The present study analyzed the structural and the content complexity of 76 preservice science teachers’ socioscientific argumentation in the context of a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination. Data were ...analyzed within the methodological frame of qualitative content analysis. Concerning the structural complexity, the participants’ socioscientific argumentation reached a relatively high level (i.e., justifications with elaborated grounds). Concerning the complexity of content, the sample referred to science-, ethics-, society-, and politics-related arguments (i.e., almost the full range of content areas); however, on an individual level, participants referred to merely an average of two content areas. Regarding the relationship between structural and content complexity, a significant positive correlation was found. In sum, the results of this study suggest that preservice science teachers’ socioscientific argumentation is on a promisingly high level in terms of structural and on a medium level regarding content complexity. The findings are discussed and implications for science teacher education and assessment in science education are proposed.
To make informed decisions has been acknowledged as an essential ability to negotiate socioscientific issues. However, many young people show an inadequate understanding of how to make well-informed ...decisions, particularly in contexts that are connected to environmental problems. This paper aims to explore the effectiveness of an environmental science competition (BundesUmweltWettbewerb, BUW) to foster students’ socioscientific decision-making. Two different instruments, a paper-pencil test (
N
= 196 students) and retrospective interviews (
N
= 10 students), have been used in two successive studies. In addition, both of the applied instruments are investigated theoretically using the “assessment triangle” of the National Research Council (National Research Council, Knowing What Students Know, 2001) as a framework. The results of our studies indicate that participating in the environmental science competition predominantly fosters students’ socioscientific decision-making in its pre-selectional phase. We further argue that promoting the selectional phase of decision-making requires explicit and instructional guidance. With respect to the assessment of socioscientific decision-making, a focus on either structural (decision-making strategies) or contextual (decision content) conditions is argued. Outcomes are discussed in terms of theoretical and practical implications.
In the past, students' participation in science competitions has been positively associated with their aspirations to pursue a career in science. Previous studies, however, were predominantly focused ...around successful competitors, overlooking the largest group of participants: those who are faced with early elimination. We therefore aimed to investigate the effects of elimination on the development of biology‐related study and career task values and expectancy of success in first‐round participants of the German Biology Olympiad (N = 381, mean age 16.5 years, 72% female). This study was the first of its kind to use a latent change score model approach to examine the effects of early elimination, with a particular focus on participants who placed great emphasis on succeeding in the competition. We found that, regardless of success or failure, participants' biology‐related study and career task value remained stable from the first to the second round of the competition, while their expectancy of success in biology‐related studies and career developed positively. Yet, for those participants who placed great importance on advancing in the competition, early elimination interfered with the development of study and career expectations, resulting in a weaker development. The outcomes of this study suggest that (1) science competitions should re‐envision themselves to more directly address participants' values about studies and careers, especially in earlier competition rounds, and (2) science competitions should find innovative ways to provide detailed feedback to students and teachers to improve post‐elimination performance. Our findings complement existing expectancy‐value research and can serve as a starting point for future studies exploring mechanisms behind early elimination in different science domains and cultural contexts, providing empirical insight into creating an inclusive and supportive environment for all science competition competitors.
Equipping students with the capability to perform considerate decision-making is a key competence to elaborate socio-scientific issues. Particularly in the socio-scientific context of sustainable ...development, decision-making is required for the processing of information and the implementation of sustainable action. Extracurricular activities in education for sustainable development (ESD) offer a suitable format to promote decision-making due to their multidisciplinary and more informal structure. The purpose of this literature review is therefore to analyze empirical studies that explore students’ (1) decision-making in (2) ESD-related (3) extracurricular activities. Following the preferred-reporting of items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, a systematic search yielded 19 out of 365 articles, each of them addressing all three components. Despite the theoretical relationship, hardly any empirical enquiry is found examining the trinomial interrelation with an equal consideration of all components. Contrarily, we argue that each is positioned in favor for only one component with the others serving as a backdrop. It follows that the full potential of an equal distribution between all three foci has not been explored yet; even though integrating sustainability-related issues in extracurricular activities displays a promising learning opportunity to optimally foster students’ decision-making. Instead, studies that concentrate primarily on decision-making as a quantitatively measurable competence were predominant.
Students' argumentation skills are considered a central tool to contribute to scientific controversies in the science classroom. Scientific controversies of social relevance (socioscientific issues; ...SSI) are subject to multiple viewpoints that are often rooted in diverse disciplines. However, the relationship between issue familiarity and students' multidisciplinary argumentation is still a matter under discussion. This study: (1) explores whether the selection of a particular issue (animal testing) enables students' engagement in multidisciplinary argumentation without additional issue familiarisation, i.e., using only their existing knowledge; and (2) clarifies the relationship between increased issue familiarity and students' multidisciplinary argumentation. One hundred and sixty three ninth and tenth graders participated in this study, of whom one hundred and six took part in a teaching unit to familiarise themselves with the issue of animal testing. The study's results demonstrate that animal testing constitutes an effective issue to engage students with the complexity of SSI without requiring more than basic familiarity prior to engagement. The results further demonstrate that increased issue familiarity can enhance the overall diversity of discipline-related arguments amongst students; however, not all disciplines were enhanced equally. The findings suggest that more instructional guidance seems to be needed to assist students in broadening their arguments.
Many science educators have argued in favour of including socioscientific issues (SSI) in general, and ethical issues in particular, in school science. However, there have been a number of objections ...to this proposal, and it is widely acknowledged that such teaching places additional demands on science teachers. This study examined the curricula, textbooks and views of both student teachers and established teachers in England and in Germany regarding the teaching of ethical issues in secondary school science, particularly the ethical issues surrounding animal tests. Analysis of the curriculum documents for secondary or upper secondary school science showed that in both countries, ethical considerations feature strongly. However, in both countries, the overall treatments in the school textbooks of the ethical issues of animal testing were generally ‘thin’, and little opportunity was given for students to consider different ethical frameworks. The teacher and student teacher interviews revealed that interviewees generally gave ethical issues less emphasis than fundamental science. A number of interviewees referred to a lack of appropriate teaching material, and many of them also had concerns that such teaching could give rise to classroom management issues or that they might be accused of indoctrinating their students. Given the increasing acknowledgement of the need for school science to address so-called wicked socioscientific problems, these findings are a concern. We end with recommendations for curricula, for textbooks and for teacher education.
Many science educators have argued in favour of including socioscientific issues (SSI) in general, and ethical issues in particular, in school science. However, there have been a number of objections ...to this proposal, and it is widely acknowledged that such teaching places additional demands on science teachers. This study examined the curricula, textbooks and views of both student teachers and established teachers in England and in Germany regarding the teaching of ethical issues in secondary school science, particularly the ethical issues surrounding animal tests. Analysis of the curriculum documents for secondary or upper secondary school science showed that in both countries, ethical considerations feature strongly. However, in both countries, the overall treatments in the school textbooks of the ethical issues of animal testing were generally ‘thin’, and little opportunity was given for students to consider different ethical frameworks. The teacher and student teacher interviews revealed that interviewees generally gave ethical issues less emphasis than fundamental science. A number of interviewees referred to a lack of appropriate teaching material, and many of them also had concerns that such teaching could give rise to classroom management issues or that they might be accused of indoctrinating their students. Given the increasing acknowledgement of the need for school science to address so-called wicked socioscientific problems, these findings are a concern. We end with recommendations for curricula, for textbooks and for teacher education.
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