A Pedagogical Model for Ethical Inquiry into Socioscientific Issues In Science

Internationally there is concern that many science teachers do not address socioscientific issues (SSI) in their classrooms, particularly those that are controversial. However with increasingly complex, science-based dilemmas being presented to society, such as cloning, genetic screening, alternative fuels, reproductive technologies and vaccination, there is a growing call for students to be more scientifically literate and to be able to make informed decisions on issues related to these dilemmas. There have been shifts in science curricula internationally towards a focus on scientific literacy, but research indicates that many secondary science teachers lack the support and confidence to address SSI in their classrooms. This paper reports on a project that developed a pedagogical model that scaffolded teachers through a series of stages in exploring a controversial socioscientific issue with students and supported them in the use of pedagogical strategies and facilitated ways of ethical thinking. The study builds on existing frameworks of ethical thinking. It presents an argument that in today’s increasingly pluralistic society, these traditional frameworks need to be extended to acknowledge other worldviews and identities. Pluralism is proposed as an additional framework of ethical thinking in the pedagogical model, from which multiple identities, including cultural, ethnic, religious and gender perspectives, can be explored.     

Science teachers' social conscience and the role of controversial issues in the teaching of science

The increasing number and variety of controversial scientific and technological issues with which citizens are confronted has led, in recent years, to calls for a schooling of science which prepares future citizens for participation in resolving such issues. We examined the social conscience of science teachers as it bears on the teaching of controversial issues. The study was conducted by interviewing teachers in two widely different English-speaking locations, Scotland and the United States. The research explores the perceptions of teachers with regard to the teaching of controversial issues, the problem of handling personal value positions when dealing with issues, and the tension that exists between the teaching of controversial issues and traditional value-free science curricula. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Perceptions,challenges and coping strategies of science teachers in teaching socioscientific issues: A systematic review

Science education in recent years has increasingly emphasized the connections between knowledge and matters of social importance. Socioscientific issues (SSIs)—complex, often controversial issues linked to the development of science and technology—are widely recognized as a valuable arena for the school curriculum to foster students’ scientific literacy. This paper reviews the research literature on how science teachers teach socioscientific issues with 25 empirical studies published between 2004 and 2019. The results show that teachers generally hold a partially informed understanding of SSI-based teaching. Multifarious challenges facing teachers in teaching SSIs are mainly at the teacher, student, and policy levels. However, our findings suggest that teachers lack explicit strategies to cope with these challenges and that SSI-based teaching should not rely on individual teachers alone. We argue for more support for teachers to improve the quality of their implementation of SSIs. This review has implications for education policymakers, teacher educators, school leaders, and teachers to respond to the challenges facing teachers in teaching SSIs collaboratively. Potential directions for further research are also discussed.     

Primary science teacher confidence revisited: ten years on

Background This paper compares the findings from a recent, large-scale UK-wide survey of primary teachers' confidence in teaching science with the results of a seminal report carried out 10 years ago by Wynne Harlen in Scotland. Recent reports from across the UK have indicated there are still serious concerns relating to primary teachers' confidence and ability to teach science effectively.

Purpose The main research aims were to provide a clear, evidence-based analysis of the current issues facing primary science in the UK; explore primary teachers' confidence in science teaching and to evaluate the impact of science initiatives taking place in UK primary schools.

Sample The sample for the study comprised: telephone interviews with 300 primary teachers from all UK regions; seven focus groups of primary teachers held in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to further explore the issues raised in the telephone interviews; and workshops from a two-day conference of 75 stakeholders in primary science from all UK regions (approximately half the delegates were teachers; also represented were teacher educators (initial and continuing professional development), curriculum developers and policy-makers). In addition, 100 teacher education institutions were surveyed in relation to their participation in primary science initiatives.

Design and methods The methodology for both studies comprised qualitative and quantitative elements (see sample details, above). All data were collected between June and September 2004.

