Virginie Albe

Nanosciences and nanotechnologies learning and teaching in secondary education: A review of literature

This literature review provides an overview of recent studies on the introduction of nanosciences and nanotechnologies in secondary education. Four salient research topics have emerged: questions and reflections preceding curriculum development on nanosciences and nanotechnologies lessons; research on students’ conceptualisations of nano‐related concepts; the use of haptic tools to teach nanosciences and nanotechnologies; and professional development for secondary schools teachers. In a final critical discussion, the lack of studies in the literature considering nanosciences and nanotechnologies as a socioscientific issue in secondary education is emphasised. In addition, implications for future research as well as suggestions for nanosciences and nanotechnologies curriculum development are considered.

Nanotechnology and Nanoscale Science: Educational challenges

Nanotechnology has been touted as the next ‘industrial revolution’ of our modern age. In order for successful research, development, and social discourses to take place in this field, education research is needed to inform the development of standards, course development, and workforce preparation. In addition, there is a growing need to educate citizens and students about risks, benefits, and social and ethical issues related to nanotechnology. This position paper describes the advancements that have been made in nanoscale science and nanotechnology, and the challenges that exist to educate students and the public about critical nanoscience concepts. This paper reviews the current research on nanotechnology education including curricula, educational programs, informal education, and teacher education. Furthermore, the unique risks, benefits and ethics of these unusual technological applications are described in relation to nanoeducation goals. Finally, we outline needed future research in the areas of nanoscience content, standards and curricula, nanoscience pedagogy, teacher education, and the risks, benefits, and social and ethical dimensions for education in this emerging field.

Electromagnetic Concepts in Mathematical Representation of Physics

Our paper deals with the use of mathematics when studying the physics of electromagnetism. We have concentrated on common electromagnetic concepts (magnetic field and flux) and their associated mathematical representation and arithmetical tools. Our studies showed that most students do not understand the significant aspects of physical situations. Students have difficulty in using relationships and models specific to magnetic phenomena (the construction of relationships between concepts, and the use of mathematical formalism).

Des enseignements de sciences dans une perspective d'éducation citoyenne ?

For several years, research in science teaching and science curricula has been focusing on promoting science education for citizenship. While we can find a lot of material on this new trend, few efforts have been dedicated to studying science teachers’ teaching intentions and practices. In this study, ten high-school science teachers’ viewpoints on the recent orientations for science teaching have been investigated, conducting semi-structured interviews. The aims attributed to science teaching by the teachers interviewed have been identified and perceived constraints to develop science teaching in a perspective of citizenship education have been documented.

Students’ Argumentation in Group Discussions on a Socio-Scientific Issue

Socio-scientific issues in class have been proposed in an effort to democratise science in society. They offer opportunities to develop students’ argumentation skills. We have explored how students elaborate arguments in the context of small group discussions on a socio-scientific controversy about mobile phones. The analysis of the discursive practices allowed to identify various argumentation processes within students’ group discussions. Students’ arguments were elaborated from scientific data, common ideas and epistemological and strategic considerations. Students’ social interactions influenced the patterns of argumentation elaborated within the group discussions. Implications of this study for the teaching of socio-scientific issues in class are discussed

Positions d'étudiants et d'étudiantes sur une question technoscientifique controversée: La dangerosité des téléphones cellulaires

