Science, technology, society and environment (STSE) education, originates from the science technology and society (STS) movement in science education. This is an outlook on science education that emphasizes the teaching of scientific and technological developments in their cultural, economic, social and political contexts. In this view of science education, students are encouraged to engage in issues pertaining to the impact of science on everyday life and make responsible decisions about how to address such issues (Solomon, 1993 and Aikenhead, 1994)
Science technology and society (STS)
The STS movement has a long history in science education reform, and
embraces a wide range of theories about the intersection between
science, technology and society (Solomon and Aikenhead, 1994; Pedretti
1997). Over the last twenty years, the work of Peter Fensham, the noted
Australian science educator, is considered to have heavily contributed
to reforms in science education. Fensham's efforts included giving
greater prominence to STS in the school science curriculum (Aikenhead,
2003). The key aim behind these efforts was to ensure the development of
a broad-based science curriculum, embedded in the socio-political and
cultural contexts in which it was formulated. From Fensham's point of
view, this meant that students would engage with different viewpoints on
issues concerning the impact of science and technology on everyday
life. They would also understand the relevance of scientific
discoveries, rather than just concentrate on learning scientific facts
and theories that seemed distant from their realities (Fensham, 1985
& 1988).
However, although the wheels of change in science education had been
set in motion during the late 1970s, it was not until the 1980s that STS
perspectives began to gain a serious footing in science curricula, in
largely Western contexts (Gaskell, 1982). This occurred at a time when
issues such as, animal testing, environmental pollution
and the growing impact of technological innovation on social
infrastructure, were beginning to raise ethical, moral, economic and
political dilemmas (Fensham, 1988 and Osborne, 2000). There were also
concerns among communities of researchers, educators and governments
pertaining to the general public's lack of understanding about the
interface between science and society (Bodmer, 1985; Durant et al. 1989 and Millar 1996). In addition, alarmed by the poor state of scientific literacy
among school students, science educators began to grapple with the
quandary of how to prepare students to be informed and active citizens,
as well as the scientists, medics and engineers of the future (e.g.
Osborne, 2000 and Aikenhead, 2003). Hence, STS advocates called for
reforms in science education that would equip students to understand
scientific developments in their cultural, economic, political and
social contexts. This was considered important in making science
accessible and meaningful to all students—and, most significantly,
engaging them in real world issues (Fensham, 1985; Solomon, 1993;
Aikenhead, 1994 and Hodson 1998).
Goals of STS
The key goals of STS are:
- An interdisciplinary HI approach to science education, where there is a seamless integration of economic, ethical, social and political aspects of scientific and technological developments in the science curriculum.
- Engaging students in examining a variety of real world issues and grounding scientific knowledge in such realities. In today's world, such issues might include the impact on society of: global warming, genetic engineering, animal testing, deforestation practices, nuclear testing and environmental legislations, such as the EU Waste Legislation or the Kyoto Protocol.
- Enabling students to formulate a critical understanding of the interface between science, society and technology.
- Developing students’ capacities and confidence to make informed decisions, and to take responsible action to address issues arising from the impact of science on their daily lives.
STSE education
There is no uniform definition for STSE education. As mentioned
before, STSE is a form of STS education, but places greater emphasis on
the environmental consequences of scientific and technological
developments. In STSE curricula, scientific developments are explored
from a variety of economic, environmental, ethical, moral, social and
political (Kumar and Chubin, 2000 & Pedretti, 2005) perspectives.
At best, STSE education can be loosely defined as a movement that
attempts to bring about an understanding of the interface between
science, society, technology and the environment. A key goal of STSE is
to help students realize the significance of scientific developments in
their daily lives and foster a voice of active citizenship (Pedretti
& Forbes, 2000).
Improving scientific literacy
Over
the last two decades, STSE education has taken a prominent position in
the science curricula of different parts of the world, such as
Australia, Europe, the UK and USA (Kumar & Chubin, 2000). In
Canada, the inclusion of STSE perspectives in science education has
largely come about as a consequence of the Common Framework of science learning outcomes, Pan Canadian Protocol for collaboration on School Curriculum (1997).
This document highlights a need to develop scientific literacy in
conjunction with understanding the interrelationships between science,
technology, and environment. According to Osborne (2000) & Hodson
(2003), scientific literacy can be perceived in four different ways:
- Cultural: Developing the capacity to read about and understand issues pertaining to science and technology in the media.
- Utilitarian: Having the knowledge, skills and attitudes that are essential for a career as scientist, engineer or technician.
- Democratic: Broadening knowledge and understanding of science to include the interface between science, technology and society.
- Economic: Formulating knowledge and skills that are essential to the economic growth and effective competition within the global market place.
However, many science teachers find it difficult and even damaging to
their professional identities to teach STSE as part of science
education due to the fact that traditional science focuses on
established scientific facts rather than philosophical, political, and
social issues, the extent of which many educators find to be devaluing
to the scientific curriculum.