Results The findings indicated that there are improvements in some areas of primary teachers' confidence in teaching science. However, the study showed that half of the teachers surveyed cited lack of teacher confidence and ability to teach science as the current issue of major concern in primary science. This paper also reports on some of the professional development initiatives carried out by higher education institutions in primary science.

Conclusions The paper concludes that there has been some progress in developing teacher confidence in primary science over the past 10 years. However, the situation is still critical for all stakeholders. Half of the teachers surveyed in the UK for the present study identified lack of teacher confidence and ability to teach science as the major issue of concern in primary science. Higher education institutions need to enhance the preparation of new primary teachers to ensure that they are all confident and effective teachers of science. They could also increase their partnership work with schools and other continuing professional development (CPD) providers in relation to primary science. The evidence demonstrates clearly that there is a need for substantially increasing science professional development for primary teachers. It also shows that such professional development could be more effectively targeted at specific aspects of science teaching that are more challenging for teachers. Further, the study shows that professional development in science works, in that teachers who have experienced science continuing professional development (CPD) are much more confident to teach science than those who have not.     

Teaching controversial issues in the secondary school science classroom

A sample of fourteen secondary school biology teachers chosen from twelve schools were interviewed. The purpose was to determine their views on how controversial issues in science might be handled in the secondary school science classroom and whether the issues of surrogacy and human embryo experimentation were suitable controversial issues for discussion in schools. In general, teachers indicated that controversial issues deserve a more prominent place in the science curriculum because they have the potential to foster thinking, learning, and interest in science. The issues of surrogacy and human embryo experimentation were seen as appropriate contexts for learning, provided that teachers were well informed and sensitive to both the students and to the school environment. Specializations: controversial issues in human reproductive biology, teacher education.     

The development,trial and evaluation of a constructivist teaching and learning approach in a preservice science teacher education program

This paper reports on the use of a constructivist teaching/learning approach to improve first year pre-service primary teachers' confidence in, and attitude to, teaching science. The two-semester program was based on allowing the students to explore science concepts in detail during the first semester and then developing constructivist pedagogy in the second semester. There were many benefits reported by students including ownership of knowledge, the development of pedagogic skills and the use of group work to develop ideas. However, a number of concems were raised such as uncertainty of knowing what to do when exploring knowledge for themselves and the lack of note taking which occurred. A number of issues that need to be considered when re-implementing the program are discussed.     

Primary teachers' understanding in science and its impact in the classroom

Research carried out over a period of two years into primary teachers' understanding of concepts in science and technology provided information about teachers' confidence in teaching science, their understanding of a range of key ideas and their background of science in their own education. The early part of the paper describes how these data were collected, noting that the method of interviewing used to explore teachers' understanding served as an opportunity for the advancement of their understanding. The relationships among the variables of confidence, understanding and background in science are then explored. Although teachers expressed low confidence in teaching science, which was linked to a lack of understanding of scientific ideas, they also claimed not to find great difficulty in using certain teaching skills required for science, including those which would appear to demand content knowledge. This apparent anomaly is discussed and linked to the strategies used by teachers to cope with low confidence and understanding. The paper ends by considering briefly the role of content knowledge in teaching science.     

A case of preservice elementary teachers exploring, retelling, and reframing

This study shows preservice elementary teachers' frames (points of view) about science curriculum. Frames are rules that influence how one perceives and organises events with which one thinks. Participants' frames were externalised by exploring issues from Sagan's text,The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark (1996), Sagan uses commonly held frames about controversial topics to contrast pseudoscience and science. This narrative explores how students retelling their reactions (to experiences of their own design) might influence one's awareness of beliefs in general and reconsideration of personal beliefs about science and teaching. The entangled issues of critical and metaphoric thinking, as well as reframing are exemplified.     

