Bridging Science Education and Psychology Perspectives to Support Science Literacy Theory & Instruction

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It is essential for citizens to develop the science literacy that empowers them to make informed decisions about challenging real-world issues. Science literacy is a complex process that involves learning to make sense of information from multiple sources, to consider social, cultural and economic values, and to evaluate options for action. To effectively enhance the scientific literacy of their students, science instructors also need to integrate results of psychology research that may help students learn to regulate their emotions and remove potential barriers to engagement when making decisions about controversial issues. This project will systematically study the thinking processes and the emotional processes that may influence undergraduate students' reasoning about complex socioscientific issues. In the process, the project will also develop the principal investigator's competencies in educational psychology to complement her expertise in ecology, science education, and qualitative research methods. By participating in targeted professional development experiences as she leads this project, the PI will build her capacity to conduct fundamental research about fostering scientific literacy in the future.This project will integrate research and professional development objectives to support the principal investigator in developing her knowledge of the theories and methods of educational psychology needed to achieve her long-term research goals. The project team, including a postdoctoral scholar, will investigate the relationships among several cognitive and emotional constructs thought to be important for undergraduate students' decision-making regarding socioscientific issues. The research questions are: (1) To what extent is achievement of decision-making skills predicted by students' emotions and motivation with respect to a particular socioscientific issue, as well as their personal epistemologies, metacognitive skills and open-minded thinking? and (2) To what extent do metacognitive and reasoning guides developed, for a large-enrollment scientific literacy course enhance students' sophistication with respect to personal epistemologies, open-minded thinking, and decision-making skills? To address research question 1, the team will compare student decision-making regarding issues in which many students are personal stakeholders to their decision-making regarding issues in which most students have distant relevance. To address research question 2, the researchers will compare student outcomes with and without the metacognitive and reasoning guides integrated into the science literacy course. Cognitive and emotional constructs will be measured using established instruments. Throughout the process of conducting the research, the project team will be mentored by Dr. Gale Sinatra, a researcher at the University of Southern California with expertise in educational psychology and controversial socioscientific issues. The project team will have frequent virtual and in-person meetings with the mentor to discuss targeted readings as well as progress and plans for the research project. The PI will also attend professional conferences and complete the Advanced Cognitive Psychology in Education course at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln (UNL) to deepen her theoretical understanding of educational psychology. Ultimately, the project team's refined approach to teaching the scientific literary course, including the metacognitive and reasoning guides and other resources they will develop, are expected to be useful for a broad range of other STEM courses. The PI will share what she has learned from her research and professional development experiences via venues such as the UNL's state-wide Science Literacy Initiative and the Multistate Collaborative for Research on Food, Energy and Water Education. The mentor and a three-member advisory board of experts in student reasoning and critical thinking regarding socioscientific issues will assess the success of the project and support the PI in creating a five-year future research plan.This project is supported by NSF's EHR Core Research Building Capacity in STEM Education Research (ECR BCSER) program, which is designed to build individuals' capacity to carry out high quality fundamental STEM education research in the core areas of STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM fields, and STEM workforce development.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.