Volume
6 Science,
Technology & Society
• What research skills will students need to develop in order to carry out STS action projects?
• Select one of the following areas (Earth science, physical science, life science) and develop a list of STS issues that could be integrated into a one year course in the field you select.
• Cartoons (especially those found in the editorial pages of newspapers) could be used as value dilemmas for STS activities. Collect at least five and identify the STS issue that each reflects, and explain how you would use them in the science classroom.
• Design either a case study, a voting activity, or a value dilemma for any one of the following STS issue areas: health care, prolongation of life, euthanasia, artificial organs, genetic counseling, abortion, human experimentation, suicide, biological weapons. Field test your activity with a group of peers, friends, or secondary students.
• Do a survey of a group of secondary students to find out how much emphasis is given to STS teaching in their science courses. Here are a few questions that you can use to find out. To begin, ask the students:
"In your opinion, how much emphasis has been given in the science classes you have taken until now to the following ideas?" (you could give them a sheet of paper with this list, and the direction to check (1) a lot, (2) some, or (3) not much for each).
• Society controls science and technology.• Science and technology influence society.
• Science and technology have limitations.
• Science and technology are useful in advancing human welfare.
• There is a difference between scientific knowledge and personal opinion.
• People must make careful decisions about the use of technology.
• There are many good, reliable sources of scientific information that a person can find and use in making decisions.