THE SOCIO-ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEM AND THE

NATURE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY:

PROMOTING A CHANGE TO IMPROVE THEIR
UNDERSTANDING


Mayra Garca-Ruiz
1
, Isidora Lpez Prez
2
and Senddey Maciel Magaa
3

1
Universidad Pedaggica Nacional (Mxico)
2
Universidad Insurgentes (Mxico)
3
Benemrita Escuela Normal de Maestros

Abstract: The purpose of this research was to promote improved understanding of socio-
environmental aspects and the nature of science and technology (NoST) in future
pedagogues, through teaching-learning sequences based in creative and recreational
activities and daily experiences. We worked with a sample of 17 undergraduate
pedagogy students who were enrolled in the general teaching subject. The instruments
used were the teaching sequence (TS) through which didactic intervention was carried
out, and the Questionnaire of Opinions on science, technology and society (COCTS, for
Spanish acronyms, Manassero et al., 2003). The TS applied was the "Participation of
science, technology and society in environmental issues" and TS activities were
supported by the competency-based education approach. The participants were
evaluated before and after the educational intervention through a quasi-experimental
research. With this study we can confirm that the participants did not possess clear
concepts of science and technology, and consequently did not understand well the
interactions between science, technology and the environment. With the application of
TS the understanding of some aspects of social and environmental issues and NoST was
improved in future pedagogues. The educational intervention, albeit on a limited scale,
allowed them to critically reflect on the positive and negative aspects of S&T, society
and the environment.

Keywords: Nature of science and technology, socio-environmental problems, teaching sequence,
undergraduate pedagogy students, beliefs and attitudes.


INTRODUCTION
The development of science and technology (S&T) has played an important role in the
changes experienced in a society, in terms of the quality of life of individuals, and with
regard to their beliefs, attitudes and values. This development has led in many cases to
improve the quality of life of the country: but unfortunately also has promoted the
economic and political power that has caused social and environmental changes that
have resulted in a serious global crisis
The devastating use of natural resources, scientific and technological progress and
environmental pollution, have shown that is necessary to reach a sustainable
development. However, to achieve this it is essential an environmental, scientific and
technological literacy that contributes to building an environmentally responsible
citizenship and enable educators and students recognize how the cultural meanings
about the environment are transmitted and constructed (Gonzlez Gaudiano, 2001).
All these factors, from biological and physical factors, to social, political, economic,
and cultural are the ones which have made a remarkable civilizational crisis on the
majority of worlds population.
In the last two decades Mexico has undergone major social and political economic
changes; these changes have been followed by a deep environmental degradation that is
reflected in a dramatic climate change, biodiversity loss, physical and mental health
issues, poverty, insecurity, social anxiety, and loss of values and life quality, mainly due
to the economic development model, the centralized nation powers model, and the
lesser importance given to environment care over several years. All these problems aim
to a scientific and environmental literacy that contributes to the creation of a
technological and environmentally involved citizenry.
Therefore, increased knowledge, awareness and sensitivity are necessary in today's
society. Thus and according to the current trends in science education (SE) and EA it is
very important fomenting favorable attitudes towards science and technology, and
promoting social responsibility towards the environment for a sustainable future. In this
context, education must find alternatives to understand and transform beliefs,
knowledge, attitudes, values and conducts that result in beneficial social and cultural
changes towards society and the environment. And it is precisely here where the teacher
training institutions play a very important role. With respect to this point throughout its
history, Mexico has tried to raise the quality of teachers in different ways; today one of
those is to form teachers with higher professional skills, better domain of the teaching
contents as well as pedagogical content knowledge and specialized tutorials
accompaniment supported by relevant higher education institutions (SEP, 2010 and
2011).
On the other hand, empirical research in science education has shown that students do
not have a proper understanding about nature of science (NOS). This research is a part
of an international collaborative research project about teaching NOS issues (Vzquez,
Manassero and Bennssar, 2012). The purpose of this paper was to improve
understanding of socio-environmental aspects and the nature of science and technology
(NoST) in future pedagogues, through teaching-learning sequences based in creative
and recreational activities and daily experiences.
According to some authors like Abd-El-Khalick (2006) exploring the meanings that
college science students ascribe to various aspects of NOS is significant because a good
understanding of NOS is an essential component of scientific literacy, which is a goal
for all citizens in participatory democracies (AAAS, 1990; NRC, 1996). It is also
important to note that the educational research to improve learning and teaching about
NOS has focused in recent years on curriculum development and effectiveness in the
classroom. Thus we emphasize the relevance of a good understanding of NOS and
socio-environmental issues.

