Enhancing Preservice Teachers’ Understanding and Application of Place-Based Socioscientific Issues: A Focus on Renewable Energy and Perspective-Taking

This chapter examines how to incorporate place-based socioscientific issues (SSI) instruction to improve preservice science teachers’ understanding and implementation of renewable energy topics, specifically focusing on perspective-taking. Acknowledging the importance of SSI in preparing informed and responsible citizens, the chapter explores how engaging with SSI promotes deeper scientific knowledge, critical thinking, and social and environmental awareness. The chapter presents a case study with eight preservice science teachers who participated in a 4-week SSI-infused place-based instruction focused on Muğla’s increasing energy demand. In this qualitative study, the data was collected through classroom observations, student artifacts, and interviews. The findings show that incorporating perspective-taking methodologies enhanced students’ holistic perspective and argumentation skills, leading to a comprehensive understanding of renewable energy and Muğla’s potential. Positive student feedback emphasized the benefits of active engagement, research, in-class discussions, and role-playing activities, while technical limitations presented challenges. The chapter recommends conducting future research to explore the long-term effects of place-based SSI instruction and improve instructional strategies for promoting student engagement and understanding of SSI in localized contexts. The results of the chapter can aid in improving preservice teacher education and the effective integration of SSI in science teaching.