The effects of science, technology, society, environment (STSE) interactions on teaching chemistry

doi:10.4236/ns.2010.212173

Paper Menu >>

Journal Menu >>

Vol.2, No.12, 1417-1424 (2010)

doi:10.4236/ns.2010.212173

Natural Science

The effects of science, technology, society, environment

(STSE) interactions on teaching chemistry

Nuray Yörük1*, Inci Morgil2, Nilgün Seçken2

1Ministry of National Education, Ankara, Türkiye; *Corresponding Author: nurayyoruk@yahoo.com

2Hacettepe University, Chemistry Education, Ankara, Türkiye

Received 14 September 2010; revised 15 October 2010; accepted 18 October 2010.

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to investigate the effects of

making Science, Technology, Society and En-

vironment relations on students’ comprehen-

sion of chemistry topics through teaching che-

mistry using STSE approach at secondary level.

The study made use of the research model

where pre and post tests were administered to

control and treatment groups. The Chemistry

Achievement Test (CAT) was used in the study.

The sampling consisted of Grade 9 students

studying at Anatolian High School and Voca-

tional High School. Since the sampling had not

been equated, in order to determine students’

logical and spatial thinking skills, they were

administered Logical Thinking Skill Test and

Mental Rotation test as pretests. Students were

chosen randomly to take part in two control and

two treatment groups. This experimental study

was applied to the treatment group in teaching

of “Separation of Mixtures” topic in Grade 9

Chemistry course during a four-week period.

Students in the control group were taught

through the traditional teaching methods. The

data obtained were analyzed through the SPSS

Software. As a result of the study, statistically

significant increases were observed in the

achievement levels of treatment group which

received instruction using STSE relations. The

change observed in the achievement levels of

the control group was not statistically signifi-

cant. The difference between the achievement

levels of control and treatment groups in the

posttests were favoring the treatment groups.

Keywords: Science; Technology; Society;

Environment (STSE); Chemistry Education;

Separation of Mixtures

1. INTRODUCTION

In order a country to take steps towards being an in-

formation society, changes need to be made in the learn-

ing environments. Society consists of individuals and

information is communicated through individuals. Im-

provement in science would affect technology, society

and environment positively or negatively. Science could

develop as a result of an interaction between technology

as the application of theoretical knowledge and require-

ments created by social needs. The effects of this im-

provement have also reflected on the teaching of science

related courses. The most appropriate educational phi-

losophy that responds to these studies could be explained

by the STSE approach.

STSE stems from the belief that a connection between

the student and the real world should be established.

This process would lead the student to recognize possi-

ble problems that s/he has. An environment is created,

where students could collect data for the solution of their

problems, consider alternative solution ways, determine

the best ways to solve the problem and practice them [1].

Chemistry is a field of science, which investigates the

nature and behaviors of all substances in the universe

and uses this information to address the needs of human-

ity as well as establishing an environment of peace and

welfare [2]. Many situations we come across in life are

closely related to chemistry and involve scientific

knowledge. As individuals comprehend the relationship

between what they learn at school and what events affect

their lives, this could contribute to improvement of their

scientific literacy. Unless this relationship is compre-

hended at schools, individuals could not attain the re-

quired knowledge or skills for an easier life. Shortly, in

order individuals to understand and comprehend the

technological developments that affect all aspects of our

lives, they should receive training in basic science

course. That is how individuals could see the importance

of science and develop positive attitude towards it. With

the help of STSE related science education, students

N. Yörük et al. / Natural Scien c e 2 (2010) 1417-1424

1418

recognize the effects of technology in social life. More-

over, by understanding the relationship between science,

technology, society and environment, students could

recognize the interaction among the four.

Why are STSE relations required in science educa-

tion?

Human history experienced the process of moving

towards being an information society with the invention

of the first programmable computer in 1946, the ENIAC

[3]. These improvements in computer and communica-

tion technologies increased the production of knowledge

and its transfer. This was enabled by the ability of in-

formation technologies to maximize the level of com-

munication and sharing between individuals and organi-

zations. These developments bring forward the question

that how developments in communication and sharing of

knowledge could be integrated into education. Unless

the rapidly developing technology is applied to the field

of education, students would stay far behind the modern

age at the school environment. Information is rapidly

changing and increasing in quantity. In this case, it is

more important for students to learn how they could ac-

quire and use knowledge rather than memorizing it di-

rectly. Therefore, they should be aware of how science

courses they take at school could be related to technol-

ogy and society in terms of their uses.

