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- Hansson, Lena, 1975-, et al.
(author)
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Students' socio-scientific reasoning in an astrobiology context during work with a digital learning environment
- 2011
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In: Journal of Science Education and Technology. - 1059-0145 .- 1573-1839. ; 20:4, s. 388-402
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In a European project—CoReflect—researchersin seven countries are developing, implementing andevaluating teaching sequences using a web-based platform(STOCHASMOS). The interactive web-based inquirymaterials support collaborative and reflective work. Thelearning environments will be iteratively tested and refined,during different phases of the project. All learning environmentsare focusing ‘‘socio-scientific issues’’. In thisarticle we report from the pilot implementation of theSwedish learning environment which has an Astrobiologycontext. The socio-scientific driving questions are ‘‘Shouldwe look for, and try to contact, extraterrestrial life?’’, and‘‘Should we transform Mars into a planet where humanscan live in the future?’’ The students were in their last yearof compulsory school (16 years old), and worked togetherin triads. We report from the groups’ decisions and thesupport used for their claims. On a group level a majorityof the student groups in their final statements expressreluctance towards both the search of extraterrestrial lifeand the terraforming of Mars. The support used by thestudents are reported and discussed. We also look moreclosely into the argumentation of one of the student groups.The results presented in this article, differ from earlierstudies on students’ argumentation and decision making onsocio-scientific issues (Aikenhead in Science education foreveryday life. Evidence-based practice. Teachers CollegePress, New York, (2006) for an overview), in that theysuggest that students do use science related arguments — both from ‘‘core’’ and ‘‘frontier’’ science — in their argumentationand decision making.
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- Lindahl, Britt, et al.
(author)
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Socio-scientific issues - a way to improve students´interest and learning?
- 2010
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- According to many documents there is a strong need to renew science education. One way could be to work with socio scientific issues (SSI). This paper reports about both students and teachers' experiences and learning when working with socioscientific issues in science education at senior level (age 13-16). The approach is multidimensional as factors that influence cognition as well as motivation and the forming of attitudes are complex. Results suggest SSI work forms are more important than personal factors for explaining outcomes. Relevant issues, autonomy and functioning group work seem to be important aspects of successful SSI work together with structure provided by the teacher, and information that challenges previous knowledge. In general, SSI seems to be most efficient for students, who believe they learn from presenting and discussing their knowledge, focus on ‘the large picture’, acknowledges own responsibility for learning, finds school science personally relevant and are self-efficacious. It seems that the outcomes from SSI work are much in the hands of the teacher. Thus, working with SSI could be considered as an appropriate activity for all students. However, educators should continue to look for ways to promote development of students’ attitudes and epistemological beliefs.
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- Lindahl, Britt, et al.
(author)
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What will students learn when working with a socio-scientific issue as "Are cell phones hazardous?"
- 2011
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper presents results from one part of a study about lower secondary students‟ and teachers‟ experiences and learning when working with a socio-scientific issue in science education. The case: Are cell phones hazardous? started from two articles from the same newspaper – one saying that there are no risks associated with the use of cell phones and another saying that the risk for developing a brain tumour is considerable. Data was colleced using observations, tape and video recording, interviews and questionnaires. Both boys and girls found this case very interesting and related to a current issue. Almost all students claim that the introduction to the case aroused their interest and that they learnt new facts during the work. The more interesting the students found the case, the more they claimed they have learnt. We also have results indicating the importance of the teachers‟ way of introducing and structuring the work. Further analysis will give us more information about what is crucial and how we can improve this way of working.
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- Redfors, Andreas, 1961-, et al.
(author)
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Teaching astrobiology from a socio-scientific perspective using a digital learning environment
- 2010
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report from the European project CoReflect (www.coreflect.org) where groups in Cyprus, England, Germany, Greece, Israel, Sweden and the Netherlands are developing, implementing and evaluating teaching sequences using the internet platform Stochasmos (Kyza & Constantinou, 2007). Within this design-based project (Barab & Squire, 2004) teachers and researchers work together on the design of digital learning environments (LE:s). The approach seeks to bridge the worlds of academia and the world of educational practice. All LE:s build on different socio-scientific issues (Sadler, 2004), and Stochasmos are used to help teachers scaffold students in collaborative learning.The local working groups of researchers and teachers design one LE each. The design goes through different phases: implementation, review and refinement. The aim of this article is to describe these phases, for the Swedish LE. The Swedish group chose socio-scientific issues in the content area of Astrobiology. Astrobiology captures questions that have been found to be of interest to students (Sjøberg & Schreiner, 2006). The socio-scientific driving questions are:Should we look for, and try to contact, extraterrestrial life?Should we transform Mars into a planet where humans can live in the future?Students are expected to: a) demonstrate a basic understanding of essential concepts of astrobiology, b) discuss the nature of science, c) link hands-on lab-work to astrobiology research, d) provide evidence-based answers to the driving questions, using scientific, social, economical and ethical perspectives.Based on the evaluation of the pilot enactment several changes were made in Stochasmos and to the teachers’ guide. Even though Stochasmos gives the work structure, through tabs and templates the need for a scaffolding teacher was obvious. The teacher needs to be familiar and knowledgeable about the content in order to be able to produce challenging questions. A stricter planning for the teacher, with explicit instruction about student activities was introduced to promote science oriented discussions. The students liked working with the computer – it is a familiar environment. The teacher experienced an increase in student anticipation and focus. The analysis of the second enactment is ongoing, and will be presented at the conference.Barab, S., & Squire, K. (2004). Design-based research: Putting a stake in the ground. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 13(1), 1-14.Kyza, E. A. & Constantinou, C. P. (2007). Stochasmos: A web-based platform for reflective, in-quiry-based teaching and learning. Cyprus: Learning in Science Group.Redfors, A., Hansson, L. & Rosberg, M. (2009). Socio-Scientific Collaborative Inquiry in astro-biology – The Design and Implementation of a digital learning environment. Esera 2009.Sadler, T. D. (2004). Informal reasoning regarding socioscientific issues: a critical review of re-search. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 41(5), 513-536.Sjøberg, S., & Schreiner, C. (2006). How do learners in different cultures relate to science and technology? Results and perspectives from the project rose (the relevance of science education). Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, 6(2), 1-17.
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