Nanoscience education for scientific literacy : Opportunities and challenges in secondary school and in out-of-school settings

Abstract

The rapid development and growing societal importance of nanoscience and nanotechnology (NST) have evoked educational concerns throughout the world. A mounting need for education in this emerging field has been recognized not only at the academic level but also in terms of citizens abilities to deal with personal, social and global issues related to NST. Some understanding of NST has been postulated to be relevant in up-to-date scientific literacy for all.

This doctoral dissertation addresses such concerns and lays the research-based groundwork for the future development of learning environments on NST. The aim was to map the educational needs, possibilities and challenges of bringing the topics of NST to secondary schools and out-of-school settings. To this end, the methodological framework of the Model of Educational Reconstruction was employed. The model combines analytical and empirical research in order to analyse a field s educational significance, identify its essential features, investigate both learners and teachers perspectives and develop approaches for teaching and learning. Accordingly, the research presented here adopted a pragmatist multi-method approach to scrutinize NST from diverse educational viewpoints.

The role of NST in scientific literacy was first explored through a theoretical-analytical study on the content structure, the nature and the implications of NST. Next, a group of secondary school teachers who had attended a course on NST was invited to evaluate the educational significance of the field s contents and their appropriateness for the curriculum. Another survey addressed Finnish science teachers views on barriers that hinder incorporating NST into the curriculum, and facilitators for overcoming these barriers. Specific challenges in learning and communicating NST were investigated through a literature review that was subsequently complemented with an interview study on science centre visitors perspectives on NST. On the basis of all these findings, research-based suggestions were put forth for the planning of NST education both in classrooms and through visits to science exhibitions and industry sites.

Both theoretical and empirical analyses identified several content areas as well as social and epistemological aspects of NST that render the field educationally interesting and relevant to scientific literacy. The results imply that, by addressing NST, science education could stimulate dialogue on important contemporary issues in the intersection of science, technology and society, and provide up-to-date views on the nature of science. However, the teachers also pointed out a number of difficulties in arranging instruction on NST in practice. Many of the indicated barriers are extrinsic to teachers and related to curricular constraints in particular. It is concluded that NST would be best incorporated in the curriculum as a transdisciplinary theme. The field has, in addition, a potential to integrate traditional science subjects and approaches by shifting the focus to the scale of natural phenomena. In any case, including NST in science classes also requires in-service teacher training and new resources for materials and equipment.

This dissertation highlights the research outcomes that should be taken into account when planning any learning environments on NST. Prior research has identified several challenges in learning and communicating NST, but also effective strategies for supporting the understanding of the nanoscale and its phenomena. The results of the interview study carried out here confirmed earlier findings. For instance, they implied that scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) images, powerful and thus used extensively in nanoscience communication, are liable to cause epistemological misunderstandings.

Some of the identified barriers for teaching NST may be circumvented by out-of-school methods. This dissertation suggests research-based models for the development of two specific learning environments: exhibitions in science museums and school group visits to industrial sites. The models strive to bridge the notorious gap between academic research and the development of educational practice. Their application to NST education as well as their broader implications are discussed. Furthermore, some methodological issues are raised because this research also explored the potential of the Model of Educational Reconstruction in informal and out-of-school contexts.

Nanotiede ja nanoteknologia (NTT) ovat kehittyneet yhteiskunnallisesti merkittäviksi tutkimuksen ja kehityksen aloiksi, joihin liittyy sekä huomattavia lupauksia että riskejä. Lähitulevaisuudessa kansalaiset tarvitsevat uusia tiedollisia valmiuksia kohdatessaan yhä enemmän nanoteknologiaa arjessaan ja tehdessään päätöksiä henkilökohtaisissa, yhteiskunnallisissa ja globaaleissa kysymyksissä.

Tässä väitöstutkimuksessa kartoitettiin tarpeita ja mahdollisuuksia NTT:n tuomiseksi kouluun ja koulun ulkopuolisiin oppimisympäristöihin. Tutkimuksessa nousi esiin useita sisältöalueita ja piirteitä, joiden takia NTT:aa kannattaisi opettaa kaikille. Yläasteella ja lukiossa voitaisiin NTT:n yhteydessä keskustella tärkeistä ajankohtaisista asioista tieteen, teknologian ja yhteiskunnan rajapinnoilla sekä oppia ymmärtämään nykytieteen luonnetta. NTT tarjoaa mahdollisuuksia perinteisten oppiaineiden integraatioon ja uudenlaiseen tiedeopetuksen lähestymistapaan, jossa luonnonilmiöitä tarkastellaan eri kokoluokissa. Opetuksen järjestäminen on kuitenkin haasteellista. Opettajat kokevat suurimmaksi rajoitteeksi opetussuunnitelmien ahtauden. Tarvitaan myös opettajien täydennyskoulutusta ja uusia opetusmateriaaleja.

NTT:n kouluopetuksen lisäksi väitöstutkimuksessa tehtiin pohjatyötä koulun ulkopuolisten oppimisympäristöjen kehittämistä varten. Museot, tiedekeskukset ja teollisuusyritykset ovat otollisia ympäristöjä NTT:n esittelemiselle. Väitöskirjassa esitetään mallit tiedenäyttelyjen ja teollisuusyritysvierailujen tutkimusperustaiseen suunnittelemiseen.

Menetelmällisenä viitekehyksenä tutkimuksessa sovellettiin opetuksellisen rekonstruktion mallia. Mallissa hyödynnetään sekä teoreettis-analyyttisiä että empiirisiä tiedeopetuksen tutkimuksen menetelmiä. Osatutkimuksissa analysoitiin NTT:n merkitystä ja keskeisiä sisältöalueita, selvitettiin luonnontieteiden opettajien ja tiedekeskusvierailijoiden näkemyksiä NTT:sta sekä eriteltiin näihin aloihin liittyviä opetuksellisia ja viestinnällisiä haasteita.