“What is STSE and how could it be defined?”

Although STSE seems to be taken as easy since it re-

sembles similar topics to all individuals, its definition

and depth are quite different. The aim of the STSE re-

lated courses aim to enable individuals to understand

science better, to encourage students with creativity and

critical thinking, and to make boring and abstract topics

more interesting and fun [4]. There is no doubt that

learning could never be actualized in an isolated envi-

ronment from the world [5]. On the other hand, science

topics have been taught far away from the realities of the

real world. With the help of STSE relations, students are

aimed to construct their own understanding of STSE

concepts by uniting their life experiences with natural

world in terms of science and human made world in

terms of technology. Individuals are expected to con-

struct and relate these STSE concepts considering

his/her continuous interaction [4].

A study by Roy in 2000 concluded that:

1) Students would have knowledge about certain top-

ics related to science and technology with an increased

awareness level;

2) Students would be able to analyze topics related to

science and technology;

3) Technology would affect social life and there would

be an interaction with technology;

4) Students, having received training in science, would

prefer to study further in science or any related field they

may be interested in [6].

STSE related courses mediate in overcoming the mi-

sunderstandings about science by considering the role of

science in the society. The main aim of the courses re-

lated to science is to present science and technology as a

methodology, which enables students to make best de-

terminations through comparing scientific advantages

and disadvantages that appear as results of scientific

developments while trying to solve problems they face.

It is a part of STSE components to know the required

applications in life and solve the social problems through

science and technology. Teaching using this approach

would result in an increase in students’ scientific literacy

and interest. By enabling the student to recognize the

interaction among STSE, this approach would facilitate

making abstract concepts concrete.

STSE related education came from the postmodernist

approach [7-9]. This approach defines science as scien-

tific studies within human power, social, political and

economical content rather than theories and observable

findings [10,11].

STSE studies in the education system have been made

in different countries under various titles. This was

mainly a result of different countries’ having various

cultural, traditional and conceptual backgrounds. It

would be difficult to say that STSE related teaching pro-

gram would end up with same conclusions in every

country without any additions or integrations. The dif-

ferent titles given to the same approach could be ex-

plained through the individual requirements of each

country. For instance, there is specifically important

emphasis on environment within STS scope in Canada

[4,10,12,13,14]. These studies concluded with the addi-

tion of “environment” to STS, which later became STSE.

In Belgium, STS was enhanced with the involvement of

“ethics” and the term became STES relations with the

publication of the periodical named “Science, Technol-

ogy, Ethics and Society” [9], “Science, technology and

citizenship” [15], “Nature, technology, society” [16],

“Science for Society Approach” [17], “Functional Sci-

ence Literacy” [18], “Social Awareness” [19], are other

examples of this approach under different titles in the

literature. The common aim of all these studies was to

develop the scientific literacy and scientific understand-

ing. The target should be science for everyone and STSE

should function as the tool in science courses. After 1985,

it is observed that studies on this approach have in-

creased in number. These studies also took place in pro-

jects such as the PLON [20] in Holland, the SISCON [21]

in England, and the AAAS [22] in the USA. While these

developments were happening in the world, Turkey met

the STS related teaching in the study called “Elementary

N. Yörük et al. / Natural Scien c e 2 (2010) 1417-1424

141

1419

Science Education” in 1997; a study ran by Turkish

Higher Education Institution and the World Bank. In

2004, 4th and 5th grade elementary science curriculum

were changed and in 2005, 6th, 7th and 8th grade curricu-

lum were updated as changing the name of the course as

Science and Technology and including STSE attain-

ments among the content attainments [23,24].

The changes in the chemistry curriculum in Turkey

had been limited to structural modifications since 1985.

The need for a modern chemistry curriculum was ad-

dressed by the Ministry of National Education in 2007

with the preparation of the new chemistry curriculum,

which has been in use since the 2008–2009 academic

year. The recent curriculum involves STSE relations as

Chemistry, Technology, Society and Environment (CTSE)

[25]. The CTSE related attainments are listed as items in

Chemistry Curriculum, where they are classified in gen-

eral. There are no connections between the content at-

tainments and CTSE attainments; therefore, they are

presented independently. The teaching program requires

the teacher’s presentation of attainments by establishing

connections between the content attainments and CTSE

attainments.

