Research themes in Brazilian STS teaching: an overview

Abstract

Since the late 1980s, Science, Technology and Society (STS) began to emerge in science teaching. In Brazil, only in the 1990s, did STS start appearing in the educational field. During this journey, it is interesting to know what research has been conducted, not only to guide future initiatives, but also to establish relations between the academic field and classroom practice. This research sought to identify which recurrent themes of educational research were addressed within STS educational articles, and which the institutions produced articles focusing these themes. We analysed a total of 146 STS educational articles, published in 26 Brazilian journals. STS fundamental themes’ presence in the articles was analysed and the institutions involved in their publication were catalogued. We identified five themes that were more recurrent: values, decision, ethics, citizenship and curriculum; and 7 institutions that have excelled in the publications. We then analysed, through social networking, the interactions between these institutions according to the selected themes. It became evident that there are differences in the pattern of publication in each theme, and these differences are significant for our context. We highlight the expansion of the field, the benefits of inter-institutional
collaboration and the importance of each of the more frequently recurrent themes, particularly the curricular concern to integrate STS issues.