From Data to Civic Action: High School Students Investigate Socioscientific Issues through Air Quality Analysis

• In Event: Learning to Use Science to Build Just and Sustainable Futures

Abstract

This study examines how high school students demonstrate civic agency through data-driven inquiry on socioscientific issues in their community. In a problem-based curriculum on air quality and asthma, students collected data and developed reports analyzing environmental risks and recommending solutions. Using an adapted version of Hodson’s (2020) model, which emphasizes progression from awareness to informed civic action, we analyzed 250 reports. Findings show that many students used data to justify local actions and articulated meaningful proposals, though fewer recognized the complexity of underlying issues, such as conflicting interests and systemic factors. These findings highlight both the promise and challenges of supporting civic agency in science education and suggest the need for strategies that further connect data analysis to community action.

Authors

• Jooeun Shim, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Susan A. Yoon, University of Pennsylvania