Apart from the projects, other studies have shown that

students presented more positive attitudes towards STSE

and STS approaches, which were also effective in mak-

ing connections related to the course [6,26-34].

This study aims to compare the Chemistry Achieve-

ment Test scores of students from different educational

institutions (Anatolian High School, Vocational High

School), who experienced teaching of chemistry within

the STSE approach. In Turkey, STSE approach has not

yet been applied in the chemistry course in different

secondary schools. Therefore, this study is expected to

contribute to the literature with its findings.

The reason for the choice of two different secondary

level educational institutions could be explained as fol-

lows: Grade 9 students, who are 15 years old, experience

the challenge of adapting to a secondary level institution

and learning different courses at the same time. These

students try to shape their future within the secondary

level educational institution they have chosen while

gaining consciousness levels limited to what is provided

for them by their parents and environments. Students of

the Anatolian High and Vocational High schools come

from families with various socio-cultural and economi-

cal backgrounds. Each student at the Anatolian High or

Vocational High schools has a different scope of previ-

ously learnt knowledge because of the opportunities

having been provided for them by their families. There-

fore, the groups constructed from the students of Anato-

lian High and Vocational High Schools reflect the gen-

eral student profile of the country. In order the findings

of this study to be generalized to the real life, schools

from different districts and students from different edu-

cational institutions were chosen. Therefore, the study

was conducted with a sampling group that reflected the

Grade 9 students in general.

2. MATERIAL AND METHODS

This section of the paper presents information related

to the research model, sampling, data collection tool and

analysis of the data.

The study involved the application of the following

procedures to the Grade 9 students studying at different

secondary level educational institutions (Anatolian High

School and Vocational High School). Students from

Grade 9 were chosen randomly and two classes were

classified in both schools as control and treatment

groups.

In order not to classify students randomly, all students

in both groups were administered logical Thinking Skill

Test (LTST), Mental Rotation Test (MRT) and Chemis-

try Achievement Test (CAT) in order to asses their pre-

viously learnt knowledge, logical thinking skills and

spatial thinking skills. The Chemistry Achievement Test

was later administered as the posttest in order to com-

pare the findings from the control group, who were

taught in the traditional ways, and the treatment group,

who were taught according to the STSE approach on the

topic of “Separating Mixtures”. In order to provide the

external reliability of the study and in order to avoid the

effects of proficiency levels on the findings, a total of

four classes were assigned in two different types of sec-

ondary level educational institutions. By forming control

and treatment groups in two different school types, re-

searcher’s subjectivity and student interaction effects were

overcome, which lead to the focus on the effects of STSE

related chemistry education on conceptual achievement

and comprehension levels.

After LTST, MRT and CAT were administered as pre-

tests, teaching methodologies wee randomly chosen for

groups. Separating Mixtures was taught to the control

group in the traditional teaching methodology. Treatment

group was taught by the researcher through the STSE

related education. The content was prepared in line with

the curriculum and the same content was taught to the

treatment group through STSE related teaching method-

ology whereas the control group was taught in the tradi-

tional way.

1) All students in control and treatment groups were

administered the Logical Thinking Skills Test, which

was developed by Tobin and Capie [35] and translated

into Turkish by Geban, Askar and Özkan, [36]. The test

consisted of 10 questions.

2) All students were administered the Mental Rotation

N. Yörük et al. / Natural Scien c e 2 (2010) 1417-1424

1420

Test, which was developed by Bodner and Guay [37]

and was translated in to Turkish by Kavak [38]. The test

consisted of 20 questions.

3) The Chemistry Achievement Test that was devel-

oped in order to assess whether students learned the

concepts related to Separating Mixtures topic and it con-

sisted of 35 questions. The test was prepared according

to the opinions of experienced teachers and academic

staff. The validity of the test, which is defined as the

content validity, was evaluated to be high by three spe-

cialist academic staff. The reliability of the test was

commented with α reliability coefficient. Before it was

used in the study, the test was administrated to 90 high

school students and α reliability coefficient was calcu-

lated to be 0.87. This test was administered as pre and

posttests.

The dependent variable of the study was the achieve-

ment scores students received from CAT on Separation

of Mixtures.

The independent variables were the STSE related

teaching methodology administered to the treatment

group and the traditional method administered to the

control group.

