Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENCE EDUCATION, ss.1-23, 2025 (SSCI, Scopus)
This study investigates how students address epistemic uncertainty, their classroom interactions, and the teacher's guiding role in the context of socio-scientific issues (SSI). Conducted in a high school in Turkey, the study focused on a class of 24 female students who had no prior experience with SSI-based learning and were accustomed to traditional teacher-centred instruction. SSI was integrated into a six-week unit on ecosystems and environmental issues, during which students engaged in discussions on ethical and social questions related to the environment. Data were collected through audio and video recordings of classroom discussions, observation notes, and an online interview with the teacher. The features of social interactions emerging when students encountered epistemic uncertainty, their strategies for managing it, and the teacher's role were analysed through coding and thematic analysis. The findings reveal that students engaged in social interactions that activated critical thinking processes when faced with epistemic uncertainty during SSI discussions. Moreover, the teacher’s use of questions that heightened epistemic uncertainty facilitated more active student participation and contributed to their understanding of the boundaries of scientific knowledge. This study highlights that utilizing epistemic uncertainty as a pedagogical tool in SSI instruction can enhance students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills.