Pre-service elementary school teachers perceptional changes on STS through small group discussions in the general biology course

Abstract

Understanding the relationships between science, technology and society and improving scientific literacy is the major goals of current science education. Many science education reform documents suggested the significance of improving scientific literacy through inclusion of decision making on real-life problems into science curriculum as well as understanding scientific knowledge and doing scientific inquiry. This study aims to explore the effect of the general biology course for pre-service teachers, especially focusing on the changes of the views on the relationships between science, technology and society and the perception on learning environments. Biological contents related to current controversial issues were lectured and small group discussions were practiced for two hours per week during one semester. Changes of students' views on STS were searched using the pre- and post-VOSTS questionnaire, and their perception of the learning environment was also analyzed using the CLES questionnaire. The results showed that the general biology course had positive effect on the participants' views on STS, and this course had personal relevance and gave a chance to communicate with each other through peer discussion