Wicked Problems in PreK-12 Science Education
Stories and Strategies for Confronting Complex Topics in the Science Classroom
Published on 30. October 2025
264 pages
978-1-040-44812-0 (ISBN)
Description
This resource offers science teachers and science teacher educators strategies for tackling "wicked problems" in their classrooms. Contributors from across diverse PreK-12 educational contexts share how they confront and address these complex scientific or social problems. Chapters are organized into four sections: PreK-12 students, teacher candidates, in-service teachers, and teacher educators. Within each, science educators discuss how they have dealt with both systemic and non-straightforward wicked problems, such as climate change, social justice, ecojustice/climate justice, white privilege, political attacks on education, economic disparity, and other socioscientific issues. Chapters also include case studies that demonstrate how teachers broach wicked problems with their students. Ideal for science educators at all levels, this book can be a great supplement to any methods course covering science topics, or useful for professional development for in-service teachers who desire to learn more about how to attend to, maneuver, and grapple with teaching controversial or complex science topics. The Editors and Contributors cultivate and encourage important conversation around complex scientific problems that will inspire educators to address and navigate the complexities of wicked problems in their teaching practices.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
12 Tables, black and white; 16 Line drawings, black and white; 41 Halftones, black and white; 57 Illustrations, black and white
File size
16,20 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-040-44812-0 (9781040448120)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Jennifer Kreps Frisch | Daniel Mason Alston | Allan Feldman
Wicked Problems in PreK-12 Science Education
Stories and Strategies for Confronting Complex Topics in the Science Classroom
Book
10/2025
1st Edition
Routledge
€65.90
Shipment within 10-20 days
Jennifer Kreps Frisch | Daniel Mason Alston | Allan Feldman
Wicked Problems in PreK-12 Science Education
Stories and Strategies for Confronting Complex Topics in the Science Classroom
Book
10/2025
1st Edition
Routledge
€206.30
Shipment within 10-20 days
Persons
Jennifer Kreps Frisch is an Associate Professor in the Department of Education at University of Minnesota Duluth, USA.
Daniel Mason Alston is an Associate Professor in the Cato College of Education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA, and the director for the Charlotte Teaching Fellows Program.
Allan Feldman is Emeritus Professor of Science Education in the College of Education at the University of South Florida, USA.
Rita Hagevik is Professor and Director of Graduate Programs in Science Education in the Biology Department at UNC-Pembroke, USA.
Michelle Schpakow is the Science Education Lecturer for Monmouth University's School of Education, USA.
Daniel Mason Alston is an Associate Professor in the Cato College of Education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA, and the director for the Charlotte Teaching Fellows Program.
Allan Feldman is Emeritus Professor of Science Education in the College of Education at the University of South Florida, USA.
Rita Hagevik is Professor and Director of Graduate Programs in Science Education in the Biology Department at UNC-Pembroke, USA.
Michelle Schpakow is the Science Education Lecturer for Monmouth University's School of Education, USA.
Content
Introduction Part 1: PreK-12 Students 1. Nature-Based Learning and Supportive Learning Environments: A Pathway to Climate Change Education and Social Justice 2. School STEAM Garden-Based Learning Empowering Students to BEE Environmental Ambassadors 3. Addressing Wicked Problems Using Multiple Models 4. Creating Environmental Impact Statements as a Tool to Improve Student Understanding of Complex Ecological and Environmental Issues 5. Building Perceptional Progression Among Adolescents Concerning Climate Impacted Coastal Resilience in Economically Divergent Communities Part 2: Inservice Teachers 6. Understanding the Impact of a Contentious Sociopolitical Landscape on Science Teachers' Practice and Well-Being 7. "This Isn't A Crime, This Is Science": How Carceral Logics have Manifested In Science Education 8. Addressing Gender Inequity Through Sexual and Reproductive Health Education: An Indian Perspective 9. Teaching About the Wicked Problem of Global Climate Change in Secondary Science 10. Building District-Level Capacity in the Development and Implementation of NGSS-Aligned, Justice-Centered Curriculum Part 3: Teacher Candidates 11. "Yeah, that's racist": Reflections and Learnings from a Justice-Oriented Lesson Gone Wrong 12. Utilizing Model-Eliciting Wicked Problems in STEM Teacher Education: A Path from Learning to Serving 13. Cultural Contexts and Global Challenges: Integrating Science and Social Sciences in Omani Teacher Preparation Programs 14. We Make the Road by Walking: Supporting Science Teacher Candidates' Moves Toward Justice-Oriented Teaching and Learning Part 4: Science Teacher Educators 15. Developing an Ecological Worldview for Teacher Candidates Through Authoring Children's Science Stories 16. Be Like Fungi: Mycorrhizal Pedagogy 17. Addressing Power in the Collaborative Design Process while Building Transdisciplinary Perspectives on Energy Independence in the Arctic 18. Tackling Wicked Problems through Teacher-Researcher Collaboration and Codesign 19. Transdisciplinary Pedagogies in Pre-Service Teacher Preparation to Address Wicked Problems 20. Wicked Orientations in Teacher Preparation: The Complexity of Cultivating Anti-Racist Science Teachers
