INFORMATION LITERACY: SCIENCE LITERACY: A Better Rationale for Science Literacy

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David P. Dillard

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Mar 8, 2012, 7:12:09 AM3/8/12
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INFORMATION LITERACY:

SCIENCE LITERACY:

A Better Rationale for Science Literacy

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A Better Rationale for Science Literacy

October 30, 2011

By Bruce Wightman

The Chronicle of Higher Education

The Chronicle Review

http://chronicle.com/article/A-Better-Rationale-for-Science/129541/

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Current programs sponsored by science foundations such as the American
Association for the Advancement of Science emphasize the importance of
"science literacy" in both K-12 and higher education. College curricula
have pursued these goals through science-literacy requirements or
specialized science courses for nonscience majors. Much has been written
about what science literacy is, with varying emphasis between the process
of science and the knowledge generated by that process.

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That's all well and good, but relatively little attention has been spent
on why we think science literacy is so important. Statements on the
subject often begin with perfunctory justification; the value of science
literacy is treated as self-obvious. And "literacy" sounds a bit
defensive, laboring to justify the importance of science by defining it in
terms of an essential fluency.

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snip

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If science education is important for all Americans, then we need
persuasive justifications for emphasizing science for all students in
college curricula. I think the most common rationales are not terribly
successful. One is that Americans' scores on science-literacy surveys are
poor in comparison with other developed nations.

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snip

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I think there may be a better reason that science literacy should be a
major component of higher-education curricula. There is something
transcendent about studying science. The humanities and social sciences,
for the most part, concern themselves with the creations of human beings,
our behavior, or the structure of our societies. In contrast, the sciences
force us to confront the smallness and irrelevance of human beings; they
serve as an antidote to self-obsession. Physics teaches us that time and
matter are not absolutes; biology, that astonishing complexity can arise
from a long, natural, stepwise process. The scope and existential
implications of these ideas are immense.

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Just as theology once provided the organizing themes for all knowledge,
science frames much of the 21st-century consciousness. The "big ideas" of
science provide the foundation for understanding our universe. Practical
understandings, such as those needed for better health and good
citizenship, arise from these key ideas.


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The complete article may be read at the URL above.

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Sincerely,
David Dillard
Temple University
(215) 204 - 4584
jw...@temple.edu
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