Developing Scientific Literacy in a Primary School

The science education literature demonstrates that scientific literacy is generally valued and acknowledged among educators as a desirable student learning outcome. However, what scientific literacy really means in terms of classroom practice and student learning is debatable due to the inherent complexity of the term and varying expectations of what it means for learning outcomes. To date the teacher voice has been noticeably absent from this debate even though the very nature of teacher expertise lies at the heart of the processes which shape students' scientific literacy. The research reported in this paper taps into the expertise of (participating) primary teachers by analyzing the insights and thinking that emerged as they attempted to unravel some of the pedagogical complexities associated with constructing an understanding of scientific literacy in their own classrooms. The research examines the processes and structures within one primary school that were created to provide conditions to allow teachers to explore and build on the range of ideas that presently inform the scientific literacy debate. The research reports these teachers' views and practices that shaped their actions in teaching for scientific literacy.     

The Literacy Component of Mathematical and Scientific Literacy

This opening article of the Special Issue makes an argument for parallel definitions of scientific literacy and mathematical literacy that have shared features: importance of general cognitive and metacognitive abilities and reasoning/thinking and discipline-specific language, habits-of-mind/emotional dispositions, and information communication technology strategies to prepare people for adult life and democratic citizenship. These frameworks provide potential insights into research and pedagogy. Furthermore, they provide guidelines for second-generation standards, curriculum development and assessment so as not to overlook or underemphasize the fundamental literacy component of mathematical and scientific literacy for all students, which can result in fuller participation in the public debate about science, mathematics, technology, society, and environment issues.     

论科学教育与教师科学素质的培养

在高等学校开展加强文化素质教育活动,全面推进素质教育,是上世纪末我国高等教育领域的一项重大改革。高等师范教育阶段是学生与科学技术联系较为密切的阶段,在此过程中若多方面加强对学生的科学精神、科学方法、科学思维、科学知识等方面的教育与培养,对形成教师理想人格特征及教师素质全面发展具有重要意义,是提高教师科学素质的根本保证。     

Scientific Literacy,Environmental Issues,and PISA 2006: The 2008 Paul F-Brandwein Lecture

In today’s world, scientific literacy has become essential to full participation of citizens. Certainly, important components of scientific literacy include resource use and environmental quality. The 2006 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) centered on scientific literacy and included resources and environments as two contexts for the test and student questionnaire. The article first introduces PISA 2006, and then provides a general overview of results. Using two released units from PISA 2006, I then turn to results and a discussion of students’ science competencies and attitudes relative to environmental and resources issues. The article concludes with a discussion of educational policies for science education programs and teaching practices.     

The Use of Newspaper Articles as a Tool to Develop Critical Thinking in Science Classes

The aim of this research is to identify the difficulties experienced by secondary school students (aged 15–16) with the critical reading of newspaper articles with scientific content. Two newspaper critical reading activities in relation to the study of various scientific contents were designed and carried out in two schools (61 students in total), one with a student population from a medium to high social and economic bracket and the other with students from a medium to low social and economic bracket. These activities were designed taking into account the phases of the reading process: before, during and after reading. In order to analyse the difficulties ‘Elements of science critical reading’ were identified on the basis of the ‘Elements of reasoning’ of Paul and Elder and the categories proposed by Bartz C.R.I.T.I.C. questionnaire and a scale was drawn up. The results show that the activities designed were useful in helping students to read critically. We also rated very positively the instrument created to assess the students' answers: the scale based on the performance indicators of Paul and Elder. This instrument enabled us to detect the aspects of critical thinking where students have the most difficulties: identifying the writer's purpose and looking for evidence in a text. It was also shown that the stance taken in the articles also had an influence on the results.     

高校硕士生科学素养调查分析—以合肥市部分高校为例

通过对我国公民中文化素质较高的群体——高校学生科学素养水平进行测评,发现硕士研究生科学素养有待提高、女性硕士群体科学教育需特别关注、专业对学生科学素养有一定影响等我国高等教育在提升公民科学素养水平方面存在的问题,提出改进方向与路径建议。建议高校要促进人文与自然科学的教育融合,对教学模式和方法进行改革,更加重视研究生科学素养的研究。     

Addressing the Dynamics of Science in Curricular Reform for Scientific Literacy: The case of genomics

Science education reform must anticipate the scientific literacy required by the next generation of citizens. Particularly, this counts for rapidly emerging and evolving scientific disciplines such as genomics. Taking this discipline as a case, such anticipation is becoming increasingly problematic in today’s knowledge societies in which the dynamics of the natural sciences is unprecedented. This raises the question of how scientific literacy can be defined in order to appropriate the dynamics of natural sciences such as genomics. Drawing on a contemporary sociocultural perspective on the dynamics of science, the science education research literature is briefly reviewed in this respect. It is argued that scientific literacy captures the dynamics of science once defined as an emergent feature of collective activity. This requires a form of science education to which the learners’ agency is central. The implications of this thesis will be discussed in regard to the case of embedding genomics in science curricula.     

