Characterisation of SSI-based instruction as an innovation in secondary education: a multiple case study in Spain
[eng] One of the characteristics of knowledge societies is the increasingly important role of science and technology in our daily lives. In this context, there is a need in formal education to help students develop a scientific competence that allows them to exercise a responsible, active and consci...
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| Tipo de recurso: | tesis doctoral |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2021 |
| País: | España |
| Repositorio: | Dipòsit Digital de la UB |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/187163 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/2445/187163 http://hdl.handle.net/10803/674659 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Innovacions educatives Ensenyament de les ciències naturals Professors de ciències Ensenyament secundari Educational innovations Natural history education Science teachers Secondary education |
| Sumario: | [eng] One of the characteristics of knowledge societies is the increasingly important role of science and technology in our daily lives. In this context, there is a need in formal education to help students develop a scientific competence that allows them to exercise a responsible, active and conscious citizenship. Socioscientific Issues (SSI)-based instruction appears like a suitable approach to meet this need. It is a teaching practice that contextualises student learning around contentious, often controversial social issues with connection to science, such as climate change, pandemics, or genetically modifying organisms. SSI-based instruction involves students in discussion, reasoning and decision-making. This research aims to characterize the use of SSI-based instruction in secondary school, in the specific socio-educational context where SSI are only moderately supported in the curriculum and teacher education. This is a common situation, especially in the south of Europe, where the science curriculum has often been content-centred. In that sense, SSI- based instruction is seen as an educational innovation that science teachers carry out. Two groups of teachers who practice SSI-based instruction were studied to describe this reality. Both groups of teachers do so in the context of their participation of an innovation project aiming to engage students in science by discussing SSI in science class. The analysis of SSI-based instruction has been approached through a three-dimensional framework covering the objectives, components, and resistances to this teaching practice. This qualitative research based on multiple case study suggests that teachers see SSI-based instruction as a way to help students understand how scientific knowledge is applied in specific contexts and problems. Besides, it provides information about how teachers develop the components of SSI-based instruction in the specific case of a lesson, including learning methodologies, pedagogical techniques, and assessment of student learning. The study also characterises the generally positive attitude that teachers have towards this teaching practice. Last, this research highlights resistances that are associated to school organisation and student skills, and provides information about how teachers overcome them. On the basis of the results obtained, this study offers lines of action to support and promote SSI-based instruction, which can be applied in initial and continuing teacher education, educational policy, curriculum developers and designers of educational materials. Future research is suggested, for example regarding the need for deeper understanding of teacher assessment of student learning in SSI-based instruction. |
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