Socioscientific Issues (SSI) are controversial social issues which relate to science. They are ill-structured, open-ended problems which have multiple solutions.

SSI are utilized in science education in order to promote scientific literacy, which emphasizes the ability to apply scientific and moral reasoning to real-world situations. Some examples of SSI include issues such as genetic engineering, climate change, animal testing for medical purposes, oil drilling in national parks, and "fat taxes" on "unhealthy" foods, among many others. Research studies have shown SSI to be effective at increasing students' understanding of science in various contexts, argumentation skills, empathy, and moral reasoning.

 

Note:   The above text is excerpted from the Wikipedia article Socio-scientific issues, which has been released under the GNU Free Documentation License.