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Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 12, Issue 2, Foreword (Dec., 2011) Marcus GRACE and Jacquie L. BAY Developing a pedagogy to support science for health literacy
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Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 12, Issue 2, Foreword (Dec., 2011) Marcus GRACE and Jacquie L. BAY Developing a pedagogy to support science for health literacy
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A pedagogy supporting science for health literacy
We outline below an on-going science-based health education programme focussing on NCDs which is operating in Auckland, New Zealand through LENScience (established 2006) and in Southampton, England through LifeLab (established 2007). The project supports the communication and translation of science relating to NCD risk, raising awareness about how students' lifestyle choices, in particular those concerning nutrition, can impact on their future health and the health of their future children. Programmes operate both within the context of participant schools, through e-learning, and on-site within university/hospital settings. Core to all these programmes is the ability of students and teachers to access stories of science, health, clinicians and scientists relating to the development of understanding of socio-scientific factors affecting NCD risk. Access to and interaction with scientists and real scientific and health data allows students to enter into the culture of science and engage actively with the science and health communities. Programmes encourage teachers to use stories of science and student-centred investigations to explore issues of health and wellbeing, make community action initiatives to take actions relating to NCD risk prevention and community events to communicate their learning. E-learning activities that bring students from multiple schools together allow interactions that support understanding of the impact of NCD risk on communities beyond that of the student. The most interactive of these programmes brings students face to face with specialist science educators and scientists in classrooms within the university-hospital setting. Here they explore the scientific data, carry out hands-on practical activities using equipment which is generally unavailable in schools, and experience small group discussions with scientists.
We present below some key pedagogical approaches underpinning the science-science education-school partnership programmes, designed by experienced science educators working within scientific institutions, which have shown signs of success in promoting science for health literacy.
1. Students' background knowledge, attitudes and behaviour
We take a social constructivist perspective of learning by beginning with an understanding of the students' cultural setting and their cognitive, attitudinal and behavioural responses to health issues, with a view to providing a supportive learning environment in which we can challenging their epistemological orientations through cognitive dissonance. The setting of programmes is within a context of relevance to the students, utilising both local and international issues to demonstrate the cultural connectedness of NCDs to communities. A contextual approach such as this can motivate students by engaging them in real topics, which have relevance and meaning on an individual level, or which have an impact on their local community (Brophy, 1999; Kwiek et al., 2007; Rivet and Krajcik, 2008).
2. Transactional and transformative learning
Improving knowledge and raising awareness about health issues is itself inadequate. The desired outcome for science and health literacy is action resulting from informed decision making that will lead to improved health, social and economic well-being. Constructivist interventions harmonize well with transactional and transformative learning (Mezirow, 2000). A transactional model engages all stakeholders (scientists, teachers, students, families) in interactions which have the potential to challenge perceptions and lead to attitudinal and behavioural transformation. Importantly, this model emphasises the value of the interactions to all stakeholders, acknowledging the importance of scientists and the public learning from each other and the potential that this presents for the shared construction of possible futures (EU, 2009).
3. A biopsychosocial model approach
The multifaceted nature of health issues relating to NCDs requires them to be viewed from a biopsychosocial perspective (Engel, 1977; Lyons and Chamberlain, 2006; Lee 2011), bringing together underlying scientific, socio-cultural, environmental and psychological determinants. The key approach here is to strike the right balance between the science and non-science components. Although science concepts are often overlooked in health education, Lee (2011) stresses that the reverse can also be true, i.e. that the non-science aspects are often not taken into account, and poses the example of what a lay person is to make of first-hand experience of people who chain-smoke with no apparent ill-effects. The science alone, indicating a causal relationship between smoking and lung cancer will not suffice as an explanation, and may even be challenged and contested.
One of the challenges in addressing health related SSIs is exploration of understanding of risk and uncertainty. The teaching of risk and probability in relation to health plays an important role, although risk itself is challenging to teach as it is also contextualised, incorporates mathematics and statistics and consists of epistemic and non-epistemic values (Levinson et al, 2011), and as Lee (2011) indicates, risks calculated scientifically are also sometimes distrusted as they don't seem to relate to day-to-day experiences.
