Knowing nature through experimentation: Science literacy and the situatedness of knowing

• The background of the present study is an interest in issues of learning and knowing across social settings. In recent years, such problems have come to be understood in terms of literacy, i.e. the ability of people to use textual and multimodal resources to understand real-world issues. The analysis reported here takes its point of departure in John Dewey’s argumentation that learning about scientific methods and inquiry can provide such a platform for learning generalized skills. Students (aged 16-17), studying the environment and climate issues, had access to a virtual lab, referred to as the acid ocean virtual lab, to conduct inquiries and experiments that concern climate change. The analysis builds on a sample of 80 students who took part in written problem-solving test as outcome measure. The students were required to design an experiment addressing a specific environmental issue. The problem was given as an individual written task before as well as after teaching/lab sessions. The results show that students increase their use of scientifically relevant terminology (‘sample’, ‘measure’ etc.) and they improve their ability to outline an experiment during the course. However, science literacy also implies realizing what a relevant interpretation of a problem is in order to be able to answer it through a scientific experiment.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap -- Kommunikationsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Media and Communications -- Communication Studies (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap -- Pedagogik (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences -- Pedagogy (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Virtual labs

learning

digital tools in classrooms

Publication and Content Type

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kon (subject category)