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Doc. 8129
2 June 1998
Scientific and technological literacy
Opinion1
Committee on Culture and Education
Rapporteur: Mr Takis Hadjidemetriou, Cyprus, Socialist Group
Few would argue against the need for a universal basic standard of scientific literacy in modern technological society, as science has been one of the disciplines to which high priority has been given in many educational systems over recent years. There are very noble and valid reasons for this. Basic numerical and scientific skills can be a powerful tool in fulfilling the human need of making sense of the environment as a whole, including the physical, technological and social worlds. Scientific literacy is also widely recognised as a fundamental attribute of the human resource that can effectively contribute to the economic and technological development of any country. Equally important is the role of scientific literacy in promoting the democratic process in an increasingly complex world. And of course science includes a rich body of immense cultural achievement.
However, despite widespread acknowledgement of its desirability, few people are able to agree on the nature and characteristics of scientific literacy. Scientific literacy can be defined as the ability to understand the basic nature of modern science, grasp classic and current knowledge and facts produced by science, use scientific reasoning to approach everyday issues in an analytic and critical manner and also understand the role that science plays in the modern world. Understanding the basic nature of science implies understanding certain basic characteristics of the methods of science, of epistemology and of human reasoning and inquiry.
Grasping the knowledge and facts of science implies an awareness of how the various aspects of the world are represented by modern fields of science, for instance how physics represents the physical world, biology the world of living beings, physiology the world of human beings, etc.
Understanding the role of science in the modern world implies a grasp of new scientific inventions which affect our everyday life at various levels, for instance production of goods that enhance human capabilities, concepts that transform how we relate to the physical world and with each other, etc.
The analytical approach to issues and dilemmas requires an innate fundamental trust in the logical infrastructure of modern science and a confident awareness of the content and structure of scientific theories to the point where they can be applied in an informal and intelligent manner. It also requires an appreciation of the value of thorough examination, rigorous judgement and careful argumentation as issues that are worthy of our attention.
Ideally every citizen must attain this sort of scientific literacy. However, present educational systems are still very far from developing effective means of achieving this. A major goal of European education should be to design and create the necessary conditions that are required to nurture scientific literacy from the very beginning.
In fact one might argue that from the years of early childhood education must provide experience and knowledge that will gradually accumulate into the grasp of science that we are describing. It is possible to argue here that in our system we have already gone a long way towards approaching these aims. However, this is only superficially true. There are curricula concerned with every field of science at various levels within the educational system, but research shows that these curricula fall short of attaining all the dimensions of scientific literacy as outlined above. School curricula may provide information about classic and current knowledge, but this is not integrated with understanding of the nature of science or of its role in the modern world. In particular our students are not acquiring the fundamental conceptual understanding, the transferable reasoning skills for the desire for lifelong learning and the pursuit of informed rigour, which have become the fundamental under-pining of modern society. In contrast, passive role memorisation prevails for the sole purpose of overcoming examination hurdles, leaving citizens unprepared for contemporary social life, that is intellectually demanding and constantly changing.
To ameliorate the situation, education should be reorganised to take into account the results of modern cognitive science and developmental psychology which are concerned with the architecture, functioning and development of the human mind. Scientists in the traditional fields should be encouraged to recognise educational issues and to accept the educational transformation of their discipline as a legitimate issue of concern in their academic research. Cognitive psychologists need to be encouraged to develop and test practical educational applications of current and future theories.
Even this presupposes knowledge that may not yet be available. Therefore scientific literacy is literally dependent on the advancement of knowledge in the field of applied cognitive and instructional science that could highlight how the various aspects of science might be pedagogically transformed in ways conducive to the construction of fundamental understanding by persons of different ages.
In Mrs Margitta Terborg’s report there is a reference to a series of obstacles in scientific education. The rapport suggests that:
– textbooks have to be written in a more comprehensive way and that changes are needed in the school curriculum to accommodate the lessons dealing with science and technology to the abilities of the pupils.
– for teachers, it is important that they have an excellent command of their subject but at the same time it is equally important that they have a proper pedagogical training to make their lessons understandable by the pupils. Another suggestion is the need for provision of technical equipment for all students both in their schools and their homes.
Special attention must indeed be given to sex equality in scientific education, so that girls may be able to overcome some at their disandvatages in the field of technology. Adult education in science and technology has to be combined with a life long learning system.
There are two further major issues included in the report. The first is the new division between those who know how to use the new technologies and those to whom the area remains inaccessible. This division has to be avoided as far as possible. The second issue is Europe’s ability to compete in a world of global networks, this is directly related to the scientific education of its citizens.
In supporting these proposals, we conclude that there is a basic need to encourage multidisciplinary efforts for systematically addressing this fundamental issue in our educational systems. These efforts need to be guided by the results of basic research in cognitive science and should involve active scientists from a range of disciplines. They need to be supported by ongoing fundamental research but with a definite practical orientation so that they can be used in real-life educational environments. Only then can we hope to move closer towards attaining the high standards of scientific literacy that are required.
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Amendment to the draft recommendation
Presented by the Committee on Science and Technology
Change the title of the report to "Scientific and technological literacy"
Committee for report: Committee on Science and Technology (Doc. 8122)
Committee for opinion: Committee on Culture and Education
Reference to committee: Doc. 7692 and Reference No. 2143 of 27 January 1997
Opinion approved by the committee on 11 May 1998