Component Of Scientific Literacy Research Articles

Teaching science & technology: components of scientific literacy and insight into the steps of research

ABSTRACT Trust in science is indispensable and very important for the development of global health, and can certainly be gained by developing the scientific literacy of the whole population. The article presents various definitions of scientific literacy and seeks its connections to science education. It further explores the progress in developing scientific research skills among university students. The students participated in a one-week seminar and workshop on scientific literacy and were given an assignment. Using the pretest and posttest, we assessed students’ development of scientific research skills, specifically the following procedural skills in scientific research: (a) a student poses high-quality research questions; (b) a student formulates a scientifically testable hypothesis(es) that includes a dependent and an independent variable; and (c) a student designs the experiment. The results show that the students’ procedural knowledge of scientific research has improved in relation to the areas covered. The experiment showed no statistically significant difference in procedural knowledge in scientific research between undergraduate and postgraduate students. Scientific activities, properly integrated into the educational process, have great potential at all levels of education to improve the scientific literacy of the entire population.

Nature of Science and Philosophy of Science in Education: a Dialogue based on Philosophy Textbooks

The comprehension of the nature of science (NOS) is widely accepted as a fundamental component of scientific literacy and a central goal in science education. At the same time, the teaching of Philosophy (including philosophy of science) is present in pre-college education in different countries, Brazil being among them. However, little has been discussed concerning the possible interplay between these two fields and its implications. The present study investigates the topics on philosophy of science addressed by Philosophy textbooks included in the National Textbook Program 2018 by means of content analysis. The convergences and divergences between the images of science conveyed by the textbooks and the literature on NOS are discussed. The need for further dialogue between science and Philosophy education, both in school practice and research, is pointed out.

A Comparative Study of Upper Secondary School Biology Curricula in Two Countries: Finland and Nigeria

Scientific literacy (SL) has been recognized as the main goal of science curricula documents around the world; however, comparative international curriculum research is limited, especially with Western and African countries. To fill this gap, this study aimed to compare the coverage of SL competencies with the components of knowledge, attitudes, and contexts in the upper secondary school biology curricula of Finland and Nigeria. Content analysis was used as a method and a modified version of the SL framework of the Programme for International Student Assessment 2015 (OECD, 2016) was used to analyze the curricula. The results revealed that both curricula contain the main components of SL defined in the framework, scientific knowledge being the most prominent, followed by scientific competencies. Both curricula laid less emphasis on the interpretation competency and attitudes to science component. The curricula differed in the amount of attention paid to the different areas of SL components. The Finnish curriculum focused more on content knowledge, explaining phenomena scientifically and frontiers of science and technology, while in the Nigerian curriculum procedural knowledge, evaluation and design of scientific enquiry and natural resources as context were more emphasized. The results of this study are not only important to the European and African continents but to other parts of the world for the promotion SL in schools, also the findings reinforce the call on curriculum planners and science educators to ensure equal coverage of all the dimensions of SL in the school science curriculum if the next generation of the world is to be scientifically literate.

Representations of Nature of Science in High School Physics Textbooks

Nature of science (NOS) is a vital component of scientific literacy that refers to the science's epistemology. Students must possess the NOS conception to address socio-scientific issues using the reasoning and justification patterns like scientists. This qualitative research assessed the representation of NOS quantitatively and qualitatively in the grade XII senior high school physics textbooks. The quantitative representation of NOS was described by the percentage of appearance of each element of NOS, while the delivery approach was used to describe NOS qualitatively. The analysis was conducted on two textbooks focused on electromagnetic radiation, special relativity theory, and quantum phenomena chapters. The NOS framework instrument has been conceptually and empirically valid. The results show that the empirical and scientific theories were addressed with the highest percentage of appearance, while the social and cultural embeddedness of science and scientific methods were poorly addressed. All elements of NOS were represented implicitly. The empirical findings of this study are expected to be able to stimulate the improvement of the representation of NOS in science textbooks in Indonesia.

