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Everyday certainty and scientific uncertainty: potentials of scientists’ perspectives from microplastics research to address uncertainty in science education
Summary
This isn't a health study, but rather research about how scientists themselves grapple with uncertainty when studying microplastics in our blood, a field so new that even the experts aren't sure how to measure or interpret it yet. Researchers interviewed scientists studying microplastics and found some approach the unknowns purely analytically, while others also experience real emotional responses, like fear, when confronting the limits of what current detection methods can tell us. The takeaway for the public: when you hear about microplastics in blood, know that scientists themselves are still working through significant uncertainty, this is normal, ongoing science rather than settled fact, and that nuance
Micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) in human blood represent an emerging research field characterised by uncertainty and public interest. While scientific knowledge is often portrayed as certain in public and educational contexts, scientific literacy approaches emphasise that today’s socio-scientifically relevant problems are complex with changing evidence. In this article an educational perspective on uncertainty for science education is proposed, using the extended Model of Educational Reconstruction (MER) as research framework. Drawing on interviews with MNPs researchers (n = 5), we analyse how they understand and experience uncertainty, differentiating between objectifying (e.g. construction of scientific concepts) and subjectifying (e.g. emotional engagement) approaches. The article focuses on two contrasting cases: one is mainly characterised by objectifying conceptions of understanding and dealing with uncertainty, whereas the other shows a strong intertwining of objectifying and subjectifying conceptions linking limits of detection to experiences of fear. Based on our findings, we discuss refinements of existing classifications of uncertainty integrating interdisciplinary science-in-the-making contexts. We further argue that the heterogeneity of scientists’ understandings and experiences can support reflective engagement with uncertainty in science education by fostering students’ individual meaning-making processes. The findings therefore indicate that the extended MER enables a systematic integration of objectifying and subjectifying perspectives for science education.