Examining Ethics in Contemporary Science Education Research: Being Responsive and Responsible

This book poses questions on how to work ethically in research on science education. Applying research ethics reflectively and responsibly is fundamental for conducting research with people. It seeks to renew the conversation on how and why to engage with ethics in science education research and to adjust and refine research practices. It highlights both the need for methodological reflections in science education research and the particular ethical research challenges of science education.

Science education research involves the study of people - often young and vulnerable people - and their practices. Researchers working within humanities and social science research commonly follow guidelines and codes of conducts set by country-specific ethics committees. Such guidelines function as minimal requirement for ethical reflection. This book seeks to engage the community of science education researchers in a conversation on ethics in science education moving beyond the mere compliance with governmental regulations toward a collective reflection. It asks the question of whether the existing guidelines provided for researchers are keeping up with contemporary realities of the visual presence of individuals in digital spaces. It also asks questions on how participatory research methodologies alters the relations between researchers and practitioners.

This book is organized into two parts: Part one is entitled Challenging existing norms and practices. It asks questions such as: What are the conditions of knowledge that shape ethical decision making? Where is this kind of knowledge coming from? How is this knowledge structured, and where are the limitations? How can we justify our beliefs concerning our ethical research actions? Part two Epistemological considerations for ethical science education research centres norms and practices of conducting science education research in regard to methods, validity and scope.

Kathrin Otrel-Cass, Ph.D., is Professor teaching and learning and digital transformations at the University of Graz, Austria. Her research interests are often of interdisciplinary in nature with focus on digital visual anthropology and variety of qualitative, ethnographic methodologies. She works with various practitioners and experts in environments where people are working with science/technology/engineering practices or their knowledge products. Her research is often set in schools but is not exclusive to those environments. Her research interest in visual ethnography has led to the establishment of a video research laboratories at Aalborg University and the University of Graz with a focus on the organized analysis of video recorded data and ethical research practices involving visual data. Kathrin is also a member of the Human Factor in Digital Transformation research network at the University of Graz.
Maria Andrée is an Associate Professor of Science Education at the Department of Mathematics and Science Education at Stockholm University, Sweden. Drawing primarily on socio-cultural theory, her research focuses on science education practices and the conditions for students’ participation and learning, particularly in relation to questions of science curriculum, scientific literacy and citizenship. She primarily works with ethnographic and design-based research studies in science education. She has also pursued a line of research concerning the involvement of external actors in science, technology and mathematics education. She is currently one of the scientific leader of Stockholm Teaching & Learning Studies - a platform for research in collaboration with teachers - designed to initiate, support and conduct small-scale classroom-based didactic research on teaching and learning. She has published in peer-reviewed journals including International Journal of Science Education, Research in Science Education, Cultural Studies of Science Education, and Journal of Curriculum Studies among others.

Minjung Ryu is an assistant professor in Chemistry and Learning Sciences at University of Illinois at Chicago, USA. Her research focuses on STEM learning and participation of cultural and linguistic minority students. Employing ethnography and discourse analysis, she examines how racial, ethnic, and linguistic minority students engage in STEM discourses using multilingual and multimodal means and what are ways to design learning environments to improve these students’ learning experiences. Within this research interest, she has worked with resettled Burmese refugee teens in a community-based afterschool program in USA where the teens learn STEM knowledge to transform their communities and global societies. She also has collaborated with high school science teachers to develop instructional materials and practices to support English learners in linguistically superdiverse classrooms. Minjung has published in Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Science Education, and International Journal of Science Education.