SEE-SEP: From a separate to a holistic view of socioscientific issues

The complex interrelationship between science and society has been become apparent in the modern age (Sadler & Zeidler, 2005a). More and more issues concerning the interaction of science and society emerge nowadays, and those issues have been termed socioscientific issues (SSIs) (Kolstø, 2001; Patronis, Potari, & Spiliotopoulou, 1999; Sadler & Zeidler, 2005a, 2005b; Zeidler, Walker, Ackett, & Simmons, 2002). During the past 20 years, SSIs have become one of the main trends in the field of science education, and also, many researchers have perceived the significance of SSIs and emphasized the need to design issue-based curricula as part of the canon of school science (Driver, Newton, & Osborne, 2000; Pedretti, 1999; Sadler & Zeidler, 2004). SSIs could be connected to many different disciplines like biology (e.g. cloning and genetic engineering), chemistry (e.g. DDT and Dioxin), medicine (e.g. gene therapy and vaccine issue), physics (e.g. nuclear power), and environmental science (e.g. global warming); and we could say those issues can be discussed through a lens extending from a local to global scale. Global issues relate to issues that exist without any geographical boundaries. People from different countries worldwide may face and discuss the same topics, like genetically modified food (GMF), cloning technology, global warming, the use of cellular phones, nuclear power, and so on. Furthermore, there are some local SSIs important for specific areas or countries. For instance, whether people from poor countries should keep using DDT to kill mosquitoes and to decrease the number of deaths caused by Malaria; whether we should build a new freeway for reasons of economy and convenience, although it might destroy the ecology locally. However, no matter that SSIs are global or local issues, they are all related to important aspects of our future, such as the well-being of humans and other living beings.

Based on analysis of such emergent and varied SSIs, the purpose of this article is to point out the significant roles SSIs could serve in school education, and also, present different dimensions involved in reasoning or arguing about SSIs from former studies. In the end, we feel a need to try to provide a holistic view of SSIs via the SEE-SEP model with supporting evidence from past research results. Hopefully, this article could benefit the practice of research and education as well as raise more discussion in science education.