Enhancing Socioscientific Reasoning Through Nature of Technology

Fostering informed Socioscientific Reasoning (SSR) is an essential component of developing scientific literacy. In this chapter, the authors suggest that enhancing Nature of Technology (NOT) understanding can be one way to leverage students' informed socioscientific reasoning. The authors describe a proposed NOT conceptual framework with four dimensions and detailed components, and present an analysis of students' reasoning of various socioscientific issues using this framework. Finally, the authors present the finding that NOT components were present in student discussions with varying levels of understanding. The SSR analysis reveals that students with NOT informed understanding can appreciate the integrated characteristics of technology, so as to make sophisticated decisions about science and technology that will change society in fundamental ways, for both better and worse.

New directions in socioscientific issues research

The socioscientific issues framework has proven to have a significant impact over the last two decades on many areas related to the development of functional scientific literacy in students. In this article, we summarize and synthesize recent trends in socioscientific issues research that impact both disciplinary and interdisciplinary science education research. These trends represent science-in-context investigations that we propose are advanced by three broad and interrelated areas of research including: 1) Socioscientific Issues and the Central Role of Socioscientific Reasoning; 2) Socioscientific Issues and the Primacy of Socioscientific Perspective Taking; and, 3) Socioscientific Issues and the Importance of Informal and Place-Based Contexts. We discuss the most recent research in those areas and explore the educational significance these new trends.

Socioscientific Issues to Promote Content Knowledge & Socioscientific Reasoning in Puerto Rican High School Students

Socioscientific issues have proved to be excellent tools for fostering the development of higher-order thinking skills that lead to superior socioscientific reasoning and decision making. This educational construct, with a focus on a local coastal environmental situation, was incorporated into a science class of high school biology students in Puerto Rico to assess relevant content knowledge and enable socioscientific reasoning. We describe how socioscientific reasoning was introduced, implemented, and assessed and the influence it had on students during a four-week in-depth exploration on the topic.