Rasch模型在小学科学素养评测质量分析中的应用

为克服经典测量理论存在的测量依赖性和样本依赖性,本研究将Rasch模型应用于小学六年级学生科学素养评测的质量分析中,从整体质量检验、单维性检验、怀特图、单题质量分析、气泡图等方面介绍了Rasch模型在质量分析中的应用。同时指出该评测设计的题目信效度高、区分度合理,绝大多数题目达到了测量预期。Rasch模型在评测设计中的应用,为评测设计提供了一定的测量质量数据的参考。     

化学教学中科学素养目标的达成途径

科学素养是当前世界各国教育研究课题的核心内容,青少年的科学素养水平已成为一个国家教育水平和国际竞争力的重要标志之一.目前在我国要全面提高青少年学生的科学素养,必须以学科教学为实践出发点.在化学教学中,可以通过多维度拓展教学内容,采用灵活多样的探究式教学方法,建构多元发展的教学评价机制等措施,注重教学过程中的人文关怀,以促进科学素养教育.     

Multiple Aims in the Development of a Major Reform of the National Curriculum for Science in England

In the context of a major reform of the school science curriculum for 14–16‐year‐olds in England, we examine the aims ascribed to the reform, the stakeholders involved, and the roles of differing values and authority in its development. This reform includes an emphasis on socioscientific issues and the nature of science; curriculum trends of international relevance. Our analysis identifies largely ‘instrumental’ aims, with little emphasis on ‘intrinsic’ aims and associated values. We identify five broad categories of stakeholders focusing on different aims with, for example, a social, individual, political, or economic emphasis. We suggest that curriculum development projects reflecting largely social and individual aims were appropriated by other stakeholders to serve political and economic aims. We argue that a curriculum reform body representing all stakeholder interests is needed to ensure that multiple aims are considered throughout the curriculum reform process. Within such a body, the differentiated character of the science teaching community would need to be represented.     

小学科学教师的科学素养结构要素及其具体要求

全民科学素养的高低，是制约社会发展水平的重要因素，而教育是提高全民科学素养的主要途径，小学科学是以培养科学素养为宗旨的科学启蒙课程。小学科学教师自身科学素养的高低，直接影响到人才培养的质量。基于对科学素养基本要素的共识、科学素养概念的弹性以及对小学科学教师的特殊要求，提出“小学科学教师的科学素养结构要素”这一概念，并对结构要素进行界定，对各要素的品质提出具体要求。     

初中物理核心素养的要素分析与培养策略

核心素养是知识、能力与情感态度、价值观的综合体现,也是学生适应社会所必备的关键能力。本文以初中物理为切入点,对核心素养的要素展开分析,并对其培养策略进行探究。     

试论生物教科书中科学素养的评价

文章介绍了生物教科书与科学素养的关系,通过阐述和介绍以“科学素养”为目标对生物教科书进行评价的意义及国内外的研究成果,提出了我国生物教科书评价中急需解决的具体问题。     

国内研究型大学媒介素养教育现状及对策研究

研究型大学是培养高素质创新人才的基地,其知名的学者、良好的学术氛围和校园文化,吸引了众多优秀的生源。然而,受大众传媒时代多元媒介信息的影响,一些昔日的"天之骄子"其媒介素养水平低下,这有悖于研究型大学培养高质量人才的使命。文章在对国内研究型大学学生媒介素养现状调查了解的基础上,对研究型大学媒介素养教育的现状进行了分析,并提出了研究型大学媒介素养教育的发展战略。     

Science Engagement and Literacy: A retrospective analysis for students in Canada and Australia

Given international concerns about students' pursuit (or more correctly, non-pursuit) of courses and careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, this study is about achieving a better understanding of factors related to high school students' engagement in science. The study builds on previous secondary analyses of Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) datasets for New Zealand and Australia. For the current study, we compared patterns of science engagement and science literacy for male and female students in Canada and Australia. The study's secondary analysis revealed that for all PISA measures included under the conceptual umbrella of engagement in science (i.e. interest, enjoyment, valuing, self-efficacy, self-concept and motivation), 15-year-old students in Australia lagged their Canadian counterparts to varying, albeit modest, degrees. Our retrospective analysis further shows, however, that gender equity in science engagement and science literacy is evident in both Canadian and Australian contexts. Additionally, and consistent with our previous findings for indigenous and non-indigenous students in New Zealand and Australia, we found that for male and female students in both countries, the factor most strongly associated with variations in engagement in science was the extent to which students participate in science activities outside of school. In contrast, and again for both Canadian and Australian students, the factors most strongly associated with science literacy were students' socioeconomic backgrounds, and the amount of formal time spent doing science. The implications of these results for science educators and researchers are discussed.     