RésuméNous avons tenté de cerner les raisons qui fondent les prises de position d’étudiants et d’étudiantes en formation dans le domaine des techniques électroniques, à propos de la question incertaine et controversée de la dangerosité des téléphones cellulaires. Les positions des étudiants et étudiantes ont été recueillies par écrit avant et après la réalisation en classe d’un jeu de rôle. Ils justifient principalement leurs positions sur la base d’idées courantes relatives aux effets des ondes sur la santé et, dans une moindre mesure, sur des considérations sociales et épistémologiques. La majorité d’entre eux se disent prêts à changer d’avis dans un sens ou dans un autre au terme de la simulation en autant, disent-ils, qu’on leur fournisse des preuves scientifiques. Leurs connaissances scientifiques et technologiques interviennent peu dans leur raisonnement, bien que les considérations sociales et épistémologiques tiennent une plus grande place pour informer leurs prises de position à propos de la dangerosité des téléphones cellulaires.Executive SummaryWhenever they are immersed in the study of controversial techno-scientific questions, students are confronted by a ‘science-in-the-making’ (to use Latour’s expression (1989))—that is, a context in which scientists arc seen not to be in agreement and in which controversies generate uncertainty. How will students react to these situations? What arguments will they devise in order to develop a position? My present research is dedicated to questions such as these.In the view of some researchers, students can be prompted to emphasize values (Fensham, 2002; Fleming, 1986; Grace & Ratclifie, 2002). For others, the social and epistemological considerations raised by students are the determining factors in the decisions they reach (Aikenhead, 1985; Ryder, 2001). The relationship to risk is also fundamental to students’ perspectives on these controversial questions (Kolstø, 2001). Finally, a number of researchers have questioned the worth of using scientific knowledges in decisions regarding socio-scientific issues (Irwin & Wynne, 1996; Kortland, 2001; Lewis, Leach, & Wood-Robinson, 1999; RatclifTe, 1997; Solomon, 1988; Tytler, Duggan, & Gott. 2001).I have attempted to discern the justifications given by electronics technologies students for their positions concerning the uncertain and controversial issue of the danger posed by cellular telephones. Students’ positions were gathered in writing before and after an in-class role-playing exercise that simulated a debate on this issue. A debate about a techno-scientific controversy constitutes an opportunity to question the authority of science, to inquire into the disagreements and different interpretations of phenomena within the scientific community, and to grapple with the uncertainty of unstable knowledges. This debate was staged from the perspective of citizen education in the nature of the sciences, the aim of which is to provide citizens with the education they need to think critically about interactions between science, technologies, and society, as well as to make informed decisions with respect to questions raised by the techno-sciences and their accompanying spillovers. As such, this debate drew on a training module constructed by Hind, Leach, & Ryder (2001a) for the epistemological education of students.The ten student participants were all training to become senior electronics technicians in Tunisia. They played the role of expert witnesses in a lawsuit in which an employee was suing his employer for his poor health, which had forced him to quit his job and which he ascribed to the use of a cellular telephone. The students were divided into two groups to defend the opposing theses that cellular telephones either were or were not dangerous to one’s health. They studied seven excerpts from research focusing on the occurrence of disease in animals, epidemiological surveys, and memory tests. Pre- and post-debate questionnaires were used to gather the students’ views concerning the danger posed by cellular telephones.For the most part, the students justified their positions on the basis of widespread notions about the effects of microwaves on human health, on the one hand, and on social and epistemological considerations, on the other. Factors weighing in changes in students* opinions about the danger of cellular telephones included the demand for scientific proof, the influence of telephone companies, and disagreements between scientists. Few students, it is clear, drew on the research excerpts studied during the debate exercise and their interpretations differed. The students appeared to have appropriated scientific language; further, the conceptual errors noted prior to the debate were no longer in evidence once it had been completed. Decision making was little influenced by scientific and technological knowledge, while social and epistemological considerations, on the other hand, played a larger role. In response to the uncertainties and lack of consensus surrounding the research findings available to them, students tended to abide by overvalued scientific expertise.

Teachers’ Beliefs, Classroom Practices and Professional Development Towards Socio-scientific Issues

In this chapter we propose to contribute to research in socio-scientific issues (SSIs) by putting forward a discussion of factors that influence science teachers’ SSI teaching and of the type of teaching needed to prepare students for active participation in SSIs. Contributions from researchers in four different European countries, Canada and Australia are presented. In an analytical perspective, two studies identified secondary science teachers’ viewpoints on SSI teaching and factors that positively influence the implementation of classroom discussion activities on SSIs. In an interventionist perspective, three studies investigated student teachers’ and teachers’ professional development towards promotion of student-led, research-informed activism to address SSIs or towards the implementation of inquiry-based science teaching (IBST) to develop students’ participation in complex environmental SSIs. Results from the diverse contributions showed that teachers’ views on the concept of citizenry differ, their views on their own competency differ and teachers’ competencies and concerns as teachers impact their interpretation of science curricula and views on SSI teaching. Different types of professional development, exemplified by student teacher courses and in-service action research, might to some extent change teachers’ views of SSI teaching or result in promising inquiry-based SSI teaching practices. A general hypothesis that might be drawn from this chapter is that science teachers’ concepts of citizenry and SSI teaching are essential for their effort to implement SSI teaching and for their success in preparing students for dealing with the complexity of SSIs.

Nanoeducation: Zooming into Teacher Professional Development Programmes in Nanoscience and Technology

In this chapter, we present four different professional development programmes for in- and pre-service teachers and the accompanying research in the area of nanoscience and technology. First, we will present a review of the literature to lay out the field of conditions and approaches introducing nanoscience and nanotechnology into programmes for in- and pre-service teachers. This introduction will be followed by the four projects. The first study explores the goals and preconditions of introducing nanoscience into pre-service teacher education programmes; the second reports experiences from a programme for pre-service teachers. The third programme offers teachers authentic insights into research facilities. The fourth project reports about the design of an in-service teacher training programme focusing specifically on the use of models to teach and learn important nano techniques, such as atomic force microscopy. Those exemplary projects have been accompanied by different qualitative and quantitative research approaches which will also be outlined. The results of all four programmes clearly show the need for further investigations and course developments, based on the pre- and in-service teachers’ needs. They also give hints on successful tools and structures that could be used in other programmes on nanoscience, in modern scientific areas of interest for education as well.

