientific literacy. Although Greece has never been in the forefront of scientific and technological research, the vast amount of newspaper articles on science and technology, but also references to science and technology in other kind of articles, show how discussions on science and technology become part of daily life in order to serve various agendas. Since newspapers address a very wide and diverse public on a daily basis they become privileged media not only for understanding the role science and technology played in the formation of modern societies, but also for examining the values and ideas attached to them and communicated to a wider public.     

Trust in Science and Science Education — Part 1

Science & Education -     

Science,Society and Trends in Science Education‐‐some Thoughts on the Development of Integrated Science in the Educational Systems of the World

Summaries

English

Before constructing a new curriculum for any level in integrated‐science education, it is very important to establish a basic philosophy of science teaching which reflects a symbiotic relationship between education and the socio‐economic development in a particular country of the world.

The curriculum structure of integrated‐science education should broaden the basis of curricular decision and should be designated to follow the expectations of the society in providing professional intellectual training so that education can make a significant contribution to the socio‐economic growth of the country. This basic assumption which established a link between cultural and socio‐economic growth, involves a diversification of the cultural trends of science education which must become appropriate to the economic and historical context of each country in a fast changing world of work.

Therefore, by critically removing outside influences in the transmission of scientific knowledge, there should be less uniformity in the context and methods of teaching, and considerable restructuring of education for each country should occur. Thus, considering the historical and geographical differences, a new order in international division of labour would come into being.

In such a hypothesis, a research‐oriented integrated curriculum in science education can play a central role (certainly a better one than in the traditional, discipline‐oriented scheme of science teaching) in obtaining an adequate interaction between scientific education and social problems; this is required for modern cultural and economic development of the world.     

Pre-service Teachers’ False Beliefs in Superstitions and Pseudosciences in Relation to Science and Technology

Science & Education - In order to increase scientific competence within the general population, it is important that teachers and educators have a realistic image of science and scientists,...     

Turkish Pre‐Service Science Teachers’ Views on Science–Technology–Society Issues

The international science education community recognises the role of pre‐service science teachers’ views about the interdependence of Science, Technology, and Society (STS) in achieving scientific literacy for all. To this end, pre‐service science teachers’ STS views signal the strengths and the weaknesses of science education reform movements. Turkey, a country that follows the international reform movement, aims at improving citizen’s understanding of the STS interdependence to enable them to fully participate in an industrialised, democratic society. This study explores the Turkish pre‐service science teachers’ views (n = 176) on STS issues and discusses the ongoing reform efforts’ strengths and weaknesses within the context of the study findings. Data were collected through an adopted “Views on Science–Technology–Society” instrument. Analysis revealed that many participants held realistic views on science, technology, and society interdependence, while their views on technology and the nature of science were differed. Some viewed technology as an application of science, and some viewed science as explanatory and an interpretation of nature. Most agreed that the scientific knowledge is tentative but they did not present a thorough understanding of the differences between hypotheses, laws, and theories.     

Children’s and Adolescents’ Specific Interest in Science and Technology,Participation in Out-of-School Activities and Inclination to Become Scientists

Journal of Science Education and Technology - Recently, the literature has repeatedly reported an interesting decrease in science and technology (S&T) among youngsters, and a drop of...     

Das Institute of Science and Technology – Austria

Mit BGBl I 2006/69 wurde das Bundesgesetz über das Institute of Science and Technology – Austria erlassen. Der folgende Beitrag besch?ftigt sich mit der Rechtsform, den gesetzliche Aufgaben, der innere Organisation, der studienrechtliche Ausgestaltung sowie der Finanzierung des I.S.T. Austria.     

Relationship Among Students’ Problem-Solving Attitude,Perceived Value,Behavioral Attitude,and Intention to Participate in a Science and Technology Contest

The strong humanistic and ethics-oriented philosophy of Confucianism tends to lead people influenced by these principles to undervalue the importance of hands-on practice and creativity in education. GreenMech, a science and technology contest, was implemented to encourage real-world, hands-on problem solving in an attempt to mitigate this effect. The self-reported attitudes, values, and intentions of 684 GreenMech participants from elementary, junior high, and senior high schools in Taiwan were subjected to confirmatory analysis with structural equation modeling to test the hypothesized model. The research findings revealed that the students’ problem-solving attitude is positively correlated to their perception of their own knowledge enrichment and thinking-skill enhancement as a result of participating in GreenMech. The findings also suggest that these perceived advantages positively influenced the intention to participate in future contests. This indicates that a highly competitive contest can be used to promote awareness of opportunities, which may enhance thinking skills and enrich knowledge.     

Early Childhood Educators’ Self-Efficacy in Science,Math, and Literacy Instruction and Science Practice in the Classroom

Research Findings: Quality early science education is important for addressing the low science achievement, compared to international peers, of elementary students in the United States. Teachers’ beliefs about their skills in a content area, that is, their content self-efficacy is important because it has implications for teaching practice and child outcomes. However, little is known about how teachers’ self-efficacy for literacy, math and science compare and how domain-specific self-efficacy relates to teachers’ practice in the area of science. Analysis of survey and observation data from 67 Head Start classrooms across eight programs indicated that domain-specific self-efficacy was highest for literacy, significantly lower for science, and lowest for math. Classrooms varied, but in general, engaged in literacy far more than science, contained a modest amount of science materials, and their instructional support of science was low. Importantly, self-efficacy for science, but not literacy or math, related to teachers frequency of engaging children in science instruction. Teachers’ education and experience did not predict self-efficacy for science. Practice or Policy: To enhance the science opportunities provided in early childhood classrooms, pre-service and in-service education programs should provide teachers with content and practices for science rather than focusing exclusively on literacy.     

The effect of a ‘Science,Technology and Society’ course on prospective teachers’ conceptions of the nature of science

The aim of this study is to assess prospective teachers’ views of some aspects of the nature of science (NOS) and the effects of a “Science, Technology and Society” (STS) course embedded with scientific investigation (SI) on these views. A questionnaire consisting of 13 items was given to 212 prospective teachers enrolled in a STS course before and after teaching. During the semester, participants were engaged in a specially designed pilot SI combined with explicit NOS instruction. Majority of the participants held traditional views of the target NOS aspects at beginning of the study. After the course there were significant changes in the conceptions of prospective teachers in majority target aspects of NOS as the results of a Sign test indicate. We suggest that the more suitable SI, performed in an active learning environment, related to target aspects of NOS must be selected to develop the more constructivist views about the NOS.     

Manpower and Schooling,Society and Change──in Singapore Context

I.IntroductionIncountriesallovertheworld,develooedanddeve1oping,educationtodaycannotjustifyitsexistencebyshufflingoffitsresponsibiIityofpreparingpeopletobeabletochallengeandtackletheemergingproblemsthatbesettheirparticularsociety-Theseproblemsarematerialisticontheonehand,relatedtothebasicneedsoflife,namlelyfoodnutriton,heaIthandsanitati-on,housingandshe1ter,andmoralandethicalontheother,concernedwiththecorevaluesandphilosophyoflife,asshowedinwordsandphraseslikepatriotism,loyalty,honesty,respon…