The social responsibility of science and the public understanding of science

Abstract

The central question facing humankind is ' What kind of society are we to have?' We argue that in order to begin to answer this question, citizens need to recognize that one of the driving forces determining our society is that science is a human social activity like any other. This flies in the face of much of the rhetoric and ideology about science -the stories and myths of formal and informal education. We wish to encourage both a socially responsible science and a public mindful of its strengths and weaknesses. We explore two case studies to illustrate our concerns. These are the construction of knowledge about Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), and the social construction of safety standards for exposure to low-level ionizing radiation. These two health-related controversial scientific issues illustrate the problematic nature of much of science and the implications for the public at large.

Scientific literacy: A Freirean perspective as a radical view of humanistic science education

“…All of these definitions have included categories considering the relationships between science and technology, and skills to help people participate in decision making in the modern technological society for their personal, civic, and professional lives. In addition, some of those curricula proposed take into consideration the aim of science education to prepare students for social responsibility, responsible sociopolitical action; they also reinforce the purpose of developing attitudes and values to help students engage in social issues (e.g., Cross & Price, 1992, 1999Frazer & Kornhauser, 1986;Ramsey, 1993;Roth & Lee, 2004;Waks, 1992).…”

Climate Change Education and the Ecological Footprint

“…Many educators feel that they should not only teach the science, but also engage students and encourage positive responsiveness about the environment (i.e., Cross and Price 1999;Lester et al 2006;Mason and Santi 1998). Given the need to develop new approaches to improve awareness and understanding of climate change, we conducted a pilot study of primarily nonscience undergraduate students enrolled in introductory meteorology courses to evaluate the effectiveness of existing teaching methods and to explore new methods.…”

Turkish High School Students’ Awareness about Carbon Footprint and the Effects of Teaching on Fostering Awareness

“…Pooley and O'Connor (2000), in their study where they evaluated the teaching program, have stated that the dimensions of attitudes and behavior are neglected in the programs and that education is mostly focused on providing knowledge. We should not only teach science in terms of environmental education but also the gain of positive attitudes, behaviors and values should be provided (Cross and Price, 1999). Knowledge cannot be considered as the transfer from teacher to the student; conversely, authentic learning should be achieved by reflecting on the attitudes and behavior of the student (Lee et al 2013).…”

“…We cannot conclude that the knowledge is only transferred from teacher to the student. Contrarily, authentic learning that will be reflected on the attitudes and behaviors of the students should be carried out (Cross and Price, 1999;Lee et al, 2013). Authentic learning uses the constructivist learning model as a basis and it involves learning which is about the transfer of the complexity of daily life issues and problems into the classroom environment (Cholewinski, 2009).…”