Socioscientific Issues in Science Education: An opportunity to Incorporate Education about Risk and Risk Analysis?

Area of Science:

• Science Education Research
• Socioscientific Issues (SSI)
• Risk Analysis and Management

Background:

• Socioscientific issues (SSI) are integral to science education, focusing on content knowledge, nature of science, argumentation, and decision-making.
• SSI topics often involve social controversies and lack simple solutions, inherently connecting to risk.
• Current science education research on SSI does not consistently address the concept of risk.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a scoping review of literature on SSI in science education.
• To investigate if SSI topics lend themselves to risk education.
• To determine the extent to which risk is discussed within SSI research.

Main Methods:

• A scoping review of publications identified via Web of Science.
• Analysis of 296 empirical and 91 theoretical/review publications on SSI teaching.
• Categorization of publication types and identification of frequently taught SSI themes.

Main Results:

• The most common SSI themes in science education include nature conservation, biotechnology, and climate change.
• Despite clear connections to risk, the concept of risk and risk analysis methods were rarely mentioned (48% empirical, 49% theoretical publications omitted risk).
• Empirical studies were conducted across primary to tertiary levels, with a concentration in upper secondary school (32%).

Conclusions:

• Socioscientific issues offer a valuable, yet underutilized, platform for risk education within school science.
• There is a significant opportunity for collaboration between risk researchers and educators.
• Developing targeted teaching materials is crucial to effectively incorporate risk analysis into SSI education.