Learning Exercise

The American Association
for the Advancement of Science and the National Research Council have embarked
on a long-term initiative to reform K-12 science education nationwide.
The California Department of Education also aims to help teachers improve
curriculum and instruction in science education. Each of these organizations
publish documents aimed at promoting standards-based reform of science
education in order to produce a more scientifically literate generation
of Americans. Your task is to identify consensus and conflict among the
documents. You will practice reading critically, writing clearly, and arguing
persuasively to clarify assumptions about "scientific literacy" according
to each document. How do teachers choose among conflicting guidelines on
behalf of their students? Your job is to recognize problems that would
benefit from research to resolve conflicts.

 

EACH of the four
science education reformdocuments are hyperlinked both in CPR under Resources
and on our course syllabus. Some may prefer to use a book with index, while
others prefer to search the on-line documents for keywords using the Edit
-> Find function.

 

How does each of
the four documents define literacy? (CA, NSES, AAAS, and SFAA?)

Are distinctions
made in the definitions of scientific literacy in relation to the degree
to which science is projected to be a focus in a person's career?

Is learning science
different from learning other subjects? What learning theory assumptions
are apparent in the perspective of each document about how students achieve
scientific literacy?

What agreement
and what conflicts confront teachers who follow the guidelines from all
of the documents? Is it possible for a good science teacher to align instructional
practice with all of the reform documents?

What research is
needed to help teachers decide among conflicting guidelines on behalf of
their students?

Top

Literacy is an
important issue in contemporary education.

• 
  How do the major science
  reform documents define scientific literacy?



• 
  What are the assumptions
  in the major science education reform documents regarding the way in which
  students become literate in science?



• 
  Is learning science
  different from learning other subjects?



 


 

 

 

Use page numbers
and the following symbols to reference your sources:

1. 
   CA: California
   Department of Education, (July, 2000). California Science Framework for
   K-12 Public Schools (DRAFT), California Department of Education: Sacramento,
   CA.



2. 
   NSES: National
   Research Council, (1996). National Science Education Standard, National
   Academy Press: Washington, D.C.



3. 
   AAAS: Project
   2061 American Association for the Advancement of Science, (1993). Benchmarks
   for Scientific Literacy Oxford University Press: New York.



4. 
   SFAA: Rutherford,
   F. J. (1990). Science for All Americans, Oxford University Press: New York.