ENACT Project as a Pedagogical Approach for Cultivating Awareness and Willingness to Act on Socioscientific Issues

Acceleration of advancements in science and technology has accentuated emergence of socioscientific issues, necessitating innovative pedagogical approaches. This chapter provides descriptions and arguments for the ENACT (Engage, Navigate, Anticipate, Conduct, and Take action) model, which comprises two interconnected cycles and five steps with specific instructional scaffolds (e.g., stakeholder maps, futures wheel, etc.). The first cycle stresses epistemological understanding, urging students to see intertwined nature of science and technology. The second cycle encourages students to undertake scientific problem-solving with responsiveness, inclusiveness, reflexivity, and sustainability. Empirical studies of the ENACT approach with diverse grades of students and teachers exhibited significant changes in their understanding of the nature of science and technology, such as its complexity, uncertainty, and unpredictability. As an example, the ENACT approach with pre-service science teachers contributed to enhancing their competency in resolving SSIs. As they went through scientific and engineering processes, the teachers showed increased interest and understanding of SSIs, confidence in resolving SSIs, and willingness to act on SSIs. The ENACT approach has helped them foster critical, proactive, and engaged forms of scientific literacy (Vision III) as they increasingly critiqued power relations often tied to risks and developed and implemented sociopolitical actions to reduce such risks.