Developing an instrument to assess pedagogical content knowledge for biological socioscientific issues

Addressing socioscientific issues (SSIs) in the classroom provides an appropriate context to concentrate on several components of scientific literacy. The purpose of the study was to develop a valid, reliable, instrument to assess teachers’ PCK for biological socioscientific issues (PCK-BSSIs). In this paper, two aspects of the research have been described; the framework on which PCK-BSSI is based, and the development, administration, and analysis procedures of the instrument. The PCK-BSSIs will allow researchers to explore teachers’ understanding of SSIs, how teachers’ PCK for BSSIs develops over time, and the relative efficacy of various professional developments.

The Reconstruction of Indigenous Knowledge about Golobe (Hornstedtia alliacea) as a Natural Resource Conservation Study for Prospective Teachers’ Scientific Literacy

This study intended to measure prospective science teachers' scientific literacy through a conservation course on a natural resource topic. The natural source as the research object was golobe, an endemic plant in Maluku which has been consumed as the traditional medicine by the local community, which was studied for its chemical properties. Golobe is believed to have the properties to cure diseases. The lab testing revealed that golobe contains alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, steroids, polyphenols, antioxidants and antibacterial properties. The scientific knowledge based on the lab report was reconstructed using the Science Integrated Learning (SIL) model. The obtained laboratory test results were matched up with the indigenous knowledge of the golobe. The indigenous knowledge of local community on golobe was converted to be the scientific knowledge. Then, the result of reconstruction was applied as the basis of Conservation Education course material development. The research target included prospective science teachers joining the Conservation Education course. The assessed scientific literacy consisted of (1) knowing scientific questions; (2) exploring; (3) identifying scientific evidence; (4) laboratory work; (5) drawing up conclusions; (6) communicating, and (7) demonstrating. Prospective teachers have owned the seven components of scientific literacy after studying natural resource conservation materials. The research concluded that the use of the knowledge reconstruction of Golobe in the North Loloda Tribe, North Maluku, Halmahera Archipelago has an impact on the development of prospective teachers’ scientific literacy.

Individual Differences in Early Scientific Thinking: Assessment, Cognitive Influences, and Their Relevance for Science Learning

ABSTRACTEarly scientific thinking in kindergarten (6-year-olds) was investigated in a large study involving 227 participants. We investigated (1) whether individual differences across 3 scientific-thinking components (experimentation, data interpretation, and understanding the nature of science) are stable across children, (2) whether children’s increased information-processing skills (intelligence, language abilities) and their development of an advanced theory of mind (AToM) are potential mechanisms that bring about individual differences in scientific thinking, and (3) whether individual differences in scientific thinking predict individual differences in science content knowledge. Using a newly developed instrument with 30 items (the Science-K inventory), we found that a one-dimensional Rasch model provides a good fit to the data, showing that kindergarteners’ scientific thinking goes beyond competencies in single tasks. Individual differences across the diverse scientific-thinking tasks were stable, and children’s scientific thinking was correlated with their intelligence and their language abilities. AToM was an important precursor for scientific thinking, predicting it independently from the influences of information-processing skills. Children’s science content knowledge was predicted by their score on the Science-K inventory. This finding points to a specific relation between these 2 components of scientific literacy, and it supports the view that scientific-thinking skills help to better test and revise (wrong) beliefs and misconceptions about science. Our study is the first to reveal substantial individual differences in scientific thinking in children as young as kindergarteners, and it shows that scientific thinking is important for a successful learning of science concepts, even before children enter formal schooling and begin science education.

Informal Science Education in the Footsteps of Galileo’s Dialogue

In this paper, the inclusion of History and Philosophy of Science in non-formal and informal science education is proposed in order to provide students with the opportunity to grasp some aspects of Nature of Science with which they are not familiarized in the context of formal education. The cultural aspects of science, which is an important component of scientific literacy, are presented in an informal education context: in this case, a Science Festival. An interactively narrative inspired by Galileo’s Dialogue is used in order to engage junior high school students with History of Science and to enhance their conceptual understanding of cultural aspects of science.

The development of the nature of science view scale (NOSvs) at university level

Background: Determining individuals’ views of the nature of science is quite important for researchers since it is both a component of scientific literacy and a fundamental aim of science education.Purpose: This study aims to develop a NOSvs for assessing prospective teachers’ views of the nature of science and to analyse their psychometric properties.Sample: A total of 565 prospective teachers participated in the study.Design and methods: The Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) Index and Bartlett’s Sphericity Test were used in this study. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to determine the construct validity of the scale. Cronbach’s Alpha (α) coefficient was calculated for the reliability of the study.Results: It was consequently found that the KMO was larger than .50. That Bartlett’s Sphericity Test was also statistically significant. The items with item-total correlations smaller than .30 were removed from the scale. Cronbach’s α values calculated for each sub-scale were above .70. In consequence of the first CFA performed, fit indices were found to be below the expected level. For this reason, three more items with the least item-total correlations were removed from the scale. Following the CFA, the final form of the scale included 36 items and five sub-scales.

Instructional Experiences of Graduate Assistants Implementing Explicit and Reflective Introductory Biology Laboratories

Science education reform documents identify nature of science (NOS) as a critical component of scientific literacy and call for universities, colleges, and K-12 schools to explicitly integrate NOS learning into science curricula. In response to these calls, this study investigated the classroom practices of nine graduate assistants (GAs) who taught expository and inquiry laboratories that implemented an explicit and reflective (ER) pedagogy to teach NOS. The purpose of this qualitative study was to better understand the experiences that enabled or inhibited GA implementation of an ER strategy in a college setting. The findings revealed that achieving quality implementation in this setting was very difficult. Factors such as GAs' ability to foster meaningful classroom discussions, laboratory logistics (e.g. lack of time and supplies), and the value undergraduates and GAs saw in learning about NOS were identified by GAs and observed by the researchers as barriers to the technique maximizing its potential. Thus, for meaningful infusion of NOS into science curricula, pedagogical support for GAs to manage meaningful classroom discussions in support of NOS or other complex topics is recommended for an ER approach to NOS learning to be successful in college settings.

Popular Media in the Biology Classroom: Viewing Popular Science Skeptically

Research Article| August 01 2009 Popular Media in the Biology Classroom: Viewing Popular Science Skeptically Grant E. Gardner, Grant E. Gardner Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar M. Gail Jones, M. Gail Jones Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Miriam Ferzli Miriam Ferzli Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar The American Biology Teacher (2009) 71 (6): 332–335. https://doi.org/10.2307/20565328 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Grant E. Gardner, M. Gail Jones, Miriam Ferzli; Popular Media in the Biology Classroom: Viewing Popular Science Skeptically. The American Biology Teacher 1 August 2009; 71 (6): 332–335. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/20565328 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentThe American Biology Teacher Search This content is only available via PDF. Copyright National Association of Biology Teachers Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

A Cognitive Framework for the Analysis of Online Chemistry Courses

Many students now are receiving instruction in online environments created by universities, museums, corporations, and even students. What features of a given online course contribute to its effectiveness? This paper addresses that query by proposing and applying an analytic framework to five online introductory chemistry courses. Introductory chemistry was chosen because, as the central science, chemistry is a core component of scientific literacy as well as a long-established prerequisite for science, engineering, and medical fields. An online instructional delivery system has the potential to overcome the limitations of the traditionally large and passive lecture format characteristic of an introductory chemistry course by providing students with opportunities for active engagement and support in the learning process via self-pacing, dynamic expositions, interactive problem solving, and open ended or scaffolded explorations of new information. The proposed framework for addressing the effectiveness of online chemistry courses is informed by both cognitive and chemistry education research on examples, tasks, and explorations and includes a catalog of possible online resources. As a demonstration of the framework, an analysis was conducted on each course’s instruction in stoichiometry, a tool that is both challenging to students and fundamental to the solution-chemistry topics addressed during subsequent coursework. The application of this framework revealed characteristics of the courses that could affect their instructional effectiveness as well as students’ impressions of what it means to “do chemistry.”

