Debate on global warming as a socio-scientific issue: science teaching towards political literacy

The focus of this response to the original article by Tom G. H. Bryce and Stephen P. Day (Cult Stud Sci Educ. doi:10.1007/s11422-012-9407-1, 2013) is the use of empirical data to illustrate and expand the understanding of key points of their argument. Initially, I seek to discuss possible answers to the three questions posed by the authors related to: (1) the concerns to be addressed and the scientific knowledge to be taken into account in the climate change debate, (2) the attention to be paid to perspectives taken by “alarmists” and “deniers,” and (3) the approaches to be used to conduct controversial global warming debate. In this discussion, I seek to contribute to the debate proposed by the original paper, illustrating various points commented on by the authors and expanding to other possibilities, which highlight the importance of political issues in the debate. Therefore, I argue that socio-political issues must be taken into account when I aim for a scientific literacy that can enhance students’ political education. Likewise, I extend the debate presented in the original article, emphasizing the attention that should be paid to these aspects and approaching science education from a critical perspective. Highlighting only the confirmation bias without considering political implications of the debate can induce a reductionist and empiricist view of science, detached from the political power that acts on scientific activity. In conclusion, I support the idea that for a critical science education, the discussion of political issues should be involved in any controversial debate, a view, which goes beyond the confirmation bias proposed by Bryce and Day for the global warming debate. These issues are indeed vital and science teachers should take them into account when preparing their lessons for the debate on climate change.     

Application of construal level and value-belief norm theories to undergraduate decision-making on a wildlife socio-scientific issue

One aim of science education is to develop scientific literacy for decision-making in daily life. Socio-scientific issues (SSI) and structured decision-making frameworks can help students reach these objectives. This research uses value belief norm (VBN) theory and construal level theory (CLT) to explore students’ use of personal values in their decision-making processes and the relationship between abstract and concrete problematization and their decision-making. Using mixed methods, we conclude that the level of abstraction with which students problematise a prairie dog agricultural production and ecosystem preservation issue has a significant relationship to the values students used in the decision-making process. However, neither abstraction of the problem statement nor students’ surveyed value orientations were significantly related to students’ final decisions. These results may help inform teachers’ understanding of students and their use of a structured-decision making tool in a classroom, and aid researchers in understanding if these tools help students remain objective in their analyses of complex SSIs.     

Developing pre-service teachers' evidence-based argumentation skills on socio-scientific issues

We report on a study of the effect of meta-level awareness on the use of evidence in discourse. The participants were 66 pre-service teachers who were engaged in a dialogic activity. Meta-level awareness regarding the use of evidence in discourse was heightened by having same-side peers collaborating in arguing on the computer against successive pairs of peers on the opposing side of an issue on the topic of Climate Change and by engaging in explicit reflective activities on the use of evidence. Participants showed significant advances both in their skill of producing evidence-based arguments and counterarguments and regarding the accuracy of the evidence used. Advances were also observed at the meta-level, reflecting at least implicit understanding that using evidence is an important goal of argumentation. Another group of pre-service teachers, who studied about the role of evidence in science in the context of regular curriculum and served as a control condition, did not exhibit comparable advances in the use of evidence in argumentation. Educational implications are discussed.     

Understanding argumentation about socio-scientific issues on energy: a quantitative study with primary pre-service teachers in Spain

Background Argumentation is an important discourse process in science that needs to be taught and learned as part of a repertoire of strategies to support the acquisition of scientific literacy. Research in science education indicates that beliefs or perceptions and the epistemological orientations of teachers influence their approaches to science teaching.

Purpose The paper aims to illustrate primary pre-service teachers’ understanding of argumentation based on a study using quantitative methodology. In particular, it aims to illustrate how these teachers view quality of arguments and teaching strategies related to argumentation in the context of a socio-scientific issue on energy.

Sample 332 pre-service teachers enrolled in a university teacher education programme in Spain were investigated. Many studies on argumentation have been conducted with small sample sizes of teachers. Hence, given the sample size, the study provides findings that are likely to be generalisable.

