Abstract:

Dealing with the globality and unpredictability of today's society implies the formation of citizens capable of actively and critically participating in social and political choices for a sustainable planet. Given this scenario, the educational response will include the promotion of scientific literacy (SL) (Tenreiro-Vieira & Vieira, 2022). SL consists of the ability of students to become reflective citizens with a reasoned discourse on Science and Technology (S&T), interpreting data and evidence (OECD, 2023). For Tenreiro-Vieira & Vieira (2021), the promotion of SL in Science Education (SE) will promote a globalizing education, enabling students to participate democratically in today's world.

Understanding the role of S&T implies exploring the relationships between Science-Technology-Society (STS) and building didactic strategies that achieve this objective is a challenge for the future (Martins, 2022). The educational response will involve developing STS didactic resources, promoters of Critical Thinking (CT), based on the "5Cs": critical thinking, creative thinking, communication, collaboration, citizenship (Tenreiro-Vieira & Vieira, 2021; 2022). SE with STS guidance and learning to be achieved in that way contribute to Quality Education - Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 (Martins, 2020). The acquisition of S&T knowledge, by advocating for STS Education, and the promotion of skills, such as CT, will be necessary to promote sustainable development.

In the implementation of STS resources, scarce and focused on knowledge, rather than skills, it is necessary to build resources that promote student interaction and involvement, being the protagonist of knowledge construction (Santos et al., 2021). It is important to develop, as early as possible, didactic-pedagogical practices that promote the CT (Tenreiro-Vieira & Vieira, 2022).

Tenreiro-Vieira & Vieira (2000) have been highlighting the scarcity of didactic resources that clearly appeal to CT and explain methodological options taken and the CT capabilities promoted. The problems that arise in relation to didactic resources are related to scarcity, lack of innovation and updating of them in relation to the STS and CT dimension (Sousa & Vieira 2019).

This paper is part of an ongoing PhD research project, that intends to build new didactic proposals with STS orientation, promoters of CT in the context of SE. After a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) - Phase I - which allowed the identification of the didactic-pedagogical guidelines and specifications that should present the didactic resources with STS orientation promoting the CT. After Phase 1, Phase 2 took place: design, production and validation of didactic resources.The didactic proposals elaborated and validated fit into a didactic sequence structured in four activities and teaching/learning strategies: "Didactic game - Puzzle", "Scientific controversy", "Questioning", "Scientific models", developed in the context of cooperative learning (CL), which is a learning strategy considered effective in promoting CT (Warsah et al., 2021). This paper describes the stages of Phase 2. The results obtained from Phase II - design, production and validation of didactic resources -, support the conclusion that they can trigger and sustain strong student adherence, as these were considered by the validating agents as motivating, instigating, challenging, and can contribute to students seeking information and mobilizing CT and CL skills.

Keywords:

Science Education, Science-Technology-Society (STS), Critical Thinking (CT), Scientific Literacy (SL).