ERIC Number: EJ1152921
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017-Oct
Pages: 24
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0157-244X
EISSN: N/A
A Science for Citizenship Model: Assessing the Effects of Benefits, Risks, and Trust for Predicting Students' Interest in and Understanding of Science-Related Content
Jack, Brady Michael; Lee, Ling; Yang, Kuay-Keng; Lin, Huann-shyang
Research in Science Education, v47 n5 p965-988 Oct 2017
This study showcases the Science for Citizenship Model (SCM) as a new instructional methodology for presenting, to secondary students, science-related technology content related to the use of science in society not taught in the science curriculum, and a new approach for assessing the intercorrelations among three independent variables (benefits, risks, and trust) to predict the dependent variable of triggered interest in learning science. Utilizing a 50-minute instructional presentation on nanotechnology for citizenship, data were collected from 301 Taiwanese high school students. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and paired-samples t-tests were used to analyze the fitness of data to SCM and the extent to which a 50-minute class presentation of nanotechnology for citizenship affected students' awareness of benefits, risks, trust, and triggered interest in learning science. Results of SCM on pre-tests and post-tests revealed acceptable model fit to data and demonstrated that the strongest predictor of students' triggered interest in nanotechnology was their trust in science. Paired-samples t-test results on students' understanding of nanotechnology and their self-evaluated awareness of the benefits and risks of nanotechology, trust in scientists, and interest in learning science revealed low significant differences between pre-test and post-test. These results provide evidence that a short 50-minute presentation on an emerging science not normally addressed within traditional science curriculum had a significant yet limited impact on students' learning of nanotechnology in the classroom. Finally, we suggest why the results of this study may be important to science education instruction and research for understanding how the integration into classroom science education of short presentations of cutting-edge science and emerging technologies in support of the science for citizenship enterprise might be accomplished through future investigations.
Descriptors: Predictor Variables, Student Interests, Science Interests, Citizenship, Secondary School Students, Secondary School Science, Science and Society, Science Instruction, Technology, Educational Benefits, Risk, Trust (Psychology), Foreign Countries, Structural Equation Models, Statistical Analysis, Pretests Posttests, Scientific Attitudes, Science Curriculum, Instructional Innovation, Outcomes of Education, Technological Advancement
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Taiwan
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A