Informal Reasoning and Socio-Scientific Issues

Eleni Beniata, Vasilis Tselfes, Maria Tsapali
Faculty of Early Childhood Education, University of Athens, eleni_beniata@yahoo.gr
Faculty of Early Childhood Education, University of Athens, tselfesv@ecd.uoa.gr
Faculty of Primary Education, University of Athens, ma.tsa.08@hotmail.com

In this paper we try to conduct a bibliographic review on the field of research of Science Education which is mainly interested in teaching of Socio-Scientific Issues, (SSI). This review focuses on the fact that this certain teaching is integrated in structures of informal reasoning, which we encounter in scientific activity, but not in scientific texts. These structures are much more flexible than the structures of formal reasoning; they have to do with skills, beliefs and values which make the teaching plans and the learning aims rather vague. We also use a brief examination of the results of an extensive research which was conducted with pupils of a Greek primary school. Our results indicate the necessity of forming a specific didactic discipline. A kind of discipline which is imposed by the factual daily issues on the teaching procedure, which are considered to be de facto, interest the current curriculum, and they can't be specially transformed for Education.