Research
“In a culture increasingly pervaded by science, mathematics, and technology, science literacy requires understandings and habits of mind that enable citizens to grasp what those enterprises are up to, to make some sense of how the natural and designed worlds work, to think critically and independently, to recognize and weigh alternative explanations of events and design trade-offs, and to deal sensibly with problems that involve evidence, numbers, patterns, logical arguments, and uncertainties.”
Project 2061, Benchmarks Online
There are three main ingredients to teaching science literacy effectively and they are all integrated into the NGSS: Nature of Science, Science Inquiry, and Science, Technology and Society.
The following literature review summarizes the research on the effective teaching of science literacy.
NOS
“Given the importance of science and engineering in the 21st century, students require a sense of contextual understanding with regard to scientific knowledge, how it is acquired and applied, and how science is connected through a series of concepts that help further our understanding of the world around us.”
Nature of Science
Nature of Science is the defining characteristics of scientific knowledge.
Students need a systematic approach in order to develop an understanding of the nature of scientific knowledge.
Nature of science is often confused with science inquiry. In A Powerful Way of Learning, Dr. Lederman offers helpful clarification for teachers.
si
"...there is no single fixed set or sequence of steps that all scientific investigations follow. The contemporary view of scientific inquiry advocated is that the questions guide the approach and the approaches vary widely within and across scientific disciplines and fields."
Science Inquiry
Science Inquiry deals with the process of doing science. Students need a developmentally progressive method to acquire the practices and habits of mind that produces scientific knowledge.
In NGSS there are science practices and crosscutting concepts that differentiate science 'doing' from working on any other hands-on activities.
“The significance of science in societal activities, the role of socio-scientific issues in ethical decision-making, and the socio-economic status of science learning have been seen as significant in terms of pupils’ motivation and learning outcomes."
sts
Science, Technology & Society
Science, Technology & Society is a teaching approach to science education that is based on a constructive philosophy.
Many elements of this approach are built into NGSS innovations namely sense-making, real world context and build on students' prior knowledge.