Lebanese Chemistry Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Socioscientific Issues

Abstract

Scientific literacy has been the overarching goal of science education for decades. Scientifically literate individuals must have conceptual knowledge of not only subject matter and scientific procedures, but also socioscientific concerns. Scholars contended that scientific literacy can be achieved by integrating socioscientific issues (SSI) into science education. This integration is strongly dependent on teachers’ knowledge and capabilities since teachers play a pivotal role in how (SSI) are taught in school science. Hence, teachers must have adequate pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) to teach SSI. Consequently, it is important to investigate teachers’ preparedness to help students integrate SSI with scientific knowledge to enhance their evidence-based thinking and decision-making. Following this line of thought, the purpose of this study is to explore the PCK of Lebanese secondary chemistry teachers for teaching SSI related to the chemistry subject. The participants are eight chemistry teachers from different regions in Lebanon, teaching at private and public schools and with a range of teaching experiences. Teachers' PCK for SSI were investigated through a case study design. Moreover, this study adopts the PCK construct as a framework that guides teaching. This framework helps to identify what the teachers should know or do to have effective teaching. Two instruments were used for data collection. The first one is a questionnaire composed of two scenarios (global warming and water fluoridation) followed by open-ended questions related to each scenario. The second one is a semi-structured interview. The questionnaire includes three parts: (1) teachers’ background information, (2) teachers’ views and understandings about SSI, and (3) teachers’ PCK for SSI teaching. The instrument comprises a rubric for scoring the participants’ responses to the questionnaire and to be used in data analysis. The rubric comprised three categories: low, medium and high. Each category included codes which represent the answers of the questions in the survey for each knowledge domain. For each participant, responses on each question were placed in one of the three categories. After assigning each response to a category, each question in a domain was given a score (0,1 or 2) depending on the category the response is present in. Then an average score was calculated for each knowledge domain separately and for all the PCK domains as a whole. Results of the present study showed that most of the participant teachers had adequate knowledge and understanding about SSI. Results also showed that teachers’ PCK profile for teaching SSI ranged from low to high. Moreover, their knowledge level varied in different domains of PCK. Thus, they showed highest knowledge in the curriculum, content and school domains, while lowest knowledge in the pedagogy and student domains. Based on these findings, it is recommended that SSI teaching should be included in university teacher education programs and PD programs should target the enhancement of PCK related to SSI.