The variables taken under control are the previous

knowledge of students assessed by the CAT, their logical

thinking skills assessed by the LTST and spatial thinking

skills assessed by the Mental Rotation Test.

2.1. Sampling

This study was administered to Grade 9 students of an

Anatolian High School and a Vocational High School in

Ankara authorized by the Ministry of National Educa-

tion.

The treatment group of the vocational high school

consisted of 33 students and its control group was

formed by 30 students. In Anatolian high school, there

were 28 students in the treatment group and 28 students

in the control group.

2.2. Data Collection Tool

In the treatment groups of both high schools, Separa-

tion of Mixtures was taught according to the STSE re-

lated chemistry teaching methodology. As Ta bl e 1 , Ta-

ble 2, Ta b l e 3 and Ta b l e 4 display, the study lasted for

four weeks. The other two groups, assigned as control

groups, received traditional instruction on the same topic.

2.3. Analysis of the Data

Chemistry lessons were taught through making con-

nections with the STSE topics. In order to determine the

effects of STSE related chemistry education approach on

students’ achievement levels, the data obtained from

CAT were statistically evaluated via the covariance ana-

lysis.

Table 1. STSE related chemistry education administered to the treatment group—1st week.

STSE topics Recycling metal wastes. Security precautions for petrol containers.

Content/Titles Separating Mixtures Separation via the Magnet Separation via electrification

Teaching and learning approaches Small group research, watching movies, questioning-based learning, laboratory prac-

tice, data analysis, simulations, concept maps, making models.

Student skills Asking questions, evaluating technological topics, making decisions, valuing the given

decision.

Concepts Mixture, Separation Techniques, Homogenous mixtures, Heterogeneous mixtures.

Table 2. STSE related chemistry education administered to the treatment group—2nd week.

STSE topics Separating salt from the sea water dialysis, obtaining carotene.

Content/Titles

Separation through density difference (Explores the methods that make use of density

differences in separating substances from each other) separation through filtration

(Explains separation made by making use of the particle size differences.) Separation

through solubility difference (Notices that solubility differences aid in separating sub-

stances)

Teaching and learning approaches Brainstorming, asking questions, classroom discussions, questioning-based learning,

role playing, simulations.

Student skills Data analysis, interdisciplinary problem solving, evaluating technological topics, ques-

tioning for decision making.

Concepts Solvent, Solution, Solubility, Corrosion, Floatation, Vaporization crystallization, Di-

alysis, Decantation.

N. Yörük et al. / Natural Scien c e 2 (2010) 1417-1424

142

1421

Table 3. STSE related chemistry education administered to the treatment group—3rd week.

STSE topics Separating metals from ores. Obtaining medicine and alcoholic beverages from plants

through fractionation obtaining perfumes.

Content/Titles

Separation through heat differences when changing state. (Boiling heat differences)

Exemplifies separation by making use of the differences between the boiling points.

(Melting heat differences) Examplifies separation by making use of the differences

between the melting points.

Teaching and learning approaches Observation, group work, problem solving, decision making, questioning-based learn-

ing.

Student skills Explanations involving scientific and technological concepts, learning through interac-

tion with the environment.

Concepts Refining petrol, Distillation, Extraction.

Table 4. STSE related chemistry education administered to the treatment group—4th week.

STSE topics Making connections among the STSE topics.

Content/Titles Suggests appropriate separation methods fro the given mixtures.

Teaching and learning approaches All approaches made use of during the course of the lesson.

Student skills All skills attained during the course of the lesson.

Concepts All concepts learnt during the course of the lesson.

3. CONCLUSIONS

Due to the aim of the study that was determining any

possible changes in the chemistry achievement levels of

students as a result of the administered teaching meth-

odology, the spatial thinking skills and mental rotation

skills of students were assessed via MRT and LTST. The

results of these tests were taken as covariance to be

made use of in the other applications or statistical evalu-

ations.

CAT was administered as the pretest in order to de-

termine the equivalence of the groups since the treatment

groups in both schools were going to be taught accord-

ing to the STSE relations. The reason for this act was to

determine whether the chosen groups were at the same

level in terms of chemistry knowledge regarding the

chosen topic.

The pretest CAT results were compared using AN-

COVA. Before the covariance analysis, the variances

were tested in terms of their being homogenous and the

appropriateness of the curve between the dependent va-

riable and the covariance.

