The use of Cartography of Controversy within socioscientific issues-based education: students’ mapping of the badger-cattle controversy in England

Figures & data

Table 1. A summary of the CoC lesson sequence implemented and the data collected.

Lessons 1 and 2 (2 × 1-hour): Mapping the controversy	1. Students given a summary of the issue with two possible solutions. 2. Students work in groups of 3/4 to: • construct a controversy map to illustrate as many actants in the controversy as possible; • write on their maps any questions that arise during the discussion/mapping activity; • use laptops to research topic/questions; • take a position individually and justify it after the map construction. 3. Discussion of guidelines for using the blog critically and constructively
	Data collected: maps, audio recordings of group discussions, individual positions
Online communication (2 weeks)	Guiding question: ‘What should be done about the controversy?’ All students to contribute at least twice with their own views and response to others’ contributions to answer the guiding question
	Data collected: blog entries
Lesson 3 (1-h): Re-mapping the controversy	Students work in the same groups of 3/4 with the same instructions as in Step 2 of Lessons 1 and 2
	Data collected: maps, audio recordings of group discussions, individual positions

Table 2: Summary of actants identified by each group during the two mapping activities (lighter-shaded cells indicate actants in Map 2 also present in Map 1; darker-shaded cells indicate actants in Map 2 not present in Map 1; actants in bold indicate 4 or more connections to other actants)

Group A		Group B
Map 1	Map 2	Map 1	Map 2
Badgers (3)	Badgers (4)	Badgers (5)	Badgers (5)
Cows (6)	Cows (4)	Cows (4)	Cows (3)
Specialist shouters (1)	Specialist shooters (1)	Legal shooters (2)	Legal Shooters (3)
Farmers (3)	Farmers (3)	Farmers (5)	Farmers (6)
Environmental groups (2)	Environmentalists (2)	Environmentalists (1)/Environment (2)	Environmentalists (3)
			Badger supporters (1)
TB (2)	TB (4)	TB (3)	TB (5)
Economy (1)	Economy (1)	Economy (3)	Economy (6)
Abattoirs (2)			Production (2)
	Jobs (2)
Loss of profit (2)			Customers (3)
Culling (7)			Guns (culling) (3)
Biodiversity (3)	Species diversity (1)		Other species (1)
People (3)	People (5) General public (1)	Locals (2)	General population (3) Residents (5)
M.bovis (6)
			Police (2)
			Crime (2)
Urine and droppings (2)
	EU (1)	EU/Government (4)	EU (3)
	Butchers (2)		Butchers (2)
	Breeders (1)
National Farmers Union (1)		National Farmers Union (2)	National Farmers Union (3)
	Vaccination (4)		Vaccinations (4)
Doctors (2) Vets (3)	Scientists (3)		Scientists (3)
Pets (2)
RSPCA [Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals] (1)
	Developments in vaccinations and immunology (3)
Treatment (2)	Cures to other diseases (2)
	Research grants (2)

Figure 1. Areas of uncertainty for Group A students based on the questions asked during the first mapping task.

Table 3: The themes identified in Group A’s exploration of the badger-cattle controversy

Task	Map 1		Blog	Map 2
	Cartography	Discussion		Cartography	Discussion
Themes	Infection – public health concerns – from other animals Treatment – for animals and humans	Infection – public health concerns Treatment cattle vaccination vs. public health concerns Cost effectiveness for farmers Cattle treatment vs. cattle killings Necessity of badger culling – for farmers – public health concerns	Infection – public health concerns – from other animals Transmission – from/to other animals Treatment – vaccination – further research needed	Infection – public health Transmission – from/to other animals Treatment – vaccination –further research needed	Treatment cattle vaccination vs. badger culling

Table 4. Transcript extract presenting Group A students’ representation of complexity during the construction of Map 1.

Turn No.	Transcript	Theme
61. S1:	So, you know when … so there’s the – TB kills the cattle …	Public health concerns
62. S2:	It doesn’t kill them. Maybe it makes them ill, but you can’t eat them
63. S3:	You can’t eat them
64. S2:	There’s no point, the farmer wasting money –	Cost effectiveness for farmers (cattle treatment vs cattle killings)
65. S1:	Why can’t we find a way –
66. S2:	– If they can’t even sell it.
67. S1:	Why can’t we find a way of stopping TB being transmitted into humans?	Public health concerns
68. S4:	Well, we kind of have,
69. S1:	So why is – So why can’t we give the cow medication?	Cattle treatment
70. S2:	If the humans aren’t affected, then why does the cow need to be destroyed?	Necessity of cattle killings
71. S4:	I think if you eat a TB [infected] cow then you are infected.	Public health concerns
72. S3:	Yeah, but can you not give the cow medication?	Cost effectiveness for farmers (cattle treatment vs cattle killings)
73. S2:	I think it’s just too expensive, like not worth the cost of what the cow’s worth.
	[…]
110. S1:	But I don’t know, if you like give them medication, the cattle, if you did and it did work, like if it doesn’t affect humans, it should be okay, shouldn’t it?	Necessity of badger culling (public health concerns)
111. S2:	Yeah
112. S1:	Like it doesn’t … so could that be a question?
113. S3:	Why can’t the cows be treated and then …	Necessity of badger culling (cost effectiveness for farmers)
114. S2:	It’s all economics. Say like, shouldn’t it be like if your cattle has TB, shouldn’t the government subsidise money for like crops and stuff [for the farmers] … ?
115. S4:	I think some farmers literally just have cattle, and that’s their livelihood

Figure 2. Areas of uncertainty for Group B students based on the questions asked during the first mapping task.

Table 5: The themes identified in Group B’s exploration of the badger-cattle controversy

Task	Map 1		Blog	Map 2
	Cartography	Discussion		Cartography	Discussion
Themes	Infection – public health concerns – between animals Impact on: – environment – farmers	Infection – public health concerns – between animals Treatment – Public Health concerns (vaccination of cows vs. badgers) Value of animals. population control	Infection – between animals – public health Impact on: – farmers (economic) Treatment – Vaccination – Public Health Cost effectiveness – further research – vaccination vs. culling Animal welfare	Infection – public health concerns – between animals Impact on: – humans – economy Treatment – Vaccination	Impact of Vaccination on: – economy – public health Treatment – Vaccination

Table 6. Group B’s discussion of the value of cattle over the value of badgers during Lesson 1.

Turn No.	Transcript	Theme
71. S1:	So, the farmer and economy; is the farmer then like sells it on …	Impact on farmers
72. S2:	Livelihood
73. S1:	Livelihood, yeah, livelihood
74. S3:	And if all his cows are killed then he doesn’t have any income coming.
75. S4:	I think that’s why the cow is much more valued. I think it’s more valued in the economy aspect because of its livelihood. Badgers aren’t …	Value of animals vs population control
76. S3:	Yeah, why then is the cow getting killed instead of the badger?
77. S4:	No, badgers do get killed as well, that’s why.
78. S2:	They both get killed
79. S3:	Yeah, I know, but like straight away the cow gets killed but it’s not straight away the badger gets …
80. S2:	Because you can’t control the badger
81. S1:	Yeah, but why is one life more important than another life?
82. S2:	Because the cow’s going to die. The cow’s going to die in the end anyway
83. S1:	So, yeah, but so is the badger in the end. They’re all going to die. Everything dies.[…]
84. S2:	No, but like the cow is like going to die in a short time because like for meat or for (inaudible) whereas the badger, we don’t kill them because it’s part of English heritage, it’s part of the rural area

Figure 3. The framing and functions of cartography construction identified within our pedagogical approach.