Fundamentals of Scientific Literacy: A Proposal for Science Teacher Education Program

Abstract

Scientific Literacy (SL) is a term used in many countries to define the purpose of science education. Although there is no consensus in defining it, many authors argue that SL is the main goal for science education. Based on author's previous research that established three fundamentals of SL that can develop students’ scientific literacy, the approaches: Inquiry-based Teaching (IBT), Science-TechnologySociety (STS), and History and Philosophy of Science (HPS), an academic discipline in a teacher education program was investigated in order to analyze pre-service teachers' conceptions about SL and its fundamentals. The research objective was investigated how pre-service teachers understand and reflect on the SL concept and its fundamentals. This proposal was applied in a Brazilian Federal University located in the metropolitan area of São Paulo-Brazil. Twelve pre-service teachers attended the seventeen classes. They studied three different approaches: STS, HPS, and IBT. Some aspects of Nature of Science were also considered. Researchers authors elaborated levels of comprehension for each approach in order to analyze pre-service teachers’ conceptions. The primary results so far indicated that some students were able to establish relationships among these approaches and their comprehension of each approach was dependent on the emphasis of the teacher educator.