Science Literacy and media Literacy: a missing link?

The study of science in the media is increasingly highlighted within science programmes and represents an authentic context for interdisciplinary collaboration. Yet the literature on ‘media across the curriculum’ makes surprisingly little mention of links to science and cross-curricular approaches to teaching about and with science-based media resources is an area that is under-explored. This research study focuses on science in the news. The project involved 28 teachers from seven schools and brought together science and English teachers to explore collaborative working with the aim of promoting critical engagement with media reports with a science component. Teachers planned, developed and implemented a school-based activity with an emphasis on ‘connected learning’ rather than the compartmentalised learning that tends to accompany the discrete treatment of science matters in science class and media matters in English class. Not only did the project raise teachers’ awareness of science in the media as a potential, purposeful and profitable area for collaborative working, but it demonstrated how the synergy of the different experiences and expertise of science and English teachers produced very varied approaches to a programme of activities with an enhanced capacity to promote criticality in relation to science literacy and media literacy.

Promoting science literacy via science journalism: Issues and challenges

Science journalism is the source of much of the science an individual will encounter beyond formal education. Science-based media reports, which might have been associated with informal education, are increasingly becoming incorporated into formal school contexts. Unlike science textbooks, the science reported in the news is often tentative and sometimes contested. It can involve difficult socio-scientific issues. Descriptors of ‘science literacy’ generally include reading and responding critically to media reports of science. The challenge of using science-based news effectively encourages teachers to reassess their knowledge and pedagogical practices.
In addition to creating interest in science and making links beyond the classroom, news media can be used to introduce pupils to elements of science enquiry and teachers can promote basic literacy and critical reading skills through systematic and imaginative use of media reports with a science component.
This chapter explores the knowledge, skills and attitudes that underpin the use of science journalism in the classroom. The unique characteristics and constraints of science journalism that influence the way science is presented and perceived are considered, and the importance of media awareness as a foundation for critical reading of science news is argued. Finally the characteristics of teaching programmes to support critical engagement with science-based media reports are outlined and the opportunities for cross-curricular initiatives highlighted.

Picturing evaporation : learning science literacy through a particle representation

Evaporation is mostly taught in primary schools through a water cycle representation. This has its limitations in explaining mechanisms and local effects such as drops drying in a closed room, condensation on cold surfaces, or how we smell liquids. In this paper the authors describe a classroom sequence of activities for Grade 5 students that explored the use of a particle model in conjunction with a range of representational modes, to explain evaporation phenomena. In interviews the authors explored with students their visual and verbal accounts of particles, modelling a process of teacher-mediated negotiation of multiple representations. From the evidence, the authors argue that difficulties in understanding evaporation are inherently representational, and that by engaging with the multiple literacies of science teachers can support significant advances in conceptual learning.

Equipping young people to engage with media driven science experiences: beyond science knowledge to science literacy and discerning consumers of news.

This paper reports on a study of a curricular intervention for pupils (age 10-13 years) in the UK aimed at supporting critical engagement with science based media reports. In particular the study focused on core elements of knowledge, skills and attitudes identified in previous studies that characterize critical consumers of science presented as news. This was an empirical study based on classroom observation. Data included responses from individual pupils, in addition video recording of group activity and intentional conversations between pupils and teachers were scrutinised. Analysis focused on core tasks relating to different elements of critical reading. Pupils demonstrated a grasp of questioning and evaluating text, however the capacity to translate this experience in support of a critical response to a media report with a science component is limited in assessing the credibility of text and as an element in critical reading.

Improving Science literacy through interdisciplinary collaboration using media reported science.

The capability to respond critically to science in the news is recognised as one aspect of science literacy. Consequently, science-related news reports are an essential resource for science teachers wishing to promote critical reading as the foundation of a critical response to media reported science. Consequently Science education in schools should prepare students to engage with informal sources of science, including news media, in the world beyond formal science education. An interest in science news media is not limited to the science specialist. Science news provides an authentic context for teachers of science and English to collaborate in promoting interdisciplinary learning. The challenges of using science related news, as a context for cross-curricular collaboration, highlight the professional development needs of both science and English teachers working in this context. This qualitative study with over 150 pupils involved secondary school science and English teachers working collaboratively using media reported science resources and collated data from interviews, pre and post intervention tasks, pupils’ classwork and teacher notes. The outcomes of the project showed pupil engagement and greater capacity to carry knowledge and skills across traditional subject boundaries. Teachers reported increased understanding of the pedagogy of the alternative subject specialist and increased confidence to move outside their subject in order to facilitate pupil learning. This study would suggest that adopting an interdisciplinary approach could enhance learning for pupils and increase the confidence and capability of teachers. Additionally teachers’ engagement in professional conversations focusing on pupil progress was noteworthy.

Committing Curricular Time to Science Literacy: The Benefits from Science-based Media Resources

Science reported in the media is an authentic source material to explore science research and innovation, to learn how science works and to consolidate science literacy skills.

