How Seventh-Grade Students Experience the Complexity of Socioscientific Issues Through Decision Making on the Autonomous Vehicle Issue

Abstract

This study investigates what perspectives younger students considered and how they experienced the complexity of multiple perspectives about autonomous vehicle issues. Over the course of 6 weeks, 28 seventh-grade Korean students participated in role-play and group discussion to understand different perspectives on the issue. We qualitatively analyzed students’ positions toward these issues before and after the class and their perspectives in group decision making. The results indicate that students showed anxiety toward artificial intelligence systems, thus opposing it. They also explained where their concerns about the new technology arose to justify their views and opposition. We also found different patterns when students experienced uneasiness and conflicts in a group decision-making process. The patterns can be classified as (1) exploring multiple perspectives for decision making and (2) experiencing conflicts in working toward group consensus. Implementations for incorporating diverse perspectives into teaching strategies are discussed.