Secondary students’ attitudes to animal research: examining the potential of a resource to communicate the scientist’s perspective
Journal Title: European Journal of Science and Mathematics Education - Year 2015, Vol 3, Issue 3
Abstract
A DVD resource that provided a scientist’s perspective on the use of animals in research and teaching was evaluated with a questionnaire that asked students’ views pre and post their access to the resource. Thirty-nine secondary students (Y10-Y13) took part in three different teaching programmes that provided information about animal research and allowed them to explore the issues. Students’ opinions about the use of animals for research and teaching were measured by matched pre and post questionnaires and open responses they made to justify their positions. The findings showed that students’ views on animal research are strongly held and they express their views with emotion. The resource helped students to realise the complexity of the issue and provided them with knowledge to write more nuanced justifications. This resource was focussed on providing students with cognitive input and this evaluation indicated that equal attention should be provided to the affect component of attitude formation.
Authors and Affiliations
Bev France| Faculty of Education, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand, For correspondence: b.france@auckland.ac.nz, Sally Birdsall| Faculty of Education, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP8067
- DOI -
- Views 369
- Downloads 26
The science-technology-society framework for achieving scientific literacy: an overview of the existing literature
This literature review intends to highlight some of the critical research that has been synthesized on the perspectives of both teachers and students and their attitudes to teaching and learning in an STS-themed learning...
Light pollution in natural science textbooks in Spanish secondary education
Light pollution has emerged with the industrial development in recent decades. It is becoming a significant environmental issue for cities today and it will probably become more important in the near future. However, ver...
Activating pre-service mathematics teachers' critical thinking
Teachers’ critical thinking skills are essential for fostering the development of the same skills in their students. To demonstrate how teachers’ ability to examine solutions critically can be developed and supported, we...
“Reading an object”: Developing effective scientific inquiry using student questions
We explore the power of allowing students to construct their own conceptual understanding as they “read an object” in a series of guided inquiry steps, developing their own questions about the object. Their ownership of...
Promising teacher practices: students’ views about their science learning
Internationally, conceptual and procedural understanding, understanding the Nature of Science, and scientific literacy are considered worthy goals of school science education in modern times. The empirical study presente...