Students' use of decision‐making strategies with regard to socioscientific issues: An application of the Rasch partial credit model

Abstract

Decision making about socioscientific issues is an important aspect of modern science education worldwide. Among the many topics that represent socioscientific issues, issues relating to the sustainable development of our environment are one crucial topic. However, difficulties exist with respect to the assessment of teaching outcomes related to these issues. This paper presents results from two quantitative studies that were conducted to develop a test instrument that measures students' use of decision-making strategies in situations relating to sustainable development. Data were analyzed using the Rasch partial credit model. Analyses concerning reliability and validity showed that the developed instrument provides an adequate measure of students' use of decision-making strategies. Analyses indicated that the test instrument can be used among different age groups and that decision-making competence increases with respect to years of education. Most elaborate strategies were characterized by the use of trade-offs, the ability to weigh decision criteria, and the ability to reflect on the structure of decision-making processes. In contrast, baselevel strategies were characterized by the use of cutoffs and an absence of elaborate metareflection. The results provide a valuable starting point for analyzing and fostering students' decision-making competence in the science classroom.

Research-Based Transformative Science/STEM/STES/STESEP Education for “Sustainability Thinking”: From Teaching to “Know” to Learning to “Think”

“…Our findings corroborate the claimed gap between the rhetoric and philosophy of "STESEP education" and education for 'sustainability thinking' at all levels as well as in the reality of science education practice in K-12 schooling [33] and higher education [34]. Table 9 summarizes freshmen's views concerning 'HOCS questions' included in examinations.…”

“…The DM study, focused on the cognitive aspects of DM in the context of science teaching, aiming at getting an insight into the related HOCS/LOCS-level performance of the decision-maker student, while being engaged in a DM-related learning [30][31][32][33][34]. Recent research work related to the DM activity indicates that HOCS operations are extensively used during a DM-related inquiry, while LOCS operations are less used during such activities.…”

“…In summary: our results suggest that promoting the DM capability via an appropriate HOCS-promoting framework of teaching and assessment has the potential of achieving students' "HOCS learning" [14]. Accordingly, our recommendation is that research-based interdisciplinary HOCS-STESEP-oriented courses and curricula will be implemented in different contexts and settings of SSSEE in primary, secondary and tertiary levels, for the advancement of students' DM and related HOCS, for the advancement of "sustainability thinking" [31][32][33][34].…”

High School Students' Reasoning in Making Decisions about Socio-Ethical Issues of Genetic Engineering: Case of Gene Therapy

“…Applying controversial cases is consistent with other more general investigations of decision-making processes (11,22,39,41,51), informal reasoning (23,25,28,33,43,50) as well as those specifically targeting SSI with biotechnology roots (9,20,26,40,41).…”

Indicators of Informal and Formal Decision-making about a Socioscientific Issue

“…These challenges include struggling to evaluate advantages and disadvantages of alternative outcomes and reflect on choices (Grace, 2009), lacking specificity when weighing tradeoffs (Eggert & Bögeholz, 2009;Jiménez-Aleixandre, 2002;Seethaler & Linn, 2004), emphasizing values at the expense of seeking additional scientific information that would clarify different choices (Grace & Ratcliffe, 2002;Hong & Chang, 2004;Sadler, 2004), and difficulty integrating knowledge gained in science with real-world problems (Kolstø, 2006). Students need support and practice using formal and logical pathways of thinking to develop decision-making skills.…”