 The covariance analysis results of the evaluation

made on the CAT pre and posttest results of the

Vocational High School students.

The CAT pretest average of the treatment group was

9.97 and the Cat pretest results of the control group was

13.46. This result is statistically significant favoring the

control group (p = 0.014), which made it eligible for the

study.

The posttest CAT data evaluation concluded with the

covariance analysis results that displayed an average of

13.30 for the treatment group and 14.87 for the control

group. Although there has been quite an increase in the

average score of the treatment group, the difference be-

tween the treatment and control group averages are not

significant (p = 0.230).

 The covariance analysis results of the evaluation

made on the CAT pre and posttest results of the

Anatolian High School students.

The CAT pretest average score of the treatment group

was found to be 21.82 and that of the control group was

found to be 24.08. Although the average of the control

group is rather high, the difference between the average

scores of the treatment and control groups is not statisti-

cally significant (p = 0.051).

According to the covariance analysis results of the

posttest CAT, the treatment group’s average score was

27.43; the average score for the control group was 23.71.

The treatment group, which was taught within the STSE

related teaching approach, displayed an important in-

crease in their average scores and this difference is sta-

tistically significant (p = 0.003).

 The comparison of pre and posttest Average Scores

of Control and Treatment groups:

The changes in the average scores of control and

treatment groups both for pre and posttests were evalu-

ated through the dependent t-test and the results are dis-

played on Table 5.

N. Yörük et al. / Natural Scien c e 2 (2010) 1417-1424

1422

Tab le 5. The Results of the Dependent variable T-test, which

was administered in order to compare the CAT pre and posttest

scores of the treatment groups at both Vocational and Anatolian

High Schools.

Pretest Posttest Significance

Vocational High School 13.43 13.93 0.518

Anatolian High School 23.75 22.14 0.193

Ta b l e 6 displays that there were significant increases

in both control groups at the end of the application.

Looking at these results, STSE approach could be iden-

tified as a productive teaching methodology for students

as the increase in the achievement levels of the treatment

groups were observed to be higher.

4. DISCUSSION AND SUGGESTIONS

The findings in the literature are supportive of the

conclusions that have been come to in this study that

achievement levels in chemistry could be increased

through teaching via the STSE related teaching approach.

The results of this study are in line with Yager’s study in

1994, where he evaluated the effectiveness of the STSE

related teaching approach [32]. Students, having recog-

nized their own skills with the help of the approach,

have learnt the topics more meaningfully than the stu-

dents, who receive teaching through traditional method-

ologies. In practice, students, who receive education

within the STSE related teaching approach, are more

competent in relating new situations and concepts.

Another striking point of this study is the two differ-

ent types of schools chosen as grounds. In Turkey, Ana-

tolian High Schools require a placement test score for

enrollment. Students could register to these schools in

case they score above average in a central placement test.

On the other hand, while vocational high schools do not

have such requirements, their students experience a

score disadvantage in the university placement, and this

leads to a conclusion that students do not prefer to study

at vocational high schools. As the pretest average scores

display, students of Anatolian High Schools achieve bet-

ter than students of the vocational high schools. Fortu-

nately, teaching through STSE related approach con-

cluded with an increase in the achievement scores of the

treatment groups in both types of schools. In other words,

the choice of STSE related teaching methodology would

contribute to the achievement levels of vocational high

school students, where the expected university place-

ment average is rather low.

STSE related teaching enables students to make more

connections with the topics, which increases the interac-

tion during the lesson and creates a student-centered

Tab le 6. The Results of the Dependent variable T-test, which

was administered in order to compare the CAT pre and posttest

scores of the control groups at both Vocational and Anatolian

High Schools.

Pretest Posttest Significance

Vocational High School 10.00 14.18 0.000

Anatolian High School 23.68 27.46 0.000

learning environment. This is a natural result of STSE

related teaching practice. Students, therefore, get in-

volved in the research process themselves, while trying

to make connections with the concepts and topics.

This study concluded that, as students made connec-

tions between what they learn and what they experience

in the real life through STSE connections, their attention

to the lesson was also affected positively. Most of the

students do not get interested in chemistry because the

course is not taught in an attractive way. Therefore, stu-

dents do not have positive attitudes towards a course that

they do not get interested in. the disconnection between

what students learn and what they experience in the real

life decreases their level of interest in the lesson and

destroys the bridge between the student and science

education. In order to create more interest in students,

STSE related teaching should be considered and im-

proved.