METHODS
The research followed a pre/post-test design. The implementation of teaching sequence
took place between the two assessments.
Sample
We worked with a sample of 17 junior undergraduate pedagogy students who were
enrolled in the general teaching subject in a Mexican university. Their ages ranged from
21 to 48 years.
Instruments
The instrument used was the Questionnaire of Opinions on science, technology and
society (COCTS, for Spanish acronyms, Manassero et al., 2003). Items considered from
the COCTS were:
The concepts of S & T,
Relationship of STS with social responsibility toward pollution,
Technology Relations with the living standards of our country.
The teaching sequence (TS) through which didactic intervention was carried out, and
was the "Participation of science, technology and society in environmental issues," TS
activities were supported by the competency-based education.
Procedure
The participants were evaluated before and after the educational intervention with a
quasi-experimental research approach. The pre-test was applied to students 1.5 months
before TS, and the post-test was applied 1.5 months after TS was implemented. We
compared pre-test/post-test scores of students responses through a t-test for correlated
samples.

RESULTS
After the intervention, only in three of the nine phrases of the question the students had
more adequate perceptions about science (Fig. 1), but that is an improvement in the
understanding of these matters, since they no longer considered science as only the
study of fields such as biology, chemistry, geology and physics or as something to
explore the unknown. They were now able to identify science as (phrase10111B_A) a
body of knowledge, such as principles, laws and theories explaining the world around
us (matter, energy and life).

Figure 1. Results concerning perceptions of science student teachers. Phrases with
significant difference.
Changes manifest in the beliefs of pedagogues in training about technology before and
after the intervention (Fig. 2) in the sense that they no longer consider technology just
similar to science or something useful only to make equipment or machinery; however,
there was not statistical difference in the phrase (10211G_A) referent to techniques for
designing things and organizing persons, indicating that regardless of the TS, the
students were able to identify the appropriate phrase.

Figure 2. Perceptions of Technology Education students. Sentences with significant
differences.
Attitudes towards social and environmental issues were explored through a question that
presents the problem of the social responsibility to pollution caused by highly
industrialized countries (see the whole question in appendix 2), although there were
only two significant differences, its interesting to note that most of the negative
attitudes about social and environmental issues of pollution were directed towards
favorable attitudes, as evidenced by the positive indexes in almost all sentences posttest.
This is an interesting result since they had not clear, in the beginning, what was the
environmental issue.

Figure 3. Opinions of training pedagogues on social and environmental issues assessed
through social responsibility to the pollution caused by heavy industry. Items with
significant differences.

As for the question concerning More technology will improve the living standards of
our country (40531; Figure 4) there was no significant change between the pretest and
posttest, however some phrases did not improve after the implementation of the TS,
though not enough to show statistical difference, this data shows that restructuring and
deepening this issue in the TS is an area of opportunity, very important for
understanding the NoST and its relationship with current environmental issues.

Figure 4. - Opinions on the relationship of technology to life quality. It can be seen that,
although there were no significant differences, it do is shown some negative trends and
some more positive ones after the educational intervention.

DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS
With this study we can confirm that the participants did not possess clear concepts of
science and technology, and consequently did not understand well the interactions
between science, technology and the environment. They related some aspects of
pollution to technology; however, mentioning some examples of existing contaminants
and linking them to S&T was extremely difficult to them, mainly because they had not
very strong conceptions about NoST, these results confirm previous research showing
that notions about NoST are inappropriate (Acevedo et al., 2002). With the application
of TS "The participation of science, technology and society in environmental issues" the
understanding of some aspects of social and environmental issues and NoST was
improved in future pedagogues. The relevance and necessity of such proposals its been
highlighted by some studies that have shown that undergraduates dont have consistent
ideas about the relationship between socio-environmental aspects and the NoST and that
their main source of information on these topics are TV programs (Carvalho
Washington, 2005). These generate wrong beliefs and misconceptions, along with
unfavorable attitudes and behaviors towards the environment, and these behaviors
create and exacerbate environmental problems that threaten the well-being not only for
the human kind, but for all the species on the planet (Garca-Ruiz and Lopez, 2011).
The TS permitted to the students carried out a critical reflect on the positive and
negative aspects of science, technology, society and the environment.
In addition, the results suggest that TS used in this research, allowed the pedagogues in
training, not only to relate the content to be treated with the environment, but also use
different strategies, as we could see, when students developed their own practices
required to accredit their courses. For example the students were able to understand the
relations between socio-environmental problems and the NoST from a new perspective
in which they note the relevance of the participation of members of the school
community, both students and parents family at different levels and could be addressed
in different subjects.
In conclusion the educational intervention, albeit on a limited scale, allowed to the
students to promote some awareness, responsibility and environmental collaboration to
improve the well-being of individuals, society and the environment.

