A Study of STS Themes in State Science Curriculum Frameworks in the United States.

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]