INFORMATION LITERACY: SCIENCE LITERACY: Why Should You Be Scientifically Literate?

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David P. Dillard

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Mar 8, 2012, 12:03:53 AM3/8/12
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INFORMATION LITERACY:

SCIENCE LITERACY:

Why Should You Be Scientifically Literate?

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Why Should You Be Scientifically Literate?

American Institute of Biological Sciences

http://www.actionbioscience.org/newfrontiers/hazen.html

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We live in an age of constant scientific discovery a world shaped by
revolutionary new technologies. Just look at your favorite newspaper. The
chances are pretty good that in the next few days youll see a headline
about global warming, cloning, fossils in meteorites, or genetically
engineered food. Other stories featuring exotic materials, medical
advances, DNA evidence, and new drugs all deal with issues that directly
affect your life. As a consumer, as a business professional, and as a
citizen, you will have to form opinions about these and other
science-based issues if you are to participate fully in modern society.

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More and more, scientific and technological issues dominate national
discourse, from environmental debates on ozone depletion and acid rain, to
economic threats from climate change and invasive species. Understanding
these debates has become as basic as reading. All citizens need to be
scientifically literate to:

appreciate the world around them

make informed personal choices

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snip

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What is scientific literacy?

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Scientific literacy, quite simply, is a mix of concepts, history, and
philosophy that help you understand the scientific issues of our time.

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Scientific literacy is not the specialized, jargon-filled esoteric lingo
of the experts. You dont have to be able to synthesize new drugs to
appreciate the importance of medical advances, nor do you need to be able
to calculate the orbit of the space station to understand its role in
space exploration.

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Scientific literacy is rooted in the most general scientific principles
and broad knowledge of science; the scientifically literate citizen
possesses facts and vocabulary sufficient to comprehend the context of the
daily news.

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If you can understand scientific issues in magazines and newspapers (if
you can tackle articles about genetic engineering or the ozone hole with
the same ease that you would sports, politics, or the arts) then you are
scientifically literate.

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Admittedly, this definition of scientific literacy does not satisfy
everyone. Some academics argue that science education should expose
students to mathematical rigor and complex vocabulary. They want everyone
to experience this taste of real science. But my colleagues and I feel
strongly that those who insist that everyone must understand science at a
deep level are confusing two important but separate aspects of scientific
knowledge. As in many other endeavors, doing science is obviously distinct
from using science; and scientific literacy concerns only the latter.

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Surprisingly, intense study of a particular field of science does not
necessarily make one scientifically literate. Indeed, Im often amazed at
the degree to which working scientists are often woefully uninformed in
scientific fields outside their own field of professional expertise. I
once asked a group of twenty-four Ph.D. physicists and geologists to
explain the difference between DNA and RNA perhaps the most basic idea in
modern molecular biology. I found only three colleagues who could do so,
and all three of those individuals did research in areas where this
knowledge was useful. And Id probably find the same sort of discouraging
result if I asked biologists to explain the difference between a
semiconductor and a superconductor. The education of professional
scientists is often just as narrowly focused as the education of any other
group of professionals, so scientists are just as likely to be ignorant of
scientific matters outside their own specialty as anyone else.

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snip

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Additional Topics Covered in This Article:

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The scope of the problem

Why is scientific literacy important?

Civics

Aesthetics

Intellectual Coherence

So what to do?

K-12 Education

Higher Education

The General Public

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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
http://workface.com/e/daviddillard

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