August 14, 1998
James Hathaway, 602-965-6375, [email protected]
Sources: Jane Maienschein, 602-965-6105
Marie Glitz, Matthew Shindell, 602-965-8644
ASU Undergraduates Make Plea for Scientific Literacy in Science Editorial
The journal Science, published weekly by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), is probably the leading publication of the scientific community. On August 14, a group of Arizona State University and University of Arizona students and their faculty mentor will get to address that community with an editorial on the critical issue of scientific literacy.
"According to the staff of Science, this is the first time undergraduates have ever authored an editorial there," said Jane Maienschein, professor of philosophy and biology, director of ASU's Biology and Society Program and the group's mentor and co-author.
"This is the result of over a year of study, including site visits to Washington to speak with legislators and policy makers, a conference paper a major international convention and untold hours of individual research. We were invited to write an editorial on this globally important issue because these students were the best people to address it," she said.
The editorial addresses the critical importance of improving scientific literacy in our society, while at the same time noting a dangerous and "astonishing ambiguity" in definitions of the issue being used by the policy makers and educational theorists involved.
The editorial separates these differing views into arguments for "science literacy" -- a focus on learning specific scientific or technical knowledge, or "training" -- and arguments for "scientific literacy" -- a focus on learning "scientific ways of knowing" and critical thinking. The authors point out that the former is more attractive because it is easier and produces short-term results, while "promoting scientific literacy requires a new way of teaching for which few teachers are prepared. It stresses long-term process over short-term product and questions over answers." In the end, the piece argues that policy addressing both of these literacies is necessary.
In addition to Maienschein, the paper's authors include Ingrid Burger, Reza Enshaie, Marie Glitz, Kate Kevern, Brent Maddin, Mark Rivera, Diana Rutowski, Matthew Shindell, and Alon Unger. David Burough, Arthur Kesh, Joseph Martinez, Pablo Tapia and Susan Williams also assisted in the research.
###
RSS