A profile of the interface between moral sensitivity and understanding the nature of science during the resolution of socio-scientific issues

Abstract

In solving socio-scientific issues there is an interaction of distinct elements that present themselves in dimensions of more internalist scientific preponderances (e.g., nature of science) and in social dimensions (e.g., belief, culture, morality). However, there are still gaps in detailed and empirically informed knowledge about the dynamism and relational characteristics of the elements that are at the interface of these two dimensions, notably those that involve elements of morality and understanding of the nature of science. With the intention of reducing this gap, we carried out a research that aimed to outline a relational profile of the interface between moral sensitivity and understanding of the nature of science during the resolution of socioscientific issues. The research participants were 14 students from a Biological Sciences Degree course from a Brazilian public institution. The research adopted a qualitative approach, in which the graduates' speeches and written materials on the understanding of the nature of science and the aspects of moral sensitivity manifested in the process of solving a case study on xenotransplant were analyzed. The interfacial profile showed that although there is a relational dynamic between elements of a scientific nature and moral sensitivity, this profile is marked by the predominance of isolated elements of moral sensitivity.