NOTES
Authors note. Project funded by the Academic Area 2 of the National Pedagogical
University (Mexico) and the National R + D + i of the Ministry of Science and
Innovation (Spain) Research Project EDU2010-16553.

REFERENCES
Abd-El-Khalick, F. (2006). Over and over again: college students views of nature of science.
L.B. Flick and N.G. Lederman (eds.), Scientific Inquiry and Nature of Science, pp. 389-
425. The Netherlands: Springer
Acevedo, J.A.; Vzquez, A.; Manassero A.,M.A. & Acevedo R., P. (2002). Actitudes y
creencias CTS de los alumnos: su evaluacin con el cuestionario de opiniones
sobre ciencia, tecnologa y sociedad. Revista Iberoamericana de Ciencia,
Tecnologa, Sociedad e Innovacin. No.2 Enero/Abril, http//:www.campus-
oei.org/revistactsi/nmero2/varios1.htm
Carvalho Washington L.P. (2005). Relations involving science, technology and
environment in students perspectives. Revista Enseanza de las Ciencias, No.
Extra. VII Congreso en Investigacin en Didctica de las Ciencias, Granada,
Espaa.
Garca Ruiz, M. & Lpez, I. (2011). Las actitudes y conocimientos ambientales de los
profesores de educacin bsica y media superior. En Calixto, R., Garca Ruiz,
M., Gutirrez, D. (Coord.) Educacin e Investigacin Ambientales y
Sustentabilidad. Entornos cercanos para desarrollos por venir, pp. 397-420.
Mxico: UPN y Colegio Mexiquense.
Gonzlez Gaudiano, E. (2001). Cmo sacar del coma a la Educacin Ambiental? La
alfabetizacin: un posible recurso pedaggico poltico. Revista Ciencias
Ambientales Univ. De Costa Rica, San Jos, 22,15-23.
www.educacionambiental.org.ar/congreso/conferencias/Articulos/Art01_gonzale
s.pdf
Manassero, M. A., Vzquez, A., & Acevedo, J. A. (2003). Cuestionario de opiniones
sobre ciencia, tecnologia i societat (COCTS) [Views on Science, Technology,
and Society Questionnaire]. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.
Consultado 12/12/2005 en http://www.ets.org/testcoll/.
SEP/SES/DGESPE (2010). Modelo curricular para la formacin profesional de los
maestros de educacin bsica. Documento final, pp. 184, febrero 2010.
SEP (2011). Reforma Curricular para Educacin Normal (Preescolar y Primaria):
Propuesta de Perfil de Egreso. Documento de Trabajo pp. 33, enero 2011.
Vzquez, A., Manassero, M.A. & Bennssar, A. (2012). Proyecto EANCYT: Ensear,
aprender y evaluar sobre naturaleza de la ciencia y tecnologa [EANCYT
Project: Teaching, learning and assessment of nature of science and technology].
Paper presented at the First International Symposium on Science Teaching (I
ISIEC 2012).

