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Metz et al., 2007) indicated that context is of importance as it guides and shapes learning.
To integrate the recommendations from the reform documents (National Research Council [NRC], 1996; American Association for the Advancement of Science [AAAS], 1993) and to emphasize students' appreciation for the interdependence of society and science, educators introduced the term socioscientific issues to describe social issues with conceptual ties to science (Sadler, Chambers, & Zeidler, 2004). SSI conversations build on contextualized curriculum conversations, used in this study to allow students to understand the content of an issue, thus “processing information regarding the issue, attending to moral and ethical ramifications of the issue, and adopting a position on the issue” (Sadler, Chambers, & Zeidler, 2004, p. 387). SSIs are usually value laden, and the juxtaposition of controversial science issues, ethics, and moral dilemmas can make science uncomfortable for scientists, teachers, and students who define science in terms of objectivity (Troy, Amirshokoohi, Kazempour, & Allspaw, 2006).
Research using sociocultural theory builds on the premise that school curriculum needs to identify and integrate socially related issues in school science. Specifically, school science curriculum needs to go beyond technical skills and knowledge sets and be inclusive of broader societal issues. Therefore, science education should include not only the learning of science knowledge but also an inquiry into how science knowledge is constructed (epistemology) and its application, as well as engaging in social-political action (Hodson, 2003).
Research Plan
The study explores the impact of contextualized science curriculum on middle school students' content knowledge, attitudes toward classroom science, student engagement in science class, teachers' perceptions of students' attitudes, and teachers' own perceived self-efficacy beliefs in an urban middle school setting. The study took place in a middle school in an urban school district over a period of nine weeks. Two intact groups of seventh-grade students and their science teachers took part in the study.