It was determined that STSE related teaching applied

in developed countries resulted in different ways than

the applications in other countries. Therefore, in case a

well-qualified curriculum is to be administered in an-

other country, it should be adopted to the country’s cul-

ture. The recent studies on Chemistry curriculum should

take these into account in such a way to present the con-

tent attainments through making connections with STSE

related topics.

The content of the Chemistry course should enable

individuals to attain the adequate knowledge to live in

the modern technological environment. STSE relations

should allow students to recognize their environment

and technological condition, understand their contribu-

tions to the society and predict the possible damages that

could happen. Therefore, studies should be conducted in

order to prepare the teachers and equipments, which

could enable students to make STSE connections.

This study should not be limited to the Separation of

Mixtures as a topic of Chemistry, and should be applied

to their topics within the teaching program to research

on its effectiveness through different activities.

Within STSE related teaching sessions, by using the

interviewing method, students’ opinions about STSE

concepts could be examined more deeply.

Teachers, in countries where STSE related teaching is

N. Yörük et al. / Natural Scien c e 2 (2010) 1417-1424

142

1423

applied, are obliged to follow the changes and enhance-

ments in order to make connections with different topics.

Teachers tend to avoid using STSE related teaching as it

requires a separate preparation process for the lesson in

terms of making connections. Before the STSE related

science education is administered, teachers should be

acknowledged about the system. Secondary level chem-

istry teachers should be informed more about STSE ap-

proach. Considering the requirements of teachers for

understanding and getting prepared for the approach,

in-service training programs could be organized involv-

ing a similar study with the teachers.

Students, who do not prefer to get training in science

related tracks, could be taken as sampling and observa-

tions could be made on them to assess the effectiveness

of STSE related teaching.

Apart from teaching, STSE related science education

also differentiates the assessment methods. Therefore,

traditional assessment and evaluation techniques could

be enriched with alternative techniques, which could be

the focus of another study. This could be suggested as an

area for further research.

REFERENCES

[1] Yager, R.E. (1990) The science/technology/society

movement in the United States: Its origin, evolution, and

rationale. Social Education, 54, 198-200.

[2] Atasoy, B. (2004) Basic Chemistry Concepts, Asil Pub-

lishing and Distribution, Ankara, Turkey.

[3] Barutçugil, İ. (2002) Information Management, Kariyer

Publishing, İstanbul, Turkey.

[4] Aikenhead, G.S. (1994) What is STS science teaching? In:

Solomon, J. and Aikenhead, G.S. Ed., STS Education In-

ternational Perspectives on Reform, Teacher’s College

Press, New York.

[5] Nakleh, M.B. (1992) Why some students don’t learn

chemistry. Journal of Chemical Education, 69, 191- 216.

[6] Roy, R. (2000) Real science education: replacing, “PCB”

with s(cience) through STS throughout all levels of K-12,

technology and society. Science, Technology, and Society:

A Sourcebook on Research and Practice, Kluwer Aca-

demic/Pleum Publishers, New York.

[7] Fensham, P.J. (1985) Science for all. Journal of Curricu-

lum Studies, 17, 415-435.

[8] Pedretti, E. (1997) Septic tank crisis: a case study of

science, technology and society education in an elemen-

tary school. International Journal of Science Education,

19, 1211-1230.

[9] Aikenhead, G.S. (2003) STS Education: A rose by any

other name. A Vision for Science Education: Responding

to the World of Peter J. Fensham, Routledge Press, Cana-

da.

[10] Solomon, J. (1993) Teaching Science, Technology &

Society. Open University Press, Philadelphia, CA.

[11] Bingle, W. and Gaskell, P. (1994) Science literacy for

decision making and the social construction of scientific

knowledge. Science Education, 78, 185-201.

[12] Council of Ministry of Education Canada (1997) Com-

mon framework of science learning outcomes K-12,

Council of Ministers of Education, Canada.

[13] Kumar, D. and Chubin, D. (2000) Science technology

and society: A sourcebook or research and practice,

Kluwer Academic, London.

[14] Pedretti, E. (2005) STSE education: Principles and prac-

tices. In: Aslop, S., Bencze, L., Pedretti, E. Eds. Analys-

ing Exemplary Science Teaching: Theoretical Lenses and

a Spectrum of Possibilities for Practice, Open University

Press, Mc Graw-Hill Education.

