Science and technology have provided tremendous convenience and benefits to mankind. At the same time, various social and ethical issues, such as concerns about the COVID 19 vaccine, the dangers of humidifier disinfectants, chemical leakage, and envir ...
Science and technology have provided tremendous convenience and benefits to mankind. At the same time, various social and ethical issues, such as concerns about the COVID 19 vaccine, the dangers of humidifier disinfectants, chemical leakage, and environmental destruction, were raised. The purpose of the research was to nurture scientists, engineers and participatory citizens who feel responsibility for the issues and are willing to act on them. Over the research year, a new educational model and program, called ENACT, was suggested and implemented for different target groups.
In the first year, the ENACT model, a systematic teaching-learning model for cultivating social responsibility of scientists and engineers, general public and students. was proposed. It was based on extensive literature reviews, case studies of exemplary overseas education programs, and continuous discussions with experts. In the second year, we examined the effects of the ENACT program on promoting views on the social responsibility of college students in STEM fields. The college students presented significant changes in their views of social responsibility, their understanding of nature of science and technology, and their problem-solving skills. And in the third year, the college students who participated in the ENACT program became mentors and guided middle and high school students to proceed with the ENACT program. Both mentors and mentees had meaningful learning opportunities to solve societal issues and to take actions toward the issues. Various efforts have been made to spread the ENACT program including symposiums, conference presentations, teacher workshops, and exhibitions of ENACT outcomes. More efforts will be continued to establish the ENACT program as an internationally prestigious one.