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“More Than Particle Theory”: Citizenship Through School Science

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Abstract

The body of literature connecting science education and citizenship is growing, through the lens, for example, of science, technology, society and environment (STSE) education. The case study highlighted here explores ways in which students in a seventh-grade science class used studies of waste management to engage in active citizenship. In our analyses of their action projects, we suggest that students formed new connections between science education and citizenship. Through personal changes they appeared to undergo, it seemed that they gained recognition of the impact that an individual can have on the well-being of self, society, and environment. Factors influencing their personal changes, including changes in their science literacy and self-efficacy beliefs, indicate directions for possible expansion studies of interactions between science and citizenship education.

Résumé

La littérature associant l’enseignement des sciences et la notion de citoyenneté responsable est en expansion, par le biais de l’enseignement des science, technologies, société et environnement (STSE). Cet article analyse les façons dont un cours de sciences de niveau intermédiaire s’est servi d’études sur la gestion des déchets pour stimuler la participation active à la notion de citoyennet é responsable. Une analyse des résultats des «projets d’action» des étudiants—c’est-à-dire des changements personnels qui sont survenus chez ces derniers—a montré qu’ils avaient établissaient de nouveaux liens entre l’enseignement des sciences et la citoyenneté responsable. Grâce à ces changements personnels, ils ont appris à reconnaître l’impact que l’individu peut avoir sur le bien-être individuel, collectif et environnemental. Les facteurs qui influencent les changements indiquent la nécessité d’élargir le champs de la recherche sur les interactions pédagogiques entre l’enseignement des sciences et la notion de citoyenneté responsable.

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Correspondence to Erin Sperling.

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Sperling, E., Bencze, J.L. “More Than Particle Theory”: Citizenship Through School Science. Can J Sci Math Techn 10, 255–266 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1080/14926156.2010.504487

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14926156.2010.504487

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