Media reports intended to communicate science research and innovation provide opportunities for teachers to develop among their pupils the critical reading skills that are essential for promoting literacy in science.

This study focuses on a curricular intervention with upper primary pupils (age 11 years) and uses science reported in the media to facilitate science directed learning in the primary curriculum.

The study suggests that the use of science based media reports can be a positive learning experience for pupils. Strategies and teaching approaches can be used to boost pupils’ confidence and competence to adopt critical reading strategies when they encounter science-based media.

Critical reading and reasoning strategies vary in their degree of difficulty. This study would suggest that, when using media-based resources, teachers need approaches that systematically address the different levels of cognative challenge presented by media resources and create opportunities within the curriculum to revisit, consolidate and develop pupils’ critical reasoning skills.

Zwischen Anpassung und Widerstand: Critical Science Literacy in der Wissensgesellschaft

In der gegenwärtigen "Wissensgesellschaft" spielt wissenschaftliches Wissen eine zentrale Rolle, um gesellschaftliche Verhältnisse herzustellen oder zu reproduzieren. Ein kritischer Umgang mit (wissenschaftlichem) Wissen - eine "critical science literacy" - eröffnet Möglichkeiten des Widerstands in der Wissensgesellschaft und kann damit als demokratische Grundfertigkeit begriffen werden. Im vorliegenden Beitrag gehen die Autorinnen den Möglichkeiten einer critical science literacy im Spannungsverhältnis von Anpassung und Widerstand nach. Sie werfen einen Blick auf die historische Entwicklung der Debatte um scientific literacy - ursprünglich nur als naturwissenschaftliche Grundkompetenz gedacht, aber mit einem durchaus kritisch reflexiven und demokratischen Moment - im Kontext demokratisch-kapitalistischer Verhältnisse. Sie verstehen critical science literacy als eine auf allen Ebenen der Wissensgenerierung und -bildung verantwortungsvolle, kollektive und eingreifende Praxis in gesellschaftliche Auseinandersetzungen. (DIPF/Orig.)

The Science Café Movement on the Mississippi Gulf Coast

Science Cafes present a casual meeting place where people who may have little or no science background can learn about a current scientific topic in an informal and friendly environment. The coffee shop setting is designed to be inviting and informal so that students, faculty, and community members can feel comfortable and engage in lively and meaningful conversations. The café is organized around an interesting scientific topic with a brief presentation by a scientist and may include a short video clip. A Science Café can (1) provide an opportunity and venue for increasing science literacy, (2) publicize local scientific endeavors, and (3) identify the library as an epicenter of informal education on the campus and in the community. This presentation will describe the development of the Science Café at the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast campus Library in Long Beach and plans for future cafes on the Mississippi coast.

INVESTIGATION OF STRATEGIES TO PROMOTE EFFECTIVE TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCES IN EARTH SCIENCE

This dissertation serves as a call to geoscientists to share responsibility with K-12 educators for increasing Earth science literacy. When partnerships are created among K-12 educators and geoscientists, the synergy created can promote Earth science literacy in students, teachers, and the broader community. The research described here resulted in development of tools that can support effective professional development for teachers. One tool is used during the planning stages to structure a professional development program, another set of tools supports measurement of the effectiveness of a development program, and the third tool supports sustainability of professional development programs. The Michigan Teacher Excellence Program (MiTEP), a Math/Science Partnership project funded by the National Science Foundation, served as the test bed for developing and testing these tools. The first tool, the planning tool, is the Earth Science Literacy Principles (ESLP). The ESLP served as a planning tool for the two-week summer field courses as part of the MiTEP program. The ESLP, published in 2009, clearly describe what an Earth science literate person should know. The ESLP consists of nine big ideas and their supporting fundamental concepts. Using the ESLP for planning a professional development program assisted both instructors and teacher-participants focus on important concepts throughout the professional development activity. The measurement tools were developed to measure change in teachers’ Earth science content-area knowledge and perceptions related to teaching and learning that result from participating in a professional development program. The first measurement tool, the Earth System Concept Inventory (ESCI), directly measures content-area knowledge through a succession of multiple-choice questions that are aligned with the content of the professional development experience. The second measurement, an exit survey, collects qualitative data from teachers regarding their impression of the professional development. Both the ESCI and the exit survey were tested for validity and reliability. Lesson study is discussed here as a strategy for sustaining professional development in a school or a district after the end of a professional development activity. Lesson study, as described here, was offered as a formal course. Teachers engaged in lesson study worked collaboratively to design and test lessons that improve the teachers’ classroom practices. Data regarding the impact of the lesson study activity were acquired through surveys, written documents, and group interviews. The data are interpreted to indicate that the lesson study process improved teacher quality and classroom practices. In the case described here, the lesson study process was adopted by the teachers’ district and currently serves as part of the district’s work in Professional Learning Communities, resulting in ongoing professional development throughout the district.