Rationale and goals
In
the context of STSE education, the goals of teaching and learning are
largely directed towards engendering cultural and democratic notions of
scientific literacy. Here, advocates of STSE education argue that in
order to broaden students' understanding of science, and better prepare
them for active and responsible citizenship in the future, the scope of
science education needs to go beyond learning about scientific theories,
facts and technical skills. Therefore, the fundamental aim of STSE
education is to equip students to understand and situate scientific and
technological developments in their cultural, environmental, economic,
political and social contexts (Solomon & Aikenhead, 1994; Bingle
& Gaskell, 1994; Pedretti 1997 & 2005). For example, rather
than learning about the facts and theories of weather patterns, students
can explore them in the context of issues such as global warming. They
can also debate the environmental, social, enconomic and political
consequences of relevant legislation, such as the Kyoto Protocol.
This is thought to provide a richer, more meaningful and relevant
canvas against which scientific theories and phenomena relating to
weather patterns can be explored (Pedretti et al. 2005).
In essence, STSE education aims to develop the following skills
and perspectives (Aikenhead, 1994; Pedretti, 1996; Alsop & Hicks,
2001):
- Social responsibility'
- Critical thinking and decision making skills;
- The ability to formulate sound ethical and moral decisions about issues arising from the impact of science on our daily lives;
- Knowledge, skills and confidence to express opinions and take responsible action to address real world issues.
Curriculum content
Since
STSE education has multiple facets, there are a variety of ways in
which it can be approached in the classroom. This offers teachers a
degree of flexibility, not only in the incorporation of STSE
perspectives into their science teaching, but in integrating other
curricular areas such as history, geography, social studies and language
arts (Richardson & Blades, 2001). The table below summarizes the
different approaches to STSE education described in the literature
(Ziman, 1994 & Pedretti, 2005):
Summary table: Curriculum content
| Approach | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Historical | A way of humanizing science. This approach examines the history of science through concrete examples, and is viewed as way of demonstrating the fallibility of science and scientists. | Learning about inventions or scientific theories through the lives and worlds of famous scientist. Students can research their areas of interest and present them through various activities: e.g. drama-role play, debates or documentaries. Through this kind of exploration, students examine the values, beliefs and attitudes that influenced the work of scientists, their outlook on the world, and how their work has impacted our present circumstances and understanding of science today. |
| Philosophical | Helps students formulate an understanding of the different outlooks on the nature of science, and how differing viewpoints on the nature and validity of scientific knowledge influence the work of scientists—demonstrating how society directs and reacts to scientific innovation. | Using historical narratives or stories of scientific discoveries to concretely examine philosophical questions and views about science. For example, “The Double Helix” by James D. Watson is an account of the discovery of DNA. This historical narrative can be used to explore questions such as: “What is science? What kind of research was done to make this discovery? How did this scientific development influence our lives? Can science help us understand everything about our world?” Such an exploration reveals the social and historical context of philosophical debates about the nature of science—making this kind of inquiry concrete, meaningful and applicable to students’ realities. |
| Issues-based | This is the most widely applied approach to STSE education. It stimulates an understanding of the science behind issues, and the consequences to society and the environment. A multi-faceted approach to examining issues highlights the complexities of real-life debates. Students also become aware of the various motives for decisions that address environmental issues. | Real life events within the community, at the national or international level, can be examined from political, economic, ethical and social perspectives through presentations, debates, role-play, documentaries and narratives. Real life events might include: the impact of environmental legislations, industrial accidents and the influence of particular scientific or technological innovations on society and the environment. |
Opportunities and challenges of STSE education
Although
advocates of STSE education keenly emphasize its merits in science
education, they also recognize inherent difficulties in its
implementation. The opportunities and challenges of STSE education have
been articulated by Hughes (2000) and Pedretti & Forbes, (2000), at
five different levels, as described below:
Values & beliefs: The goals of STSE education may
challenge the values and beliefs of students and teachers—as well as
conventional, culturally entrenched views on scientific and
technological developments. Students gain opportunities to engage with,
and deeply examine the impact of scientific development on their lives
from a critical and informed perspective. This helps to develop
students' analytical and problem solving capacities, as well as their
ability to make informed choices in their everyday lives.
As they plan and implement STSE education lessons, teachers need
to provide a balanced view of the issues being explored. This enables
students to formulate their own thoughts, independently explore other
opinions and have the confidence to voice their personal viewpoints.
Teachers also need to cultivate safe, non-judgmental classroom
environments, and must also be careful not to impose their own values
and beliefs on students.
Knowledge & understanding: The interdisciplinary nature of
STSE education requires teachers to research and gather information
from a variety of sources. At the same time, teachers need to develop a
sound understanding of issues from various disciplines—philosophy,
history, geography, social studies, politics, economics, environment and
science. This is so that students’ knowledge base can be appropriately
scaffolded to enable them to effectively engage in discussions, debates
and decision-making processes.