Design and methods A questionnaire was administered to the participants. The design of the questionnaire was guided by some existing analytical tools which were adapted for primary education purposes in the context of socio-scientific issues. This adaptation is novel in that the questionnaire items can potentially be used as diagnostic questions to assess primary teachers’ understanding of argumentation.

Results The results suggest that pre-service teachers had difficulty in understanding arguments and different pedagogical strategies to promote argumentation in classroom. For example, they did not understand the role and the meaning of warrants in scientific arguments and their understanding of the use of different kind of strategies is limited to debates, open discussions and experiments. The age range of the participants and the length of teaching experience had no impact on the quality of their understanding of argumentation.

Conclusions Pre-service science teacher education will benefit from incorporation of more robust and lengthy sessions on argumentation. For example, sessions could focus on quality as well as structure of arguments in science and more diverse pedagogical strategies to support argumentation in science lessons, such as the use of writing frames and presentations.     

Balancing the pros and cons of GMOs: socio-scientific argumentation in pre-service teacher education

This study investigates the role of the discursive process in the act of scientific knowledge building. Specifically, it links scientific knowledge building to risk perception of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). To this end, this study designed and implemented a three-stage argumentation programme giving pre-service teachers (PSTs) the opportunity to consider, discuss and construct shared decisions about GMOs. The study involved 101 third-year PSTs from two different classes, randomly divided into control and experimental groups. The study utilised both quantitative and qualitative methods. During the quantitative phase, researchers administered a pre- and post-intervention scale to measure both groups’ risk perception of GMOs. During the qualitative phase, data were collected from the experimental group alone through individual and group reports and an open-ended questionnaire. T-test results showed a statistically significant difference between the experimental and control groups’ risk perception of GMOs. Qualitative analysis also revealed differences, for example, in PSTs’ weighing of the pros and cons of scientific research demonstrating positive results of GMOs. In addition, PSTs’ acceptance of GMOs increased. Consequently, this study suggests that developing familiarity with scientific enterprise may play an effective role in adopting a scientific perspective as well as a more balanced risk perception of GMOs.     

Approaches employed by sixth-graders to compare rival solutions in socio-scientific decision-making tasks

The present study explores the approaches employed by sixth-grade students to compare rival solutions in socio-scientific decision-making situations. Data were collected using three specially developed open-ended tasks. Two of them were administered to 96 students in a written form while the third was administered to 20 of these students through individual follow-up interviews. Our findings suggest that students failed to consistently apply coherent decision-making approaches. Instead, they employed a diversity of approaches ranging from non-compensatory strategies that avoided tradeoffs between advantages and disadvantages of rival solutions, to strategies that sought to synthesize these two aspects, though in an invalid manner. We demonstrate that these strategies are the outcome of a number of prevalent reasoning difficulties.     

Scepticism and doubt in science and science education: the complexity of global warming as a socio-scientific issue

This article looks critically at the complexity of the debate among climate scientists; the controversies in the science of global temperature measurement; and at the role played by consensus. It highlights the conflicting perspectives figuring in the mass media concerned with climate change, arguing that science teachers should be familiar with them, particularly given the sharply contested views likely to be brought into classroom discussion and the importance of developing intellectual scepticism and robust scientific literacy in students. We distinguish between rational scepticism and the pejorative meaning of the expression associated with attitudinal opposition to global warming—similar to the way in which Bauer (2006) contrasts micro-scepticism and macro-scepticism in reasoning generally. And we look closely and critically at the approaches which teachers might adopt in practice to teach about global warming at this difficult time.     

First steps in teaching argumentation: A South African study

South African student teachers were studied to see how they coped with requirements to teach science using argumentation. Lesson observations, plans, reflective logs, post-teaching interviews and assessment of pupils’ argumentation were used to compare student teachers’ preparedness and interactions with pupils. Two clusters of students were identified representing high preparedness and low interaction. A high degree of preparedness alone did not guarantee high levels of argumentation. Schools’ educational situations were independent of success in teaching argumentation. The outcomes and implications for further development of teaching critical thinking are discussed.     

