Perspectives Related to Socio-Scientific Issues According to the Scientific Attitude Points of Secondary School Students

Year 2021, Volume: 8 Issue: 2, 197 - 213, 21.04.2021

Tülin Genç Filiz Evran Acar

Abstract

Individuals have different opinions and views on many socio-scientific issues such as stem cells, influenza vaccine, cloning, nuclear power plants, and organ transplantation that affect social life. Scientific attitudes and scientific literacy of individuals can affect their approach to socio-scientific issues. This research aims to reveal how 8th-grade secondary school students' opinions towards socio-scientific issues change according to their scientific attitudes. For this purpose, the "Scientific Attitude Scale" and "Socio-Scientific Issues Evaluation Form" were applied to the students. The study used a mixed research method that included both qualitative and quantitative data collection.The students' levels of scientific attitude were determined based on the quantitative findings of the study. The students were observed to have a moderate scientific attitude in general. According to their scientific attitude scores, students were divided into three groups: lower, moderate, and upper. The opinions of the students in the lower and upper groups on socio-scientific issues were analyzed based on both qualitative and quantitative findings. According to the findings, students who have a high scientific attitude have more awareness and opinions on socio-scientific topics than students who have low scientific attitude.

Keywords

Socio-scientific Issues, Secondary School Students, Science Curriculum, Scientific Attitude

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