A Teacher Professional Development Model for Teaching Socioscientific Issues.
This paper describes the development and implementation of a three pillared model for teaching socioscientific issues: teacher professional development; curriculum resources; and classroom support. A professional development program and curriculum resource based on the socioscientific issue of climate change was trialled with 75 Western Australian secondary science teachers. Teachers responded positively to the workshops and curriculum resource and indicated a willingness to use some or all of the activities in their classes. Two of these teachers have subsequently trialled the curriculum resource. These classes have been observed and feedback provided. This support aims to develop and maintain teachers' confidence in teaching socioscientific issues such as climate change.