STS education in teachers formation in Venezuela: a study of the scientific production of the Universidad Pedagógica Experimental Libertador

Abstract

How the scientific productions on approach science, technology and society are characterized in the Universidad Pedagógica Experimental Libertador of Venezuela? With the intention of answering this question, we made the survey of the scientific productions in the line Science, Technology and Society (STS) published in the 26 journals in the area of education belonging to the institution in November 2017, at which time the research took place. So, 2718 articles were search objects to identify whether there was occurrence of at least one of the following expressions: CTS; Ciencia, Tecnología y Sociedad; CTSA; Ciencia, Tecnología, Sociedad y Ambiente. After this preliminary search in which 12 articles achieved ours goals, we expanded the set of expressions with ideas characteristic of the STS approach from articles located in the preliminary survey. New electronic search was made in the universe of articles in an attempt to exhaust the process of finding works linked to the STS approach, but there was no increase in the number obtained previously. Although this number is small compared to the total number investigated, which can denote the initial stage of the STS approach in the Institution, the analysis of the articles allows us to highlight: appropriation of recognized references in the STS field; existence of a Science, Technology and Society course in teacher’s formation at one of the Institutes of the Universidad Pedagógica Experimental Libertador; evidences of pedagogical practices about STS approach in all the articles found. However, perhaps the main contribution of this research is to highlight the potential that this university currently has for the adoption of the STS approach in teacher’s formation in its country.