Tough acts to follow: the challenges to science teachers presented by biotechnological progress

The public controversies associated with biotechnological progress (genetic modification, cloning, and so forth) increasingly impact upon biology teaching in school; teachers find themselves engaged in discussions with pupils on value‐laden issues deriving from the social and ethical implications of the ‘new science’. The research described in this paper focused upon the thinking of a sample of 41 biology teachers as they endeavoured to implement the first year of the new Scottish Advanced Higher Biology course and to face the challenges associated with these controversies. Following questionnaire returns, the investigation employed semistructured, in‐depth interviews with 10 teachers and, separately, with their 61 pupils (17–18 years of age) and was part of a medium‐term to long‐term evaluation of a university summer school that had endeavoured to update these teachers on recent biotechnological advances. While teachers were found to be fairly positively disposed to handling discussion of such contentious matters, they were none‐too‐clear as to its precise merits and functions; many lack confidence in handling discussion. The research indicates that much needs to be tackled by way of professional development for science teachers now engaged in dimensions new to science teaching.     

将人文关怀引入高校课堂

本文以目前在理工科各院校普遍开设的概率统计课程为例探讨学生学习兴趣的培养问题。主要分析了兴趣不足的成因,阐述了作为高校教师如何树立学生学习的自信、培养学习兴趣,进而提出在教学中体现人文关怀。     

Thinking Controversially: The Psychological Condition for Teaching Controversial Issues

How should we teach controversial issues? And which issues should we teach as controversies? In this paper, I argue that educators should heed what I call a ‘psychological condition’ in their practical efforts to address these questions. In defending this claim, I engage with the various decision criteria that have been advanced in the controversial issues literature: the epistemic criterion, behavioral criterion, political criterion and politically authentic criterion. My argument is that the supporters of these various criteria have focused too closely on the socio‐political and epistemic qualities of controversial issues in deriving their controversial issues pedagogies and have thereby overlooked the necessary subjective conditions for teaching controversial issues. If our pedagogical efforts to cultivate students’ reason by means of controversial issues are to be successful, then we must understand controversy as fundamentally a psychological phenomenon consisting in an intellectual tension in the minds of students. In the final pages, I conclude by recommending several forms of directive teaching that promise to be instrumental for creating such intellectual tension.     

Primary Connections: Simulating the Classroom in Initial Teacher Education

The challenge of preparing novice primary teachers for teaching in an educational environment, where science education has low status and many teachers have limited science content knowledge and lack the confidence to teach science, is great. This paper reports on an innovation involving a sustained simulation in an undergraduate science education course as a mediational tool to connect two communities of practice—initial teacher education and expert primary science teaching. The course lecturer and student teachers role-played the expert classroom teacher and primary students (Years 7/8) respectively in an attempt to gain insights into teaching and learning through authentic activity that models good practice in primary science teaching and learning. Activity theory was used to help frame and analyse the data. Findings from the first trial indicate that the simulation was very effective in initiating science pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) development of primary student teachers.     

Developing attitude to science education scales for use with primary teachers

This paper reports the development of attitudes to science and science teaching scales for primary teachers. The investigation is part of a project intended to improve pupil achievement in science in 16 English city schools. The baseline performance of the attitude scales is reported with 76 teachers, half of whom formed a control group. The 49-item attitudes to science teaching scale of Cronbach-alpha reliability 0.96 has sub-scales of practical science teaching and professionalism. The project teachers were less confident of teaching science than teaching the English language. They particularly lacked confidence in teaching physical processes, 'guided discovery' investigations and planning lessons within the National Curriculum as required in English schools. Attitude findings suggest appropriately focused in-service might be successful. Being a promoted teacher with some subject or administrative responsibility tends to lower certain attitudes to effective science teaching. This 'regression upon promotion effect' is speculated to be a consequence of the demands of the English school National Curriculum.     

How Risk Management Tools Can Inform Critical Thinking in Aid of Moral Commitment

This article explores the ways in which the quantitative and qualitative tools used by risk managers can help students think critically about issues. In particular, it identifies some of the quantitative skills used for risk assessment that can be taught and used in mathematics and science classes. It also examines the qualitative knowledge of governance structures, primarily acquired in social studies classes, and how these can be applied in analyzing solutions to the complex issues of this century and our future. Examples are given of the application of these diverse skill sets to such controversial issues as the use of nuclear technology, disaster response, and preservation of the environment. An interdisciplinary approach to the teaching of controversial issues is encouraged.     