5. Using science stories and accessing scientific data
The use of science stories is employed to enable students to access the people and issues of the context of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) through time. For example the story of the Hertfordshire Study (Barker et al. 1989) in which David Barker's team uncovered the birth records of 16,000 men and women born in Hertfordshire between 1911 and 1930 and traced these people to find out about their health in adulthood allows students to enter into the journey which has led to the Barker Hypothesis and subsequently inspired work which has shown that NCD risk is in part determined by the environment that we experience in the womb (Gluckman & Hanson, 2006). Students explore how the uncovering of the story of these people led to the posing of questions which are answered in part through the story of the Dutch Hunger Winter (Painter et al. 2006). From here students explore stories of the work of current scientists such as Gluckman, Hanson, Sloboda, Vickers and Godfrey which allows them to see how science knowledge develops over time, yet constantly uncovers further questions. Science stories allow students to enter into the culture of science and explore the nature of science (Solomon, 2002). Issues of ethics, decision making and the timing of communication of science knowledge to society (when it is still uncertain) can be explored as the stories unfold. Key to the telling of these science stories is the reimaging of scientific data to enable students from age 11 - 18 to access and explore the data in an age-appropriate setting. The ability of science educator and scientist to collaborate in the development of learning resources to enable access to these stories and data is essential (Bay et al in press).
6. Structured decision-making discussions
Small group decision-making discussions about SSIs, using a structured framework for guidance serves a very useful way of sharing and listening to a range of viewpoints, and research has shown that it helps students reflect on and modify their views. With a careful balance of structured guidance and freedom to state one’s points of view with agreed ground rules, it is possible to engage students in productive decision-making discussions about SSIs within the space of a couple of lessons in a normal classroom setting (Grace, 2009; France et al., 2011). An appropriate framework endeavours to incorporate metacognitive strategies such as reflective thinking to integrate multiple perspectives (e.g. Zeidler et al, 2002), moral perspectives (e.g. Bell & Lederman, 2003; Sadler & Zeidler, 2004), integration of personal value identification, knowledge acquisition, and argumentation (e.g. Lee, 2007), emotive and intuitive reasoning (Sadler and Zeidler, 2004), and challenging students with opposing viewpoints to clarify their help thoughts (Simonneaux, 2001).
7. Professional development programmes for science teachers
Access to programmes that allow teachers to engage with and explore the science underpinning SSIs, such as the complexity of the global NCD epidemic, is provided to support effective implementation of programmes into schools. The rapid development of science knowledge related to health related SSIs means that professional development and access to appropriate summaries of scientific evidence is essential for all teachers. This is accompanied by professional development that explores the pedagogical basis of the suggested student programmes and supports teaching teams to adapt these for use in their community and looks at issues related to approaches to sensitive health issues, ethics, decision making and behaviour change. The approach follows recommendations by Hanley et al.(2008) that flexibility in implementing professional development programmes contributes to its success. This aims to prepare science teachers to work with their students both at school and, during e-learning events and for those with access, the university-hospital classroom visit. We have found it creates more knowledgeable and skilled teachers, but most importantly it instils confidence and self-efficacy which is needed to ensure sustained motivation within science departments and supports the school-university partnership approach to the delivery of the teaching and learning package.
8. Accessing and interacting with the science and health communities
The LENScience-LifeLab programmes (Bay & Mora, 2008-2011; Woods-Townsend, 2011) are based on school-university partnerships that integrate school-based (e.g. Bay & Mora, 2009 & 2010) and out-of-school or synchronous national e-learning events (e.g. Bay, Denny & Sloboda, 2010; Bay, Mora & Cutfield, 2011). The e-learning and out of school events offer unique settings upon which the classroom teacher can build. Evidence from research shows that the university-hospital classroom setting allows students to bridge the cultural divide between scientists and the community (France & Bay, 2010). The UK government inspectors recently reported that "learning outside the classroom was most successful when it was an integral element of long-term curriculum planning and closely linked to classroom activities." (Ofsted, 2010).
Copyright (C) 2011 HKIEd APFSLT. Volume 12, Issue 2, Foreword (Dec., 2011). All Rights Reserved.
