Review of Wicked Problems in PreK-12 Science Education: Stories and Strategies for Confronting Complex Topics in the Science Classroom, by J. K. Frisch et al.
Year: 2026
Type: book-review
Abstract: Science education is often organized around solvable problems: define the variable, control the conditions, collect data, and reach a defensible conclusion.That structure is pedagogically useful, but it does not fully resemble the conditions under which many contemporary scientific questions now appear in public life.Climate change, environmental justice, public health, biodiversity loss, energy transitions, and political disputes over schooling are not simply hard science topics.They are problems in which evidence, values, institutions, identities, economics, and uncertainty collide.Wicked Problems in PreK-12 Science Education offers a timely response to this challenge.Its strongest contribution is the claim that science education should not only teach about complex problems; it should help students and teachers learn how to think within complexity.
Source: Education Review
DOI: 10.14507/er.v33.4720
Author: Christopher Morales
Institution: Florida SouthWestern State College
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7212019658