The Practice And Research Of STS Education In The Junior High School Biology Instruction In Rural Areas

"STS" is the English abbreviation of Science, Technology and Society. It is one of the most influential teaching tactics and achievements made in the contemporary educational theoretical research and practice. Our country has made certain achievements, but until now this kind of important teaching thoughts and methods has not been applied well enough at home.The State Council issued the Decision of Basic Education Reform and Development in June 2001. One of the goals of reform is to enhance the relation between school and society, cultivate the sense of social responsibility, which was stressed once again in the outline of the Basic Education Curriculum Reform (Test) issued in June 2001.The Courses Criterion of the Junior Middle School Biology points out that the students should understand the nature of science and make clear of the relation among science, technology and society by studying. Hence, it is high time to take STS methods in biology teaching in middle school.China is a large agricultural country. The agricultural modernization of construction and production in rural areas, on the whole, has an immediate effect on the construction and the economical development of entire China. Most students will return to their birth place and act as the main working forces for construction and modernization after graduating from junior middle school. As we know, the quality of these students will play a key role in raising the quality of the population in rural areas; therefore, conducting the STS Education in the biology teaching is an urgent task. Thus, coincidence with the reality of biology teaching in rural middle school, the STS methods will be beneficial to improving students' scientific quality, cultivating more scientific talents. Moreover, with its far-going significance it will also be good for construction of agricultural modernization and the development of national economy.At present, STS Education has already become one of the major teaching methods, which is being advocated and prompted in every middle and primary schools in our country .How to put STS methods into effect efficiently and urge to transform the former teaching methods is a hot issue in this field, and it s also a grant subject for research.By reading plenty of documents and materials about STS education, the author formed a clear idea about origin, development and current situation of it .This paper is a summary of the experience and achievements in the practice of biology. Afterwards the author has explored and practiced the STS Education for about one year. The full text is divided into four parts.The first part is Introduction .It states the definition and the value of the STS Education in the class teaching, the current situation and existing problems of the scholars' study at home and abroad on it .It also contains the significance of the selected title and the background of the subject.The second part is Theory and Research. Four theoretical -foundations, which prove and support the idea of the STS Education, are analyzed in it. It highlights the support to STS education from the theories of structuralism and development, behaviorism, and cognitions. Meanwhile it also analyses the characteristic of the current teaching materials and situation, the necessity of STS education carried out in biology teaching in junior middle school.The third part is Teaching and Practice .It introduces exploration and application in junior biology teaching. It mainly includes the elementary exploration and application of the STS Education in teaching. Through analysis of concrete teaching samples, the author states the following methods: investigation in spot, problems& discussion, cooperation & exploration and specific topics. It analyses how to enforce STS method in junior school in rural areas and come up with the practical teaching strategy.The last part is Evaluation and Self-examination .The result of the teaching practice is evaluated objectively in it, at the same time the problems arising in the process of the teaching practice, the limits of the STS Education and the shortcomings of the research are also thought over here.