Introduction to the Special Issue on Courting Controversy: Socioscientific Issues and School Science and Technology/Introduction au numéro spécial sur rechercher la controverse: les questions socio-scientifiques dans les cours de sciences et de technologie à l'école

This Special Issue of the Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education is aimed at extending the dialogue on socioscientific issues (SSIs) research, with an emphasis on the use of controversy in educational contexts. The emergence of research on SSIs can be understood in terms of: calls for renewal in science curriculum that set the stage for teaching scientific concepts and processes within a rich social, political, and ethical context; the development of a scientific and technical culture; a new alliance between science education and citizenship education; and increased interest in the use of argumentation in science education. Debates at the international level about deep changes in the modes of knowledge production; relationships across science, technology, society, and environment (STSE); and educational forms, contents, and aims have prompted the inclusion of issues and controversial topics in education. In our editorial we offer our thoughts on SSIs in school science and technology—in English (written by Erminia and Virginie) and in French (written by Virginie). Though the pieces were written independently emphasizing different aspects of SSIs, they also contain many overlapping ideas. We finish the editorial with a summary of the seven contributions to the Special Issue and hope that you enjoy the opportunity to engage with the arguments contained in the articles.RésuméCe numéro spécial de la Revue canadienne d’enseignement des sciences, des mathématiques et des technologies vise à stimuler le débat sur les questions d’ordre socio-scientifique (SSIs), en mettant l’accent sur l’utilisation de la controverse en contexte éducatif. L’émergence de la recherché sur les questions socio-scientifiques se traduit entre autres par des demandes de renouveau dans les curriculums scientifiques qui ouvrent la porte à un enseignement des concepts et des processus scientifiques dans un contexte riche sur le plan social, politique et éthique, par le développement d’une culture scientifique et technique, par une nouvelle alliance entre l’enseignement des sciences et la formation à la citoyenneté, et aussi par un intérêt accru pour l’utilisation de l’argumentation en enseignement des sciences. Les débats internationaux portant sur les profonds changements survenus dans les modes de production des connaissances, les liens transversaux qui existent entre les sciences, les technologies, la société et l’environnement, de même que les formes, les contenus et les objectifs en éducation, ont favorisé l’inclusion de certaines questions controversées dans l’enseignement. Dans cet éditorial nous proposons notre point de vue sur les questions socio-scientifiques dans l’enseignement des sciences et des technologies à l’école—en anglais (textes de Erminia Pedretti et Virginie Able) et en français (textes de Virginie Able). Bien que les différentes parties aient été écrites de façon indépendante et mettent l’accent sur des aspects différents de ces questions, ells comprennent néanmoins de nombreuses idées qui se recoupent entre elles. Nous terminons notre éditorial par un résumé des sept articles publiés dans ce numéro spécial, en espérant que les lecteurs sauront profiter de cette occasion de s’interroger sur les arguments soulevés dans les articles.

Développement d’une séquence pédagogique sur les nanotechnologies documentée par une analyse de controverses

RésuméDans cet article, nous exposons comment une analyse des controverses socioscientifiques soulevées par les nanotechnologies a permis d’éclairer et d’expliciter les choix éducatifs sous-tendant l’élaboration d’une séquence pédagogique sur ces développements qui suscitent des oppositions vives. Nous présentons d’abord un travail d’analyse des controverses mené selon la perspective des etudes sociales sur les sciences. Cette analyse a orienté l’élaboration, suivant l’approche des recherches «design-based», d’une séquence pédagogique qui vise à outiller des élèves de filière scientifique de l’enseignement secondaire français pour comprendre les débats sur les nanotechnologies et y participer.AbstractIn this article, we demonstrate how an analysis of socio-scientific controversy about nanotechnology provides an opportunity to clarify and explain the educational choices underpinning the development of a teaching sequence about these advancements that provoke strong opposition. We first present an analytical study of controversies that was conducted from a social studies perspective on the sciences. Following the approach used in Design-Based Research, the analytical study influenced the development of a teaching sequence that aims to equip students in the science stream of the French secondary education system with the capacity to understand and participate in debates about nanotechnology.