Science and Society in the Classroom: Using Sociocultural Perspec ...

approaches are being examined to document their effectiveness by linking social dilemmas with conceptual or technological links to science. This study examines the impact of a contextualized science curriculum on students' content acquisition, attitudes, and engagement in science classroom, and teachers' self-efficacy beliefs in an urban middle school science classroom.

Existing Literature

This study investigates the effectiveness of contextualized curriculum to facilitate students' understandings of the interdependence of science and society in the science classroom. The study integrates recommendations of science education reform documents, blends important theoretical frameworks, and draws upon empirical data to contribute to the use of sociocultural theory in science education. Bouillon and Gomez (2001) argued for using connected science as the curriculum in the classroom so that teachers can bridge the science knowledge systems between school science and the science represented outside the school setting. The bridged curriculum allows students and teachers to delve into real-world problems that are current and controversial. Lang, Drake, and Olson (2006) discussed the role of science curriculum for a socially oriented literacy. They share many projects in the United States, such as “The Voyage of the MiMi,” focusing on environmentalism activism, and “Chemistry in the community,” which allows students to explore the social relevance of science. Pilot and Bulte (2006) discussed the curricular problems in developing context-based science education. They contended that context-based approaches should “bring the learning of science closer to the lives and interests of students” (p. 953). Metz, Klassen, McMillan, Clough, and Olson (2007) also posited that we need to be aware and thoughtful about the continuous flow of hand-on activities in the standard textbooks to address decontextualized science. Effective instructional approaches must make use of suitable contexts in order to entrench the concepts that we want students to learn. Recent work on contextual learning and narratives (Klassen, 2006a; Klassen, 2006b;