A writing in science framework designed to enhance science literacy

Abstract

Science education reforms in Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, and the United States promote a constructivist pedagogy of science leading to a contemporary view of science literacy. The reform documents provide somewhat fuzzy descriptions of critical philosophical, epistemological and pedagogical dimensions and underlying assumptions and relationships. An adequate conception of the desired science teaching and learning requires an interdisciplinary awareness of the nature of science literacy, the nature of science and scientific inquiry, the role of reasoning, and the role of epistemological beliefs. (Abd-El-Khalick, et al. 1998, Holliday, et al. 1994, Tyson, et al. 1997). However, there are contested viewpoints about what should be emphasized within and across each of these dimensions of learning science. This article attempts to clarify these dimensions, assumptions and relationships, to provide a practical framework for utilizing writing in science to enhance science literacy, and to present illustrative classroom examples.