A Socioscientific Curriculum Facilitating the Development of Distal and Proximal NOS Conceptualizations

Abstract

This study reports the effects of an innovative introductory microbiology course for undergraduates that used a socioscientific issues (SSI)-based curriculum. The study illustrates how an SSI-based intervention provides learners with pragmatic opportunities for cultivating their scientific literacy subsuming the nature of science (NOS). Empirical data measured 26 undergraduates' distal and proximal knowledge of the NOS with respect to their ability to reason. The instruments used in this case study yielded qualitative data, which were coded using NVivo7 and inductively analyzed. All data analyses were subject to instrumental triangulation, inter-rater reliability, and member-checking. These analyses determined that undergraduates' formal epistemological knowledge of professional science matured. These changes accompanied improved reasoning skills and matured beliefs about the NOS. In particular, students' reasoning changed as they realized that scientific knowledge is never absolute or certain but tentative and subject to change. In general, the findings suggest that this SSI-based curriculum enhanced collegiate students' understanding of social issues that affect their lives. Implications of this research are discussed.

Keywords:

• Socioscientific
• Nature of science
• University
• Epistemology
• Scientific Literacy
• Curricular Development

Acknowledgments

I would like to acknowledge Drs J.R. McGinnis and S. Benson for their mentoring help throughout this investigation. I would like to thank Karen Adams and Lauren Brown for their instrumental insights during the writing stages of this resulting research report. I would also like to acknowledge Drs D. Imig, D. Hammer, and D. Levine as well as other graduate students who have offered their time and wisdom by reviewing and/or verifying my claims as well as challenging me to reevaluate aspects of my data analyses.

Notes

Some scientists argue that microbial resistance is a historical problem that has recently escalated as a threat to humans because of the inability to find a drug with a novel mode of action. Other scientists contend the misuse of antibiotics and enhanced transmission of resistance genes is more of a factor in the emergence of virulent microbes (Kardar, 2005).

Students' journals were reflective records of their personal beliefs and experiences.

The ELMS is a blackboard course management system designed to help faculty integrate web resources into their traditional classroom courses (Blackboard Inc., 2006).

The KEEP toolkit is a Carnegie Foundation advancement of teaching creation to facilitate electronic mediums of expression (Carnegie Foundation, 2002).

Gall, Gall, and Borg (2002, p. 465) have defined ‘member-checking’ as the process in which participants review selected sections of their raw data and confirm their data have been accurately reported. Participants also validate the researcher's interpretations of data for accuracy and completeness (Gall et al., 2002, p. 465).