Addressing Wicked Problems through Science Education

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiv

   PDF

2. The Role of Out-of-School Science Education in Addressing Wicked Problems: An Introduction

   • Justin Dillon, Marianne Achiam, Melissa Glackin

   Pages 1-8

3. Co-Designing a Controversy-Based Educational Programme in a Science Centre

   • Ingrid Eikeland, Dagny Stuedahl

   Pages 9-32

4. Addressing Health in Out-of-School Science Experiences

   • Catharina Thiel Sandholdt

   Pages 33-52

5. Connecting Museum Visitors to Nature Through Dioramas

   • Annette Scheersoi

   Pages 53-72

6. Family Interactions with Biodiversity in a Natural History Museum

   • Patricia G. Patrick, Alexandra Moormann

   Pages 73-93

7. Real-World Problem: Connecting Socio-Scientific Contexts and Dioramas

   • Jung Hua Yeh

   Pages 95-120

8. Who Benefits from the Natural Gas in Israel? Using a Public Debate to Teach All Components of Education for Sustainable Development

   • Hagit Shasha-Sharf, Tali Tal

   Pages 121-147

9. Climate Garden 2085: An Art-Science Experiment Promoting Different Ways of Knowing About Climate Change

   • Juanita Schläpfer-Miller

   Pages 149-165

10. Using a Wicked Problem for Inquiry-Based Fieldwork in High School Geology: Addressing Climate Change and Mass Extinction Events

    • Lene Møller Madsen, Robert Evans, Rie Hjørnegaard Malm

    Pages 167-188

11. Connecting with People, Places and Histories Through Archaeology: Youths’ Development of Sustain’abilities’

    • Jrène Rahm

    Pages 189-213

12. School Sliding Doors: Out-of-School Activities and Young People’s Engagement with Climate Change

    • Giuseppe Pellegrini

    Pages 215-227

13. Wicked Problems and Out-of-School Science Education: Implications for Practice and Research

    • Marianne Achiam, Melissa Glackin, Justin Dillon

    Pages 229-237

This book discusses a number of ways in which out-of-school science education can uniquely engage learners with ‘wicked’ global problems such as biodiversity loss and climate change. The idea for the volume originated in discussions among members of the ESERA special interest group on "Science Education in Out-of-School contexts". It emerged from these discussions that out-of-school institutions and experiences offer opportunities for critical engagement in wicked problems that go far beyond what is possible solely in the science classroom.

The book opens with a principled discussion of the nature of wicked problems and what addressing them involves. This introduction clarifies key terms and ideas to create a coherent backdrop for the rest of the book. Subsequent chapters discuss the challenges of designing educational experiences to address wicked problems, as well as the teaching and learning that takes place. The authors offer perspectives across a range of out-of-school environments such as science centres, natural history museums, botanical gardens, geological sites, and local communities. The book concludes with a chapter that synthesises the findings from the various contributions and points to the messages for educators. Finally, the editors outline an exciting research agenda to build knowledge of education addressing wicked problems. The intended audience of the book includes teachers, educators/facilitators, teacher educators, curriculum developers, and early career researchers as well as established researchers.

• wicked problems
• out-of-school science education
• out-of-school science engagement
• challenges of teaching about wicked problems
• education on biodiversity challenges
• science education in immersion exhibitions
• student engagement with climate change
• science education outside the classroom
• science centre educators
• controversy-based educational programme
• out-of-school environments
• social science curriculum devlopers
• challenges of teaching and learning social science

• Department of Science Education, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

  Marianne Achiam

• Graduate School of Education, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK

  Justin Dillon

• School of Education, King's College London, London, UK

  Melissa Glackin

Marianne Achiam is associate professor at the Department of Science Education, University of Copenhagen. Her research is about science and sustainability education and communication in science centres, museums, and other out-of-school venues, and has been published in the journals Science & Education, Science Education, International Journal of Science Education, and Museum Management and Curatorship, as well as in books published by Springer and Routledge. She is a member of the Executive Board of the European Science Education Research Association.

Justin Dillon is professor of science and environmental education at the University of Exeter. He is editor-in-chief of Studies in Science Education and co-edits the International Journal of Science Education. In 2007, he was elected President of the European Science Education Research Association. He has co-edited 18 books including Becoming a Teacher, Bad Education and the International Handbook of Research on Environmental Education. He has published around 100 papers in peer-reviewed journals and almost the same number of book chapters.


Melissa Glackin is senior lecturer in science education at King’s College London. Her research has explored why teachers teach what they do, and how they do, within the fields of science education and environmental education particularly related to out-of-classroom teaching. Her research has been published in the journals Environmental Education Research, International Journal of Science Education and International Journal of Research & Method in Education. Between 2015-2019, she served as the co-chair for ESERA’s SIG Science education in out-of-school contexts.

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