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This paper draws together two important agendas in science education. The first is making science education more inclusive such that students from non-Western or indigenous cultures can benefit from culturally relevant curricula. The second is integrating technology into the curriculum under the umbrella of Science-Technology-Society (STS) education to embrace the social aspects of science, with technology serving as a bridge. The advancement of the first agenda is hindered by the pursuance by both Western and non-Western societies of narrow cultural and practical goals without considering the development of science and technology from a cross-cultural perspective. The second agenda is limited by the misconception that technology is applied science, leading to the exclusion from STS discussions of pre-science or indigenous technologies developed by non-Western cultures. Through selected case studies of the evolution of Chinese traditional technologies and their interaction with science, this paper offers a perspective from the Far East, and argues for situating culturally responsive science education in broader historical and cross-cultural contexts to acknowledge the multi-cultural contributions to science and technology. A form of cross-cultural STS education is advanced, encompassing the cultural basis of technological developments, technology diffusion, interactions of traditional technology with science, and the potential development of traditional or indigenous technologies. This approach provides a bridge between the existing universal science education paradigm promoted in the West and the different forms of multi-cultural education advocated by indigenous science educators. To translate theory into practice, a conceptual framework is proposed in which the essential transdisciplinary knowledge base, curricular goals, and pedagogical approaches are embedded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The course Science, Technology, and Society is taken by about 500 engineering students each year at Bilkent University, Ankara. Aiming to complement the highly technical engineering programs, it deals with the ethical, social, cultural, political, economic, legal, environment and sustainability, health and safety, reliability dimensions of science, technology, and engineering in a multidisciplinary fashion. The teaching philosophy and experiences of the instructor are reviewed. Community research projects have been an important feature of the course. Analysis of teaching style based on a multi-dimensional model is given. Results of outcome measurements performed for ABET assessment are provided. Challenges and solutions related to teaching a large class are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of employing an STS instructional model that addresses each of the four goal levels of STS education versus an instructional model containing only life science content, on seventh grade students' participation in citizenship action on STS issues. A modified version of the non-equivalent control group quasi-experimental research design was used with seventeen intact seventh grade life science classes, ten of which received STS instruction ( N = 264) and seven of which received life science instruction ( N = 136) over 20 school days. The STS instruction sequentially addressed each of the four goal levels for STS education. Data were collected using the Actions Taken on Public Issues instrument to measure citizenship behaviors. ANOVA and repeated measures ANOVA were employed to analyze data. It was concluded from the findings that employment of an STS issue investigation with an action instructional model that addressed the four goal levels of STS education significantly increased seventh grade students' participation in citizenship actions on STS issues. Implications and recommendations are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the procedure and results of a study analyzing Science-Technology-Society (STS) themes in state science curriculum frameworks in the United States. The criteria for the analysis consisted of 15 categories of standards derived from the K–12 content standards of the National Science Education Standards. Out of the 25 state science curriculum frameworks analyzed, 88% emphasized the standard Science and technology in society. Three standards (Environmental quality, Science as a human endeavor, and Nature of science and scientific knowledge) were represented in nearly 50% of the state science curriculum frameworks. The remaining 11 content standards were scarcely represented in the state science curriculum frameworks analyzed. The recommendations of this study include an examination of educational policy links to state science frameworks, and case studies of curriculum policy-to-practice transition in STS education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]