2023, Arnold, Julia, Zeyer, Albert

2022, Kremer, Kerstin, Arnold, Julia, Kyburz-Graber, Regula, Zeyer, Albert

2021, Zeyer, Albert, Álvaro, Nuria, Arnold, Julia, Bauer, Deidre, Devetak, Iztok, Devetak, Sonja Posega, Gavidia, Valentin, Kremer, Kerstin, Mayoral, Olga, Tajnšek, Tina Vesel, Keselman, Alla, Levrini, Olivia, Tasquier, Giulia, Amin, Tamer G., Branchetti, Laura, Levin, Mariana

The term Science|Environment|Health (S|E|H) stands for a pedagogy of mutual benefit between science education, environmental education, and health education. Complexity is an important aspect of most S|E|H issues. In the natural sciences, and thus in science education, prediction plays a central role. Yet, complex systems usually do not allow for full prediction. “Don’t predict, adapt!” is a famous slogan in complexity talk. But what does adaption look like in complex systems and what role can scientific knowledge play in it? This paper features a symposium where three S|E|H examples were presented in which the relationship between prediction and adaption is important. The paper also includes a theoretical contribution that discusses the concept of dual-process theories as a potential theoretical framework. The main outcome of the symposium is that while understanding “as prediction” plays the central role in traditional science, understanding “as interpretation” is at least as equally important in S|E|H contexts. In terms of dual-process theories, the first is a type 2 process, while the second is type 1. Good decision-making in S|E|H contexts involves a complementary interplay between these two types of understanding science.

2022-09-08, Arnold, Julia, Zeyer, Albert

2021-12-16, Zeyer, Albert, Arnold, Julia

We describe a pre-service teacher workshop about sustainable health decisions in school. This one-week workshop had two goals: to improve the ability of students to cope with health and illness as teachers in daily school life, and to improve scientific literacy in health contexts. In this way, the workshop aimed at creating a situation of mutual benefit between science education and health education, as it is suggested in the new science pedagogy called Science|Environment|Health. To reach this aim, the workshop was structured by the evidence-preference approach and the three-talk model, both originally developed for shared-decision making in medicine. In the evidence-preference approach, the experts (the physician, here the teacher) provide the best evidence available, while the laypersons (the patient, here the teacher students) bring in their preferences and, together with the experts, find their personal standpoint. This process is structured by the three-talk model, which is conceived as a characteristic succession of choice talk, option talk, and decision talk. We describe how the pre-service teacher workshop embraced this new approach, compare it to a scientific literacy point of view, and suggest how it could be applied in many other educational contexts, particularly in many issues of education for sustainability.

2019, Zeyer, Albert, Álvaro, Nuria, Arnold, Julia, Benninghaus, J. Christian, Hasslöf, Helen, Kremer, Kerstin, Lundström, Mats, Mayoral, Olga, Sjöström, Jesper, Sprenger, Sandra, Gavidia, Valentin, Keselman, Alla, McLoughlin, Eilish, Finlayson, Odilla E., Erduran, Sibel, Childs, Peter E.

2022, Kremer, Kerstin, Zeyer, Albert, Arnold, Julia

2021, Arnold, Julia, Bauer, Deidre, Zeyer, Albert, Kyburz-Graber, Regula

In this chapter, we argue that, in order to contribute to health and environmental education, science education in classroom teaching, in research, development, and teacher education as well as in educational policy should 1) include the complex nature of the multidisciplinary problems by fostering conceptual understanding about systems from different angles and disciplines and systems thinking skills, 2) aim to equip students with a sound understanding of the nature of science and the nature of scientific knowledge and how to deal with uncertainty, 3) take into account attitudes, values, and subjective needs in decision-making as well as focus on a reflective attitude towards them, and should 4) include critical thinking skills and the ability to evaluate information critically. Finally, we combine these aspects to a vision of science education that is fit to support students in becoming reflected decision-makers. Additionally, we give ideas about how this vision could be turned into reality by transforming science education on the levels of classroom teaching, school development, teacher education, educational research and educational policy.