[15] Solomon, J. and Thomas, J. (1999) Science education for

the public understanding of science. Studies in Science

Education, 33, 61-90.

[16] Andersson, B. (2000) National evaluation for the im-

provement of science teaching, improving science educa-

tion: The contribution of research. Open University Press,

Birmingham, UK, 62-78.

[17] Osborne, J., Duschl, R. and Fairbrother, B. (2003)

Breaking the mould? Teaching science for public under-

standing: Lessons from the classroom. The Annual

Meeting of the National Association for Research in Sci-

ence Te achin g, Philedelphia.

[18] Ryder, J. (2001) Identifying science understanding for

functional scientific literacy. Studies in Science Educa-

tion, 36, 1-42.

[19] Solomon, J. (2003) The UK and the moment for science,

technology and society education. A Vision for Science

Education: Responding to the work of Peter Fensham,

Routletge Falmer, New York, 76-90.

[20] PLON (1984) Ioniserende Straling. Utrecht: Rijksuniver-

siteit Utrecht, Vakgroep Natuurkunde-Didactiek. Ioni-

zing Radiation (1988), Faculty of Education, Monash

University.

[21] SISCON (1983) Science in Social Context in Schools,

Oxford Blackwell.

[22] AAAS (1989) American Association for the Advance-

ment of Science, Washington, DC. http://www.aaas.org/

[23] Elementary science and technology teaching program

and guide, 4th-5th grades (2004) Ministry of National

Education, Board of Education and Discipline.

[24] Elementary science and technology teaching program

and guide, 6th-8th grades (2005) Ministry of National

Education, Board of Education and Discipline.

[25] Grade 9 chemistry, teaching program (2007), Board of

Education and Discipline, Ministry of National Educa-

tion, Ankara.

[26] Aikenhead, G.S. and Ryan, A.G. (1987) High-school

graduates beliefs about science-technology-society. I.

Methods and issues in monitoring student views. Science

Education, 71, 145-161.

[27] Aikenhead, G.S. and Ryan, A.G. (1992). The develop-

ment of a new instrument: “Views on science-technology-

society” (VOSTS). Science Education, 76, 477-491.

[28] Finson, K.D. and Enochs, L.G. (1987) Student attitudes

toward science-technology-society resulting from visita-

tion to a science-technology museum. Journal of Re-

search in Science Teaching, 24, 593-609.

[29] Fleming, R.W. (1987) High-school graduates beliefs

about science-technology-society. II. The interaction

among science, technology and society. Science Educa-

tion, 71, 163-186.

N. Yörük et al. / Natural Scien c e 2 (2010) 1417-1424

1424

[30] Zoller, U.E., Morely, P., Sandberg, W. and Wolthers (1990)

Goal attainment in science-technology-society (S/T/S)

education and reality: The case of British Columbia.

Science Education, 74, 19-36.

[31] Ben-Chaim, D. and Zoller, U. (1991) The STS outlook

profiless of Israeli high-schools students and their teach-

ers. International Journal of Science Education, 13,

447-458.

[32] Yager, R., Tamir, P. and Kellerman, L. (1994) Success

with STS in life science classrooms, Grades 4-12. The

American Biology Teacher, 56, 268-272.

[33] Bradford, C., Ruba, P.A. and Harkness, W.L. (1995)

Views about science-technology-society interactions held

by college students in general education physics and STS

courses. Science Educatio n, 79, 355-373.

[34] Solbes, J. and Vilches, A. (1997) STS interactions and

the teaching of physics and chemistry science education.

Science Education, 81, 377-386.

[35] Tobin, G.K. and Capie, W. (1981) The development and

validation of a group test of logical thinking. Educational

and Psychological Measurement, 41, 413-423.

[36] Geban, Ö., Aşkar, P. and Özkan (1992) Effects of com-

puter simulated experiment and problem solving ap-

proaches on students’ learning outcomes at the high

school level. Journal of Educational Research, 86, 5-10.

[37] Bodner, G.M., and Guay, R.B. (1997) The purdue visu-

alization of rotations test. The Chemical Educator, 2,

1-17.

[38] Kavak, N. (2004) The effects of role playing teaching

technique on Grade 10 students’ conceptual achievement

and perceptions within the constructivist. G. U. Education

Science Institute, Ankara.