Need and Significance of STS Education at the University Level

The study purported to develop STS education course material at the university level in order to enhance science literacy and understanding of the relationships among science, technology and society. A developed STS course was provided to 265 freshmen and sophomore students, majoring in the Humanities and the Social Sciences, the Natural Sciences and Engineering, and Fine Arts. Students participated in the survey examining changes in students' attitudes toward and perspectives on STS before and after the implementation. Ten questionnaires were selected from VOSTS for the survey. One additional questionnaire asked the students to elaborate their opinions on the need for a STS education course. The responses to the survey were analyzed according to types of questions and students' majors. As result, the developed STS course significantly increased students' science literacy. Among the participants, 97.7% responded that there is a need for STS education and provided reasons for such need. These results imply that there is a definite need for a STS class at the university level. According to the analyses of responses, there were different responses depending on the students' major. These differences imply that the major, academic background, level of interest in science, and knowledge of science of the students affect their perceptions on identifying the need for a STS education course.