How students make meaning from a teaching sequence on a socio-scientific issue: A case study of meaning making in science

Abstract

During the last few decades it has become usual, and crucial, to learn science not only as the traditionally taught products of the science communities, but also as a way of thinking and as a tool for citizenship in today’s society. One way of learning science is through socio-scientific issues which often are societal questions related to health or environment, where decision making is informed by scientific knowledge as well as knowledge from other areas. In Norwegian science teaching it has become quite usual to do this by, for example, arranging debates in class focusing on a controversy. The past decade has also seen a change towards more student-centred active teaching methods such as use of self-instructing computer programs and debates, as mentioned. This change in ways of working in science lessons creates new possibilities for applying science knowledge, but at the same time it brings new challenges for the learners. It appears that students focus on aspects of activities other than science, and the meaning making of science content sometimes seems to be forgotten.