Exploring Socio-Scientific Reasoning Competence Among Nigerian Secondary School Science Teachers: A National Mixed-Methods Study

This study explored the socio-scientific reasoning competence of secondary school Science teachers in Nigeria through a national mixed-methods study. Socio-scientific reasoning, the capacity to engage with complex issues at the intersection of science, society, ethics, and policy, is increasingly positioned as a twenty-first century science education outcome, yet the competence of Nigerian Science teachers to facilitate such reasoning has never been investigated at a national scale. A convergent parallel mixed-methods design was employed. Seven hundred and twenty Science teachers were surveyed from all six geopolitical zones using the Socio-Scientific Reasoning Assessment Tool adapted for Nigerian contexts, with a reliability of 0.86. Sixty teachers were selected for in-depth interviews and classroom vignette tasks. Descriptive statistics, MANOVA, and thematic analysis were applied before data integration. Results showed low to moderate socio-scientific reasoning competence nationally, with significant variation by geopolitical zone, subject specialisation, and academic qualification. Chemistry and Biology teachers outperformed Physics teachers on societal and ethical dimensions. Qualitative data revealed that teachers viewed socio-scientific issues as outside the remit of formal science teaching. The study makes an original national-scale contribution and proposes integration of socio-scientific reasoning modules into national Science teacher continuing education programmes. Keywords: socio-scientific reasoning, Science teachers, national study, mixed methods, Nigeria.