APPENDIX 1 TEACHING SEQUENCE EXAMPLE
TTLE: Participation of science, technology and society in environmental issues. SESSIONS
2
Session

General Description: Reflections about socio-environmental problem and the nature of
science and technology.
School curriculum: General Didactics II
Level
Undergraduate
Pedagogy
BASIC SKILLS
States the relationship between science, technology, society and the environment in historical and everyday contexts.
Discuss the impacts of science and technology in their daily lives, assuming ethical considerations.
Design models or prototypes to solve problems and show scientific principles.
OBJECTIVES
Identify local environmental problems, and positive and negative implications of the relationship between STS and these issues.
Recognize and appreciate the relevance of STSE approach to promote at school, values, attitudes and habits for the care,
preservation and improving the environment.
Time ACTIVITIES (Students / Teacher)
Methodology/
organization
Materials/
Resources
2.5 hours
ENGAGE: Introduction-motivation
Systematize personal experiences regarding environmental problems.
Orally expose personal experience about the environmental problems/solve
doubts and guide students to taking on count their own experiences about the
environmental problems in the University.
Discuss the exposed problems/guides the discussion
Brainstorm
and organize
the students in
small groups
to analyze and
debate the
issues.
Flipchart
sheets,
paper,
markers
ELICITATES previous knowledge
Identify the causes of some environmental problems and their relation with science
and technology/Organize the group to research about the environmental problems
in their own context.

Small groups.

Laptop
and
projector.

Development

Team work
analysis and
reflection.


Laptop.
Flipchart
sheets,
paper,
markers
Contents
Local environmental problems
Environmental problems: Challenges and Alternatives solutions

EXPLAIN Procedures
Review materials according to the correspondent problematic/ Join students
research procedures.

Small group
Case analysis
Different
reference
sources.
Different
materials.
EXPLAIN Attitudes
Share acquired information, collaborative attitude / Actions that help
objective achievement.

EXPLORE Consolidation
Team prepared conceptual framework synthesizing work and showing
the relationship between society, science, technology, and
and environment problems.
/ Moderate the exposition. Orient the analysis regarding factors
(science, technology, culture, economy) that are generating environmental problems,
as well as solution proposals.
Small groups Mural or
graphic
organizer

Flipchart
sheets
Evaluate
Instruments (questionnaire items)
Write a text making a reflection about economic, political, and social causes that the
environmental issue comes from. /
Receive and analyze the material. Make suggestions or comments
Pretest-Postest 10111,
10211,
M-30111
40161,
40531.
EXTEND Reinforcement activities
Debate on the participation of CTS in environmental issues, as well as their contribution on solution and prevention
alternatives / Guide and regulate discussion.
EVALUATION/REFLECTION ON TEACHING PRACTICE Assess how new knowledge will impact on CTS relationship and its
implications on environmental issues.
APPENDIX 2 QUESTIONNAIRE

PRESENTATION
This questionnaire seeks to know anonymously your opinions about some important questions about science and
technology in the current world. All the questions have the same structure: an initial text that outlines a problem
following a list of sentences (ordered and labelled successively A, B, C, D, etc.) that represent different alternatives to
answer reasonably the problem.
Your task is to rate each one of the sentences according to your degree of personal agreement. Besides the letter
of the sentence, please, write the number that represents your opinion, expressed in a scale from 1 to 9 with the
following meanings:


In case you cannot write your opinion rate on a sentence, please select the reason:
E. I don't understand it.
S. I don't know enough to rate it.

DEMOGRAPHIC DATA (please, write or thick one answer per data).
I live in Argentina
1
Brasil
2
Colombia
3
Espaa
4
Mxico
5
Portugal
6
Uruguay
7
other
8

I am ____ year old? (please, write down your age)
I am a man
1
a woman
2

Are you a student?
Yes, high-school
1
Yes, beginning college
2
Yes, finishing my degree
3
No, I am not a student
4

Are you a teacher? Yes, in initial training
1
Yes, in service
2
I am not a teacher
3

If you are a teacher, in training or in service, what is your educational level?
primary
1
Low secondary
2
vocational education
3
High-school
4
university
5
other
6
(write) __
Which is your highest academic degree?
PhD
1
Master
2
Graduate
3
short graduate
4
High school
5
other
6
(write) ______

How could you define the main specialty of (thick one in each column) your degree? your job?
Arts (music, theatre, painting, sculpture, design, etc.)
1

1

Humanities (literature, languages, history, art, philosophy, logic, etc.)
2

2

Socials (law, economy, management, sociology, geography, psychology, education)
3

3

Engineering (architecture, mathematics, computer science, etc.)
4

4

Science (physics, chemistry, biology, Earth, environmental, sea, medicine, etc.)
5

