Developing STS Activities on the Ozone Layer Depletion

Author: Cheng-Hsia Wang, I-Hsheng Liu(Department of Chemistry, National Taiwan Normal University)

Abstract：

Units of STS activities on the ozone layer depletion are developed and used on a group of 13 high school students, An action research is carried out to see if the STS activities would promote their interest in the STS learning, open-ended thinking, constructing knowledge and skills, and problem-solving ability. The STS activities using problem-centered cooperative learning consists of: (1) small group work, (2) class discussion, (3) oral playing, (4) brain-storming, (5) roal presentation, and (6) games. During the activi-ties: (1) the degree of participation is assessed on the basis of students information col-lection and organization, frequency of comments, and quality of comments; (2) achievement in subject matter knowledge is assessed with paper-pencil tests; (3) open-ended thinking is assessed with the McDaniel scale of five thinking levels; and (4) learn-ing achievement in terms of the five learning phases of C-STES is assessed with a graphic organizer method. The results show that after the activities, 100% of the stu-dents becme aware of and knowledgeable about the seriousness of the ozone layer de-pletion, and 84.6% of the students are able tc propose blue prints for solving the prob-lems, that is, achieving the third learning level of the C-STES.
Throughout the activities, the first-year high school students maintain high degrees of interest. After the activities, the students express that they like this type of learning activities. Almost all the students are promoted in relevant subject matter knowledge and open-ended thinking levels. There are strong positive correlations, expressed by percentage consistency, among (a) degree of participation, (b) achievement in subject matter knowledge (paper- pencil test), (c) level of thinking, and (d) level of learning: (a) and (b), 76. 9%; (a) and (c), 100%; (b) and (c) 76.9%; (a), (b) and (c), 76.9%; (c) and (d), 92.3%; (a) and (d) 92.3%; (a), (c), and (d), 92.3%.
In conclusion, the instruction/assessment strategies are effective to promote stu-dents' abilities in analyzing information, constructing knowledge, Unking the subject mat-ter knowledge to the real life, making decision, and solving problems; the students also acquire appropriate social and world views.

Keywords：Ozone layer depletion, STS activity

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