The classroom discussion of science‐based social issues presented on television: knowledge, attitudes and values

This article reports on some of the findings of a three‐year project on the public understanding of science. It examined how 17‐year‐old students, attending Science Technology and Society courses at a number of British schools, discussed science‐based social issues in small groups after watching a relevant stimulus programme. The research showed that only simple familiarity with the scientific terms used was a necessary condition to enable a discussion which was valuable in terms of the construction and exchange of moral and civic views.

The same students’ responses to a questionnaire proved not to be a reliable guide either to their behaviour during discussion, or to their apparent reliance on particular knowledge sources. A comparison between pre‐ and post‐course data on students’ opinions about social issues showed considerable changes, but in somewhat random directions. Effects attributable to the discussion work were more evident in later examples of free writing by the students.