Preparing Pre‐Service Primary Teachers to Teach Primary Science: A partnership‐based approach

This paper reports on the effectiveness of a professional partnership approach to preparing pre‐service primary teachers to teach science. The study involved final year BEd pre‐service primary teachers at the University of Tasmania, each working in the class of a volunteer colleague teacher. The programme provided an authentic science teaching experience in which pre‐service teachers were supported to plan and teach a sequence of work in a chosen science topic and reflect upon the experience. Many reported an initial lack of confidence in science and no experience with teaching it during their normal practice teaching. During 2007 and 2008, teachers from 17 schools in Northern Tasmania volunteered to work with the pre‐service teachers in their classrooms for one lesson a week over a six‐week period. The findings indicated that this approach was an effective way to build the confidence of pre‐service teachers and may also have benefits for practising teachers.     

Framing Controversial Identity Issues in Schools: The Case of HB2, Bathroom Equity,and Transgender Students

This article explores how teachers might address controversial identity issues in their classrooms, using the 2016 North Carolina House Bill 2 that raised the issue of transgender bathroom rights to the forefront of societal discourse as an example. I analyze the issue using the three most commonly cited criteria for determining the openness of controversial issues: epistemic, political, and politically authentic. I then discuss the challenges teachers face when confronted with issues that are epistemically settled but publicly open and implicate students' identities. I conclude by arguing that in those cases in which there exists a clear empirical justification for teaching a controversial identity issue as settled, doing so may be prudent even if it limits democratic discourse or presents an inherent risk for teachers.     

Bullying and the Postgraduate Secondary School Trainee Teacher: An English case study

This paper reports the findings of a study which investigated primary BEd student teachers' scientific backgrounds, attitudes towards science and towards teaching science, their confidence to teach science, and their scientific knowledge and understanding. The findings are discussed in relation to what primary teachers need to know in order to be able to teach science, and to our developing understanding of how science is perceived, experienced and understood by learners. The paper concludes with a discussion of the effectiveness of a pilot course developed to address the issues raised by the study. It is 'learner centred' and focused on the development of knowledge and understanding rather than process, and on factors likely to promote pupil (and student) understanding. The outcomes of the pilot work raise further substantive issues.     

Controversial environmental issues: A case study for the professional development of science teachers

Inclusion of controversial issues, such as global climate change (GCC) within the school science curriculum presents several different challenges to teachers: first, the controversial nature of the topic; second, it does not relate well to the normal sequencing and division of topics within most science courses; and, third, there are important non-scientific aspects to possible solutions to the problem. In this study, small focus groups of teachers considered how they would prefer to integrate the topic into their science courses for 14-16-year-old students. It was clearly stated by the science teachers that they preferred to maintain the integrity of their subject rather than be involved in extensive interdisciplinary teaching. It was agreed that GCC provided an excellent opportunity for the application of higher order abilities in science and using the topic to develop an understanding of the nature of science and its place in society.     

Pre-Service Elementary Teachers'' Perceptions of Factors in an Holistic Methods Course Influencing their Confidence in Teaching Science

Lack of confidence towards science is a major factor in the avoidance of teaching science at elementary school. This paper reports the results of a survey that asked 28 pre-service elementary teachers what they believed contributed to their confidence towards science and the teaching of science during a second year science unit where an holistic teaching/learning approach was taken. The holistic nature of the unit was based on a model that considered six major factors to be important influences on the confidence of the pre-service teacher. Using median values, and ranking from the most to least important factor influencing their confidence, the pre-service teachers identified practicum, teacher educator, pedagogical content knowledge, learning environment, assessment and reflection. Factors within pedagogical content knowledge, ranked from most to least important, were science pedagogy, science activities, children's views of science, science content knowledge and investigating scientifically. The wide variability in responses highlighted that no single factor was perceived to be a major contributor to the pre-service teachers' confidence, but rather a balanced mix was necessary. Implications for pre-service elementary science education units are discussed.