5

A mixture of the previous ones (including science)
6

6

None of the previous ones, other
7

7









DISAGREEMENT Undecide
d
AGREEMENT OTHER
Total
Hig
h
Mean Low Low Mean
Hig
h
Total
I don't
understand
I don't know
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 E S
Example of Question with its answers
(the numbers located in the left column are the answers you should write down; the numbers of this example are
fictitious and they should be taken just as an example of the model of answer)

10412 Does science influence technology?
1 A. science doesn't influence too much technology.
6 B. Technology is applied science.
8 C. The advance in science leads to new technologies.
9 D. Science becomes more valuable when it is used in technology.
7 E. Science is the base knowledge for technology.
8 F. Knowledge from the applied scientific investigation is more used in technology that the
knowledge of the pure scientific investigation.
2 G. Technology is the application of science to improve the quality of life.



10111 Defining science is difficult because science is complex and does many things. But MAINLY science is:
A. a study of fields such as biology, chemistry and physics.
B. a body of knowledge, such as principles, laws and theories, which explain the world around us (matter,
energy and life).
C. exploring the unknown and discovering new things about our world and universe and how they work.
D. carrying out experiments to solve problems of interest about the world around us.
E. inventing or designing things (for example, artificial hearts, computers, space vehicles).
F. finding and using knowledge to make this world a better place to live in (for example, curing diseases,
solving pollution and improving agriculture).
G. an organization of people (called scientists) who have ideas and techniques for discovering new
knowledge.
H. an inquiry process and its knowledge outcomes.
I. no one can define science.
10211 Defining what technology is, can cause difficulties because technology does many things. But MAINLY
technology is:
A. very similar to science.
B. the application of science.
C. new processes, instruments, tools, machinery, appliances, gadgets, computers, or practical devices for
everyday use.
D. robotics, electronics, computers, communication systems, automation, etc..
E. a technique for doing things, or a way of solving practical problems.
F. inventing, designing and testing things (for example, artificial hearts, computers, space vehicles).
G. ideas and techniques for designing and manufacturing things, for organizing workers, business people and
consumers, for the progress of society.
H. the know-how to make things (for example, instruments, machinery, apparatuses).

M-30111 Rate the following diagrams, according to the better representation of the mutual interactions among
science, technology and society in your opinion.
(The simple arrows indicate a one-way relationship, and the double arrows indicate two-way interactions. The
thickest arrows indicate a relationship that is more intense than the fine ones, and these are more than intense than
those dotted; the absence of arrow, indicates a lack of relationship).



























40161 Heavy industry has greatly polluted North America. Therefore, it is a responsible decision to move
heavy industry to underdeveloped countries where pollution is not so widespread.
A. Heavy industry should be moved to underdeveloped countries to save our country and its future
generations from pollution.
B. Its hard to tell. By moving industry we would help poor countries to prosper and we would help reduce
our own pollution. But we have no right to pollute someone elses environment.
C. It doesnt matter where industry is located. The effects of pollution are global.
( ) A Science Technology Society Environment

( ) B Science Technology Environment Society

( ) C Technology Science Environment Society
( ) D Science Environment


Technology Society

( ) E Science

Technology Society

Environment

( ) F Science

Technology Society

Environment

( ) G Science

Technology Society

Environment
Heavy industry should NOT be moved to underdeveloped countries:
D. because moving industry is not a responsible way of solving pollution. We should reduce or eliminate
pollution here, rather than create more problems elsewhere.
E. because those countries have enough problems without the added problem of pollution.
F. because pollution should be confined as much as possible. Spreading it around would only create more
damage.

40531 More technology will improve the standard of living of our country.
A. Yes, because technology has always improved the standard of living, and there is no reason for it to stop
now.
B. Yes, because the more we know, the better we can solve our problems and take care of ourselves.
C. Yes, because technology creates jobs and prosperity. Technology helps life become easier, more efficient
and more fun.
D. Yes, but only for those who can afford to use it. More technology will cut jobs and cause more people to
fall below the poverty line.
E. Yes and no. More technology would make life easier, healthier and more efficient. BUT more technology
would cause more pollution, unemployment and other problems. The standard of living may improve, but the quality
of life may not.
F. No. We are irresponsible with the technology we have now; for example, our production of weapons and
using up our natural resources.


Thanks for your helpful collaboration!