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BEYOND THE CLASSROOM: EMPOWERING LEARNERS IN BIO AND GEOETHICS WITH ENGAGING NON-FORMAL RESOURCES
Abstract
Recent decades have witnessed extraordinary scientific and technological advances which have profoundly impacted society in multiple dimensions, such as healthcare, agriculture, energy, natural resources exploitation, environmental conservation, georisks management, and digital communication, promoting better living conditions for all. However, alongside the benefits, humanity also faces growing challenges and dilemmas concerning planetary sustainability and human rights. For this reason, the call for scientific and ethical literacy has never been more critical, namely in the field of bio and geoethics. Despite its importance, in Portugal, the integration of bio and geoethics in science education curricula is still very limited, occurring almost exclusively at higher education levels. This study explores the potential of non-formal education as an alternative to address bioethics and geoethics teaching at middle and secondary education levels. Non-formal activities, distinguished by their flexibility and learnercentered approach, offer significant opportunities for enhancing understanding and engagement with ethical issues in these fields. Specifically, this work analyses and evaluates the effectiveness of two non-formal educational activities: (i) an escape room focused on bioethics and informed consent and (ii) a modelling activity focused on geoethics and seismic risk. The activities took place over six weeks, for one hour a week. This study followed a mixed-methods methodology and involved 17 participants (n=17) aged between 12 and 16 (average 13.6 years) who attended a social charity institution after regular school time in an urban area of northern Portugal characterised by an underprivileged social context. A diagnostic test was applied initially, and an assessment snapshot was taken at the end of both activities. Findings indicate that participants significantly increased their knowledge of bio and geoethics and engagement with ethical issues. The outcomes highlight non-formal education’s potential to enrich bioethical and geoethical knowledge and foster more conscious and participatory citizenship among adolescents. These findings can inform the development of future non-formal and formal educational activities and contribute to the broader discourse on bio and geoethics education.
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