Chinese Journal of Science Education

Abstract

Since the introduction of STS education in 1990, it has been vigorously promoted in both academic and educational settings by science education researchers. The research outcomes have been documented. And graduate theses focusing on STS education, for example, can trace the STS concept development in Taiwan. Thus, this research examines 105 STS theses conducted from 1992 to 2004 by subjects, domains and topics, year, and graduate institution using the method of documentary analysis. The results of this examination outline the history of development of STS education research as a foreign educational concept in Taiwan, important changes in the research over time, and its impact on the progress of Taiwan’s academic community. This research divides the development of STS education research into a burgeoning stage and a preceded fast developing stage. During the entire time, National Taiwan Normal University not only served as the primary institution, but also, in the second stage, used its academic network to organize a STS integrated research group, including Teachers Colleges so as to cover overall elementary schools into STS education research. Yet, results from this study indicate that the distributions of the participants, the objectives, and the subject topics in these theses have centralization tendency. These findings suggest involving researchers from other social sciences, which should facilitate discussion about STS education issues from diverse viewpoints. Moreover, the future scope of STS education research can be extended to informal education and, adult education, and embrace issues on social science and history of science. In addition, long-term studies should be endeavored in order to observe the influence of STS education in Taiwan.

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