This edited book aims to provide a global perspective on socioscientific issues (SSI), responsible citizenship and the relevance of science, with an emphasis on science teacher education. The volume, with more than twenty-five contributors from Africa, North and South America, Asia, Australasia and Europe, focuses on examples from in- and pre-service teacher training. The contributors expand on issues related to teachers beliefs about teaching SSI, teachers challenges when designing and implementing SSI-related activities, the role of professional development, both in pre- and in-service teacher training, in promoting SSI, the role of the nature of science when teaching SSI, promoting scientific practices through SSI in pre-service teaching, and the role of indigenous knowledge in SSI teaching. Finally, the book discusses new perspectives for addressing SSI in teacher education through the lens of relevance and responsible citizenship.
Chapter
1. Introduction: Socio-scientific issues as promoting
responsible citizenship and the relevance of science (Maria Evagorou and
Justin Dillon).
Chapter
2. Teachers and Socioscientific Issues An Overview
of Recent Empirical Research (Jan Alexis Nielsen).
Chapter
3. Pre-service
secondary science teachers' beliefs about teaching socio-scientific issues
(Jessica S. C. Leung, Ka Lok Wong, and Kennedy K. H. Chan).
Chapter
4.
Socio-scientific inquiry-based learning: possibilities and challenges for
teacher education (Ruth Amos, Marie-Christine Knippels and Ralph Levinson).-
Chapter
5. Critical and Active Public Engagement in Addressing
Socioscientific Problems Through Science Teacher Education (Larry Bencze,
Sarah El Halwany and Majd Zouda).
Chapter
6. Supporting Teachers in the
Design and Enactment of Socio-Scientific Issue Based Teaching in the USA
(Patricia J. Friedrichsen, Troy D. Sadler and Laura Zangori).
Chapter
7.
Gamification of SSIs as a Science Pedagogy: Toward aCritical Rationality in
Teaching Science (James P. Davis and Alberto Bellocchi).
Chapter
8. Science
teachers as proponents of socio-scientific inquiry-based learning: From
professional development to classroom enactment (Rachel Cohen, Eran Zafrani
and Anat Yarden).
Chapter
9. Getting ready to work with socio-scientific
issues in the classroom: a study with Argentine teachers (Melina Furman, Inés
Taylor, Mariana Luzuriaga and Marķa Eugenia Podestį).
Chapter
10.
Introducing SSI in primary pre-service teacher education: scientific
practices to learn the big ideas of science (Anna Garrido Espeja and Digna
Couso).
Chapter
11. Re-thinking the Integration of Socioscientific Issues in
Teacher Education (Ronicka Mudaly).
Chapter
12. New Perspectives for
Addressing Socioscientific Issues in Teacher Education (Jan Alexis Nielsen,
Maria Evagorou and Justin Dillon).
Maria Evagorou is an Associate Professor at the University of Nicosia, Cyprus. Her scholarly activity focuses on exploring and enhancing young students and pre-service teachers argumentation skills within socioscientific issues. More specifically, the emphasis of her work is on students and teachers talk when they engage in the discussion of SSI and aims to explore ways in which teachers can be supported in their effort to include SSI in their teaching s. She has worked as a principal investigator and senior researcher on various EU and local research projects, served as a member on the JRST editorial board, and as a strand coordinator for ESERA, and has published widely. Jan Alexis Nielsen is Associate Professor at the Department of Science Education at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. His research focuses on the understanding and assessment of generic competences. He has investigated students socioscientific argumentation and teachers beliefs about teaching socioscientific issues. He has also worked closely with teachers to build assessment frameworks for inquiry, modelling and innovation competence. Over the past 12 years, he has participated in a range of international and national projects related to inquiry and/or socioscientific issues. Justin Dillon is professor of science and environmental education at the University of Exeter. After studying for a degree in chemistry, he trained as a science teacher at Chelsea College and taught in six inner London schools. Justin joined Kings College London in 1989 and was promoted to professor in 2009. He is editor-in-chief of Studies in Science Education and co-edits the International Journal of Science Education. In 2007, Justin was elected President of the European Science Education Research Association. He has co-edited 18 books including Becoming a Teacher, Bad Education and the International Handbook of Research onEnvironmental Education. Justin has published around 100 papers in peer-reviewed journals and almost the same number of book chapters.
