Socio-scientific issues

Socioscientific Issues (SSI) are controversial social issues which relate to science. They are ill-structured, open-ended problems which have multiple solutions.Supporters of SSI argue that it can:Scientific literacy has been defined by two competing visions. A Vision I approach to scientific literacy is characterized by content-driven, decontextualized science knowledge. A Vision II approach to scientific literacy is a context-driven, student-centered approach which seeks to prepare students for informed civic engagement. The SSI framework follows a Vision II approach as it is believed to provide an opportunity for contextualized learning of science content as well as an opportunity for moral development.Research suggests that SSI creates cognitive dissonance by compelling students to consider claims that may be at odds with their own beliefs and values. Dissonance of this nature is believed by some to advance moral reasoning by ‘empowering students to consider how science based issues and the decisions made concerning them reflect, in part, the moral principles and qualities of virtue that encompass their own lives, as well as the physical and social world around them.'SSI education has been empirically investigated and linked to particular outcomes including:• Promoting developmental changes in reflective judgment;• Moving students to more informed views of the nature of science;• Increasing moral sensitivity and empathy;• Increasing conceptual understanding of scientific content;• Increase students’ ability to transfer concepts and scaffold ideas;• Revealing and reconstructing alternative perceptions of science;• Facilitating moral reasoning;• Improve argumentation skills;• Promote understanding of eco-justice and environmental awareness; and• Engage students’ interest in the inquiry of science.Teachers utilize SSI to foster understanding of science content and consequences involved in everyday scientific issues. For example, in a study of ecology, an elementary class might consider whether pesticides confer more benefit or harm to our ecosystem. This type of analysis would require students to research the interractions between organisms in food webs and food chains, as well as the human impacts of pesticides. Students could make evidence-based decisions and discuss them through various means including whole-class discussions, debates, online discussion boards, etc... Similarly, older grades might consider issues such as whether genetic engineering should be used to treat genetic diseases.