Nanosciences and nanotechnologies learning and teaching in secondary education: a review of literature

Abstract

This literature review provides an overview of recent studies on the introduction of nanosciences and nanotechnologies in secondary education. Four salient research topics have emerged: questions and reflections preceding curriculum development on nanosciences and nanotechnologies lessons; research on students’ conceptualisations of nano‐related concepts; the use of haptic tools to teach nanosciences and nanotechnologies; and professional development for secondary schools teachers. In a final critical discussion, the lack of studies in the literature considering nanosciences and nanotechnologies as a socioscientific issue in secondary education is emphasised. In addition, implications for future research as well as suggestions for nanosciences and nanotechnologies curriculum development are considered.

Keywords:

• nanosciences
• nanotechnologies
• secondary school
• science education
• science curriculum reform
• new contents

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Joël Chevrier from the Néel Institute (Grenoble, France) and Annie Luciani from the Informatique et Création Artistique laboratory (Grenoble, France) for their support and comments.

Notes

1. The particular attention paid to a potential influence of ethnicity on results has to be considered in the light of the fact that the articles in this review were mainly US studies.

2. A haptic interface is a tool rendering the sense of touch.

3. In this second research project, authors do not specify whether they successfully inactivated completely the haptic feedback. They merely write about a ‘cutoff’ and might have improved their device to cancel or almost suppress the haptic feedback.

4. Concerning this latter suggestion, an exploratory and preliminary research investigating the conceptions of this particular population has been implemented by some of these authors (Jones, Taylor, & Broadwell, 2009b). Its goal was to explore how accurate students with visual impairments conceptualizations of the spatial size of objects and distances over many orders of magnitude were, and to compare them to students that were not visually impaired.

5. Consensus about the ‘Big Ideas’ of nanoscale science and engineering had not been reached at the time the first summer school programme was designed.

6. Speaking here of ‘technoscientific aspect’ would be more accurate.