SSI-based instruction by secondary school teachers: what really happens in class?

Abstract

Whereas one of the potential uses of Socioscientific Issues-based instruction in basic education is to engage students in scientific practices, there is a lack of empirical evidence showing that this is indeed what happens in the classroom. On this basis, the present study analysed teachers’ adaptations of pre-made SSI-based lessons in light of scientific practices as expressed in the PISA 2018 science competence framework. The results show that teachers mostly use SSI-BI to engage students in explaining phenomena scientifically, thus displaying that the model helps teachers to engage students in an elemental scientific practice. Further, tendencies of how teachers approach the other scientific practices are explained. Based on these results, we recommend to keep promoting the use of SSI-BI in science education, while emphasising the epistemic aspects of science in teacher education, as this subject matter knowledge can impact their disciplinary and pedagogical knowledge, which is known to influence their delivery of Socioscientific Issues-based instruction in the desired direction.