In addressing contemporary socio-ecological challenges it is imperative to engage individuals with the moral dilemmas in the human-nature context. A socioscientific-issues (SSI) approach to secondary biology education can contribute to engaging students in moral dilemmas and reflecting on their values. Following a design research methodology, we…

In this paper, we present findings from an exploratory qualitative study that investigated how hands-on activities can help learners think of socioscientific issues more concretely. These activities borrowed themes, such as the responsibilities of creators and limits of scientific exploration from the culturally ubiquitous Frankenstein story to…

Politics and science are inextricably connected, particularly in relation to the climate emergency and other environmental crises, yet science education is an often overlooked site for engaging with the political dimensions of environmental issues. This study examines how science teachers in England experience politics--specifically political…

In this article I explore the case of the Mariana dam disaster in 2015 in Brazil seeking to contribute to reflections about the role of chemistry and chemistry education in environmental injustices. Drawing on stories about this disaster shared in the Dead River Podcast (2024), on wider literature and on other cases of environmental injustices…

With the increasing industrial relevance of new quantum technologies, a well-educated quantum workforce becomes increasingly crucial. The foreseeable lack of workforce raises important questions. What are the expectations regarding the future relevance of second-generation quantum technologies? What are the requirements for the workforce in the…

There has been sustained research interest in the role of early career researchers in advancing the field and the challenges that they face. However, efforts to document lived experiences of researchers working in a specific research area within science education have been scarce. This paper considers the meaning of innovation in the context of…

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is a teaching and learning approach that is based on the principles that underpin sustainability and applies to all levels of education. However, there is a scarcity of research on the integration of curricula with ESD. In this study, secondary school curricula in Germany (Bavaria) (geography, nature and…

The aim of this study was to investigation of the prospective science teachers' views on the problems (as are the waste of natural resources, the information pollution, sharing information without confirming their validity of information, communication problems among people, spending extra time and money, the laziness, the obesity, the…

Addressing a need to prepare the next generation of scientists to effectively engage in adversarial science communication, the present study examines a group of undergraduate science students from a Canadian university who, after receiving expert instruction, participated in classroom debates about science controversies recently politicized in the…

Across decades, science educators have invested in curricula that presume scientific unity. The phrases "habits of mind, scientific method, processes of science, inquiry skills, nature of science, practices of science" reflect this obsession. However, historians look with skepticism at universal notions of science and endorse…

By arguing for "putting science education in its place," this essay cautions against overstating the role of science education with respect to global crises with technical components, like climate change. At the same time, it challenges the assumption that science education has no role in addressing equally urgent and widespread problems…

Integrating science education with social justice is vital for preparing students to critically address significant societal issues like climate change and pandemics. This study examines the effectiveness of socioscientific system modeling as a tool within Justice-Centered Science Pedagogy (JCSP) to enhance middle school students' understanding of…

Education that covers topics such as climate change is critical to developing future scientists and researchers. Facilitating students' recognition of climate change as it occurs in their community can strengthen engagement with the content. Here, we highlight our work in developing a large-scale activity that introduced many facets of climate…

The COVID-19 pandemic is a historic global event that has extended to all parts of society and shaken the core of what we know and how we live. During this pandemic, the work of STEM professionals has taken center stage. Through our close observations of how the events of the pandemic have been unfolding across the globe, we propose an…

There is a prevalent consensus among science education scholars that teaching socioscientific issues (SSI) has notable importance for promoting functional scientific literacy and raising responsible citizens. However, teachers encounter numerous problems when teaching SSI, so they may not prefer to teach them. Today, we still do not know many…