The case study is a popular teaching strategy to help students learn STS principles by analyzing an STS issue. Agne points out that the case study can be used to study science-technology-interactions, can be used quite readily throughout the year, and require simply the identification of a relevant case for student analysis. Case studies are readily available in most contemporary science textbooks. Most textbooks contain one or more case studies for each instructional unit in the course. Figure 1 identifies the case studies found in a contemporary middle school physical science text.
• Should all
forest fires in national parks be
extinquihsed? • Is
information stored in computers a threat to people's
privacy? • How useful
are instant replays in helping football officials judge
plays? • How can
people be protected from lead in the
environment? • To protect
the ozone layer, should chlorofluorocarbons be
banned? • What can
be done about the buildup of greenhouse gases in the
atomosphere? • Should
hightly radioactive waste be stored in Yucca
Mountain?
• Do
the benefits of industrail robots outweigh their
disadvantages?