Didactic modeling of complex sustainability issues in chemistry education.

Abstract

To meet future challenges regarding sustainability issues, science education needs to address how to educate scientifically literate and responsible citizens. One aspect of this is how to draw students’ attention to the complexity in sustainability issues. Therefore, this study analyses how complexity can become visible in students’ deliberations. The study has been conducted as an in-situ study at two upper secondary schools. The data was analysed using Practical Epistemological Analysis (PEA) and Deliberative Educational Questions (DEQ). The results show that four different kinds of considerations were used to visualise complexity. Those considerations regarded facts and values in relation to known and unknown facts. The considerations were used to develop a didactic model. Design principles were also developed, which together with the model can support teachers in didactic analyses regarding complex sustainability issues in chemistry education. Furthermore, the study shows that chemistry education can contribute to development of Bildung and democratic citizenship.

Keywords

• socio scientific issues
• upper secondary school
• didactic modeling