The Effectiveness of Teaching Science Based on Science-Technology-Society Approach in Accepting 9th Grade Students the Requirements of Scientific Literacy

Abstract

The study aimed at investigating whether the 9th grade students’ achievement of the scientific literacy requirements differs with using different teaching approaches. The sample of the study consisted of 150 students distributed into four classes, two of them were taught by the traditional method, while the other two were taught by STS approach using an enrichment unit on water resources in Palestine. A questionnaire about views toward Science-Technology Society was developed to asses scientific literacy requirements. The data were analyzed by using X2 method to compare the achievement of the two groups. Results showed that there who’s a significant deference α ≤ 0.05 between the two groups in favor of the experimental group, especially in the following dimensions: understanding the nature of the scientific method, social aspects of science concerning the mutual effects between science, technology & society, belief in social responsibility and the importance of knowledge in making social decisions related to scientific issues, positive attitudes toward science, problem solving skills. The study recommended adopting a scientific literacy objective in the Palestinian & Arab curricula, and using STS approach as a suitable trend to achieve this goal.