Training in Decision-Making Strategies: An Approach to Enhance Students' Competence to Deal with Socioscientific Issues

Helge Gresch (1) , Marcus Hasselhorn (2) , Susanne Bögeholz (3)

1 DFG Graduate Research Program 1195 "Understanding and Enhancing Educational Fit in Schools"
2 Leibniz Institute for Educational Research and Educational Information (DIPF)
3 Didactics of Biology

Dealing with socioscientific issues in science classes enables students to participate productively in controversial discussions concerning ethical topics such as sustainable development. In this respect, well-structured decision-making processes are essential for elaborate reasoning. To foster decision-making competence, a computer-based programme was developed that trains secondary school students (grades 11-13) in decision-making strategies. The main research question is: does training students to use these strategies foster decision-making competence? In addition, the influence of metadecision aids was examined. Students conducted a task analysis to select an appropriate strategy prior to the decision-making process. Hence, the second research question is: does combining decision-making training with a task analysis enhance decision-making competence at a higher rate? To answer these questions, 386 students were tested in a pre-post-follow-up control-group design that included two training groups (decision-making strategies/decision-making strategies combined with a task analysis) and a control group (decision-making with additional ecological information instead of strategic training). An open-ended questionnaire was used to assess decision-making competence in situations related to sustainable development. The decision-making training led to a significant improvement in the post-test and the follow-up, which was administered three months after the training. Long-term effects on the quality of the students' decisions were evident for both training groups. Gains in competence when reflecting upon the decision-making processes of others were found, to a lesser extent, in the training group that received the additional metadecision training. In conclusion, training in decision-making strategies is a promising approach to deal with socioscientific issues related to sustainable development.

Mots clés: Social Sciences & Humanities

Domaines: Education

Helge Gresch, Marcus Hasselhorn, Susanne Bögeholz. Training in Decision-Making Strategies: An Approach to Enhance Students' Competence to Deal with Socioscientific Issues. International Journal of Science Education, 2011, pp.1. ⟨10.1080/09500693.2011.617789⟩. ⟨hal-00738304⟩