Promoting the role of the personal narrative in teaching controversial socio-scientific issues

Citizens participating in contemporary socio-scientific issues (SSI) need to draw on local knowledge and personal experience. If curricular developments in the teaching of controversial SSI are to reflect contemporary notions of citizenship then the personal narrative is an indispensable instrument in bridging the gap between the local/personal and the emergent science. In the context of controversy personal narratives help contending parties to see events in the light of those who do not share their views. A goal-oriented protagonist is the narrator in the personal narrative, which consists of three components - situation-event-reaction—the reaction being an evaluation of the event. Promoting personal narratives in science-based curricula is considered problematic given the dominant role of science’s explanatory frameworks. An inter-disciplinary approach is proposed based on McLaughlin’s levels of disagreement.     

Direct and indirect effects of textual and individual factors on source-content integration when reading about a socio-scientific issue

Reading and Writing - The purpose of this study was to test a hypothesized model that specified direct and indirect effects of textual and individual factors on readers’ ability to integrate...     

Beyond evidence: a critical appraisal of global warming as a socio-scientific issue and a reflection on the changing nature of scientific literacy in school

Tom G. K. Bryce and Stephen P. Day’s (2013) original article on scepticism and doubt in science education explores the context of citizens’ attitudes towards the complexities and uncertainties of global issues, namely global warming. This response aims to stimulate reflection on some of the implicit assumptions underpinning the relationships between science, technology and the public. I argue that an underestimation of the political and ethical dimensions of science and technology limits the possibilities for education to set the agenda for citizens’ participation in science and technological matters. Drawing on Sheila Jasanoff’s model of co-production, this paper proposes a radical re-affirmation of the aims and purposes of science education to embrace a multiplicity of disciplines, narratives and ways of knowing in science, technology and society issues.     

The effects of successful versus failure-based cases on argumentation while solving decision-making problems

Solving complex, ill-structured problems may be effectively supported by case-based reasoning through case libraries that provide just-in-time domain-specific principles in the form of stories. The cases not only articulate previous experiences of practitioners, but also serve as problem-solving narratives from which learners can acquire meaning. The current study investigated the effects of different case-types (success, failures) on analogical transfer to similar problems. In the first week, undergraduate sales management students (N = 36) were assigned to different case library treatments (success, failure) and asked to construct a multifaceted argument (initial argument, counterargument, rebuttal) to resolve an ill-structured, decision-making hiring problem. In the following week, students constructed an argument to solve a novel case without the support of the case library. Data analysis revealed the failure-based case library condition produced significantly higher scores on measurements of counterarguments and holistic argumentation scores on both tasks. A discussion of the implications for pedagogy and instructional design are also presented.     

Students' questions and discursive interaction: Their impact on argumentation during collaborative group discussions in science

This study investigated the potential of students' written and oral questions both as an epistemic probe and heuristic for initiating collaborative argumentation in science. Four classes of students, aged 12–14 years from two countries, were asked to discuss which of two graphs best represented the change in temperature as ice was heated to steam. The discussion was initiated by asking questions about the phenomenon. Working in groups (with members who had differing viewpoints) and guided by a set of question prompts, an argument sheet, and an argument diagram, students discussed contrasting arguments. One group of students from each class was audiotaped. The number of questions written, the concepts addressed, and the quality of written arguments were then scored. A positive correlation between these factors was found. Discourse analysis showed that the initial focus on questions prompted students to articulate their puzzlement; make explicit their claims and (mis)conceptions; identify and relate relevant key concepts; construct explanations; and consider alternative propositions when their ideas were challenged. Productive argumentation was characterized by students' questions which focused on key ideas of inquiry, a variety of scientific concepts, and which made explicit reference to the structural components of an argument. These findings suggest that supporting students in productive discourse is aided by scaffolding student questioning, teaching the criteria for a good argument, and providing a structure that helps them to organize and verbalize their arguments. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47:883–908, 2010     

The challenge of involvement in reflective teaching: Three case studies from a teacher education project on conducting classroom discussions on socio-scientific issues

The purpose of this qualitative study was to learn more about how teachers deal with a reflective teaching approach aimed at developing their competencies in analysing and facilitating classroom discussions on socio-scientific issues. Three cases of teachers' journeys through the project are reconstructed and characterised. We posit that each teacher benefited from the project according to his or her individual situation, needs and learning style. A number of modifications to the project design are proposed and can be summarised by the idea of assisting teachers more closely and more individually as they pass through the reflective teaching process.     

