IBSE Final

Chapter 1 The Teaching of Science: Contemporary Challenges

tHE tEACHING OF SCIENCE: 21 st-CENTURY PERSPECTIVES 7

• scientific knowledge and use of that knowledge to identify questions,

to acquire new knowledge, to explain scientific phenomenon, to draw

evidence-based conclusions about science-related issues;

• understanding of the characteristic features of science as a form of human

knowledge and [i]nquiry;

• awareness of how science and technology shape our material, intellectual,

and cultural environments; and

• willingness to engage in science-related issues, and with the ideas of

science, as a constructive, concerned, and reflective citizen (OECD 2006).

In this new century the science education community must pause and again

ask the Sisyphean question: What should the scientifically and technologically

literate person know, value, and do—as a citizen? The question is not new;

it was the topic of a 1985 yearbook of National Science Teachers Association

(Bybee 1985). Identifying what citizens should know, value, and be able to do

in situations involving science and technology may seem simple. Answering

the Sisyphean question opens the realms of scientific understanding, but it also

indicates a qualifier—citizens. As citizens, what knowledge is most appropriate?

An answer to this question certainly includes basic science concepts, but that

knowledge must be applied in contexts that citizens encounter in life. In addi-

tion, people often encounter situations that require some understanding of

science as a process that produces knowledge and proposes explanations about

the natural world.

What is important for citizens to value about science and technology?

An answer will include the role and contributions to society of science, and

of science-based technology, and their importance in many personal, social,

and global contexts. It seems essential that citizens have an interest in science,

support the process of scientific research, and act responsibly toward issues that

relate to science and technology—for example, health, use of natural resources,

and environmental quality.

What is important for individuals to be able to do that is science related?

People often have to base decisions on evidence and information, evaluate

claims made by others on the basis of the evidence, and distinguish personal

opinion from scientific (i.e., evidence-based) statements.

In general, citizens do not judge the worth of theories or advances in science.

But they do make decisions based on the facts in advertisements, evidence in

legal matters, information about their health, and issues concerning local envi-

ronments and natural resources. An educated person should be able to distin-

guish questions that can be answered by scientists from problems that can be

solved by science-based technologies.