This ideal raises difficulties. Most science teachers are
specialized in a particular field of science. Lack of time and resources
may affect how deeply teachers and students can examine issues from
multiple perspectives. Nevertheless, a multi-disciplinary approach to
science education enables students to gain a more rounded perspective on
the dilemmas, as well as the opportunities, that science presents in
our daily lives.
Pedagogic approach: Depending on teacher experience and comfort levels, a variety of pedagogic approaches based on constructivism
can be used to stimulate STSE education in the classroom. As
illustrated in the table below, the pedagogies used in STSE classrooms
need to take students through different levels of understanding to
develop their abilities and confidence to critically examine issues and
take responsible action.
Teachers are often faced with the challenge of transforming
classroom practices from task-oriented approaches to those which focus
on developing students' understanding and transferring agency for
learning to students (Hughes, 2000). The table below is a compilation of
pedagogic approaches for STSE education described in the literature
(e.g. Hodson, 1998; Pedretti & Forbes 2000; Richardson & Blades,
2001):
Projects in the field of STSE
Science and the City
STSE
education draws on holistic ways of knowing, learning, and interacting
with science. A recent movement in science education has bridged science
and technology education with society and environment awareness through
critical explorations of place. The project Science and the City, for
example, took place during the school years 2006-2007 and 2007-2008
involving an intergenerational group of researchers: 36 elementary
students (grades 6, 7 & 8) working with their teachers, 6
university-based researchers, parents and community members. The goal
was to come together, learn science and technology together, and use
this knowledge to provide meaningful experiences that make a difference
to the lives of friends, families, communities and environments that
surround the school. The collective experience allowed students,
teachers and learners to foster imagination, responsibility,
collaboration, learning and action. The project has led to a series of
publications:
- Alsop, S., & Ibrahim, S. 2008. Visual journeys in critical place based science education. In Y-J. Lee, & A-K. Tan (Eds.), Science education at the nexus of theory and practice. Rotterdam: SensePublishers 291-303.
- Alsop, S., & Ibrahim, S. 2007. Searching for Science Motive: Community, Imagery and Agency. Alberta Science Education Journal (Special Edition, Shapiro, B. (Ed.) Research and writing in science education of interest to those new in the profession). 38(2), 17-24.
Science and the City: A Field Zine
One collective publication, authored by the students, teachers
and researchers together is that of a community zine that offered a
format to share possibilities afforded by participatory practices that
connect schools with local-knowledges, people and places.
- Alsop, S., Ibrahim, S., & Blimkie, M. (Eds.) (2008) Science and the city: A Field Zine. Toronto: Ontario. (An independent publication written by students and researchers and distributed free to research, student and parent communities).
STEPWISE
'STEPWISE'
is the acronym for 'Science and Technology Education Promoting
Wellbeing for Individuals, Societies and Environments.' It is a research
and development project based on the STEPWISE framework, which
integrates major categories of learning outcomes - including STSE - and
relates all of them to 'WISE Activism.' In WISE Activism, students use
their literacy in science and technology to try to bring about
improvements to the 'wellbeing of individuals, societies and
environments' (WISE). Students might, for example, use their knowledge
about nutrition and issues relating to for-profit food manufacturing,
along with data from their own inquiries into eating habits of students
in a school cafeteria, to lobby the school administration to improve the
nutritional value of foods on offer in the school.
The STEPWISE framework implements some important educational principles, including:
- Educate all students to the best of their ability;
- Address relationships among different learning domains (e.g., Skills and NoST Education);
- Encourage student self-determination (e.g., via student-led science inquiry &/or technology design projects);
- Provide students with an apprenticeship that enables them to develop expertise for knowledge construction, dissemination and use in addressing important personal, social and environmental problems;
- Educate students about negative, as well as positive, aspects of the nature of science and technology and relationships between them and societies and environments; and,
- Encourage and enable students to take actions to address socioscientific issues; which implies that they use their literacy in science and technology (re: elements of STEPWISE) for improving the wellbeing of individuals, societies and environments.
Important research goals/findings are:
- educators should help students to develop expertise for knowledge construction, dissemination and use in the context of WISE Problems (i.e., problems regarding the wellbeing of individuals, societies and environments);
- doing the above may encourage and enable students to conduct science inquiry and/or technology design projects that explore possible WISE Problems;
- findings from students' WISE-oriented projects may serve as great motivation for addressing WISE Problems; more so than from STSE Education, since student-led science inquiry and/or technology design projects provide students with personal engagement in 'phenomena <----> representation' dialectical relationships.
Tokyo Global Engineering Corporation, Japan (and global)
Tokyo Global Engineering Corporation
is an education-services organization that provides capstone STSE
education programs free of charge to engineering students and other
stakeholders. These programs are intended to complement—but not to
replace—STSE coursework required by academic degree programs of study.
The programs are educational opportunities, so students are not paid for
their participation. All correspondence among members is completed via
e-mail, and all meetings are held via Skype, with English as the
language of instruction and publication. Students and other stakeholders
are never asked to travel or leave their geographic locations, and are
encouraged to publish organizational documents in their personal,
primary languages, when English is a secondary language.