Perception of Scientific Literacy and Elementary Teacher Preparation Held by Science Professors and Science Education Professors

The study examined the perceptions of scientific literacy and elementary teacher preparation held by science professors and science education professors. Participants were 31 professors, including 16 life and physical science professors and 15 elementary science education professors, from nine state universities in a southeastern state. Data were collected through telephone interviews and course documents. Professors, as a group, tended to define scientific literacy and its components in a comprehensive manner, which was generally consistent with the National Science Education Standards and Project 2061. However, science professors emphasized science knowledge more strongly than other components of scientific literacy; whereas, science education professors emphasized science inquiry. Although both groups indicated that elementary school teachers were generally unprepared to teach science, science professors often attributed teachers’ lack of preparation to teachers themselves; whereas, science education professors often attributed it to universities. Implications for promoting scientific literacy in elementary schools are discussed.

Toward Scientific Literacy for Nonscience Majors

An educational goal we all share for nonscience majors is for them to graduate college with a degree of scientific literacy. What do we mean by scientific literacy? Certainly we mean a familiarity and comprehension regarding concepts that are particularly fundamental to understanding the workings of our physical and biological world, as debatable as the identity of those concepts may be. Many scientists would further argue that scientific literacy is equally about how we collect and evaluate information scientifically, and especially what we mean by scientific certainty. My personal view is that this component of scientific literacy may be more important than any single factual concept, yet we tend to delay or avoid its development since nonscience majors often have difficulty with these end stages of the scientific process-data analysis and scientific decision making. The difficulties students have are understandable since comprehension rests on some esoteric ideas that are traditionally explored in math and statistics classes, not the favorite of the majority of students. Nevertheless, I think we shortchange the student and undermine the goal of achieving science literacy if we defer learning about objective decision making for advanced science courses (which nonmajors seldom take). The trick is to include data analysis in our modeling of science processes without getting lost in the intricacies and subtleties of statistical analysis. This paper presents ideas for how to approximate statistical analysis and decision making by approximating 95% confidence intervals, and drawing conclusions about significance of difference based on visual comparisons of frequency distributions. The Challenge-From Documents on Science Reform

Developing Scientific Literacy

Using a sociocultural framework, the authors describe scientific literacy and the importance of mediated activities for scientific learning. The difference between empirical and theoretical learning is introduced as an important aspect for teachers to understand as they work with students learning scientific concepts. Components of scientific literacy are described, and recommendations for teaching in the zone of proximal development are provided. A conceptual model adapted from ethnomathematics is introduced to demonstrate the effect of theoretical learning on cultural change, using an intergenerational study from Chiapas, Mexico, as an example.

Instruction Addressing the Components of Scientific Literacy and Its Relation to Student Outcomes

The instruction of 11 seventh-grade life science teachers was observed to determine the extent to which they made linkages between science content and its societal, reasoning, historical, or attitudinal implications. Such linkages were hypothesized to facilitate students’ scientific literacy. Data on students’ perceptions of teacher instruction and scientific literacy outcomes were also gathered. Results showed that (a) teachers rarely or never addressed the noncontent components of science in their presentations and academic work assignments; (b) students perceived content as the prominent focus of their teachers’ instruction; and (c) teachers’ references to the noncontent components were unrelated to growth on all but one student outcome, where the association was negative. Altogether, the results indicate a large gap between scientific literacy as a normative goal of science instruction and current teaching practice. Furthermore, natural levels of reference to the noncontent components may be of such low frequency and quality as to preclude empirical tests of their effectiveness.