Changing discourses: Literacy and development in Nepal

Literacy policy and programming in developing countries continues to be influenced by the assumption that without literacy, an adult is unable to function on an equal basis in society and that an individual can be easily categorised as either literate or illiterate. Although this has led to prioritisation of primary schooling over adult literacy in many national government and donor agency budgets, there has recently been a movement away from regarding adult literacy as only ‘second chance schooling’ to explore how literacy programmes can build on participants’ existing practices. In the context of these changes in international policy discourses, this article analyses how literacy and development policy and programming in Nepal has changed over the past decade. Drawing on interviews with policy makers, trainers and literacy facilitators conducted in the 1990s and 2007, the author explores the shifts taking place. The structure of literacy programmes (including links with formal schooling), literacy materials, language of instruction and concepts of ‘post literacy’ were influenced by political events during this period as well as by donor agency discourses. Findings from the Nepal case have implications for the international policy discourse, such as the need to problematise the term ‘political’ to consider the intended and unintended consequences of literacy interventions.     

Sample, Random and Variation: The Vocabulary of Statistical Literacy

This paper considers the development of school students’ ability to define three terms that are fundamental to statistical literacy: sample, random, and variation. A total of 738 students in grades 3, 5, 7, and 9 were asked in a survey to define and give an example for the word “sample.” Of these, 379 students in grades 7 and 9 were also asked about the words “random” and “variation.” Responses were used to describe developmental levels overall and to document differences across grades on the understanding of these terms. Changes in performance were also monitored after lessons on chance and data, emphasizing variation for 335 students. After 2 years, 132 of these students and a further 209 students who were surveyed originally but did not take part in specialized lessons, were surveyed again. The difference after 2 years between the performance of students who experienced the specialized lessons and those who did not was considered, revealing no differences in performance longitudinally. For students in grades 7 and 9, the association of performance on the three terms was explored. Implications for mathematics and literacy educators are discussed.     

The development of data use,data skills,and positive attitude towards data use in a data team intervention for teacher educators

This study focuses on understanding how a participation in a data team develops data skills and data use in individual teacher educators. Five teacher educators collaborated in a data team that used data to solve the problem of student teachers dropping out during their course of study. This study aimed at understanding how teacher educators learn from their participation in the data team. We collected data through interviews, surveys, and a knowledge test, and gained insight into the development of data skills, attitude towards data use, and the teacher educators' data use in daily practice. The results show that the data team members’ data skills and attitudes towards data use changed in different ways during the data team intervention depending on their initial situation, and that overall, their data use for school development increased.     

The Benefits of Cooperative Learning to Socio-scientific Discussion in Secondary School Science

The aim of this research was to determine the benefits of cooperative learning to opening up socio-scientific discussion in secondary science. Seventy-four classes of 20 13–14-year-old pupils in one secondary school were observed engaging in discussion concerning climate change over three rounds of action research involving 12 teachers associated with the implementation of a Topical Science strand of a new national science curriculum. Pupil views on the cooperative learning approach used to facilitate the lessons and the associated discussion were determined using a pupil questionnaire (n?=?171). By the end of the action research, the overall average typical exchange in the observed lessons was between pupil-to-pupil (mean?±?SD, 41%?±?5%) and pupil-to-teacher (32%?±?4%) with teacher-to-pupil interactions accounting for only 27%?±?5% of exchanges. However, the pace of the typical exchanges was predominantly fast with most of the questions being a mixture of low order on task questions from teacher-to-pupil; technical exchanges, inquiring what to do from pupil-to-teacher; and quiz questions from teacher-to-pupil or from pupil-to-pupil. Questionnaire data indicated that overall 50.3% of pupils enjoyed the discussion (on global warming) and 59.7% did not find it boring. Nevertheless, only 45% felt that they were given the chance to express their own opinions during these discussions. Prior to these lessons, 59.6% were not interested in the issue of climate change and global warming. Cooperative learning facilitated a shift in the pattern of typical exchanges away from a teacher-dominated discourse towards a more pupil-centred, open discourse.