The right to argue: teaching and assessing everyday argumentation skills

Abstract

Even though there is wide agreement on the importance of argumentation in modern societies, only a minority of students in secondary and postsecondary education receive direct and explicit instruction in argumentation. The present study describes the design and results of a test that was used to measure everyday argumentation skills of 186 undergraduate students in Bogotá (Colombia), before and after they completed a one-semester course in logic with emphasis in argumentation. Given that the students came from a variety of academic and socioeconomic backgrounds, this sample allowed us to estimate the potential influence of student-related characteristics on the effectiveness of instruction. On average, students showed significant improvement (d = 0.62), independently of their academic and socioeconomic characteristics. This suggests that receiving this kind of instruction can be beneficial for a wide range of students.     

A comparison study of augmented reality versus interactive simulation technology to support student learning of a socio-scientific issue

We investigated the impact of an augmented reality (AR) versus interactive simulation (IS) activity incorporated in a computer learning environment to facilitate students' learning of a socio-scientific issue (SSI) on nuclear power plants and radiation pollution. We employed a quasi-experimental research design. Two classes (a total of 45 ninth-grade students) were randomly assigned to either the AR or IS treatments. We compared three outcome variables of the AR and IS groups: knowledge of and attitude towards the SSI, and perceptions of the AR or IS feature. We also examined the interplay among the three variables within each of the two groups. The results indicated no significant differences in knowledge and attitude, but a significant difference in the perceptions between the two groups. Moreover, different patterns of correlations among the variables were identified. The implication includes educational impact of emerging AR technologies to support affective aspects of student learning of SSIs.     

Role-play or debate to promote students' argumentation and justification on an issue in animal transgenesis

This paper compares the impact of a role-play and a conventional discussion on students' argumentation on an issue involving animal transgenesis. Students were confronted with an imaginable but fictional situation. They had to decide whether or not to approve a giant transgenic salmon farm being set up in a seaside village. Students received the same teaching and information, the only differences being in the debate situation. Students were asked to reach a decision on well-argued grounds, to identify areas of uncertainty and to define the condition or conditions under which a change of view might be considered. They had to write them down. Pre-post-tests were used to assess the students' opinions. The role-play and discussion were all video- and audio-taped and transcribed in full. The analysis focuses on the argumentative structure of the students' discourse and identifies the reference areas that students draw on to deliver their arguments. The theory of economics of 'greatness' or 'importance', which has recently emerged as a framework for the sociology of justification, has also been used in analysing students' discourse.     

Students' evaluation of teaching in a Saudi Arabian university

Evaluation of teaching effectiveness by different sources is a well established practice. It is generally carried out in the form of student evaluation using rating scales. This article describes one such system designed for the College of Engineering at King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It describes the operation of the system in detail, including a rating scale questionnaire about both teacher and course. The author proposes a method of analysing the responses so as to make them effective for feedback. In order to demonstrate the efficiency of this proposed method of analysis, he presents a sample analysis of a two-semester period involving eight teachers, six courses (multi-section), and 16 responses. The results show that:
1 The average response for the same teacher from different courses was fairly consistent.
2 A norm can be developed to compare the average responses for different teachers.
3 There was a good correlation between the average rating of a teacher and the percentage of students wanting to take another course with him.
4 The students' responses about the content of a multi-section course were fairly consistent from different sections of that course.
5 The overall ratings of different courses were compared with each other, and showed good consistency with the nature of the courses.
Since the results were based on a two-semester period, a semester-to-semester comparison of either the teacher ratings or course ratings could not be made, but as more data is gathered this may become possible in future.