The Scientific Literacy of Australian Students

The Scientific Literacy of Australian Students
Author: Malcolm J. Rosier
Publisher:
Total Pages: 260
Release: 1990
Genre: Education
ISBN:

Science education occupies an important place in the curriculum of Australian schools. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the science education received by students at the upper primary (10- year-old) and lower secondary (14-year-old) levels. The early chapters set out differences across the Australian states, and for male and female students, in terms of: the home background and ethnic background of the students; students' attitudes to school, to the science studied at school, and to the role of science in the wider society; the science curriculum; characteristics of science lessons; students' achievement in science. In later chapters, the authors examine reasons for difference in science achievement between students and between states. Finally, there is a comparison of the science achievement of Australian students with that of students in other countries. It also indicates the relative decline in science achievement in Australia since an earlier study in 1970.

Global Developments in Literacy Research for Science Education

Global Developments in Literacy Research for Science Education
Author: Kok-Sing Tang
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 398
Release: 2018-01-19
Genre: Science
ISBN: 331969197X

This book highlights recent developments in literacy research in science teaching and learning from countries such as Australia, Brazil, China, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Taiwan, and the United States. It includes multiple topics and perspectives on the role of literacy in enhancing science teaching and learning, such as the struggles faced by students in science literacy learning, case studies and evaluations of classroom-based interventions, and the challenges encountered in the science classrooms. It offers a critical and comprehensive investigation on numerous emerging themes in the area of literacy and science education, including disciplinary literacy, scientific literacy, classroom discourse, multimodality, language and representations of science, and content and language integrated learning (CLIL). The diversity of views and research contexts in this volume presents a useful introductory handbook for academics, researchers, and graduate students working in this specialized niche area. With a wealth of instructional ideas and innovations, it is also highly relevant for teachers and teacher educators seeking to improve science teaching and learning through the use of literacy.

Scientific Literacy Under the Microscope

Scientific Literacy Under the Microscope
Author: John Loughran
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 155
Release: 2011-11-19
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9460915280

Scientific literacy is generally valued and acknowledged among educators as a desirable student learning outcome. However, what scientific literacy really means in terms of classroom practice and student learning is debatable due to the inherent complexity of the term and varying expectations of what it means for learning outcomes. To date the teacher voice has been noticeably absent from this debate even though the very nature of teacher expertise lies at the heart of the processes which shape students’ scientific literacy. The chapters that comprise this book tap into the expertise of a group of primary teachers from Our Lady of Good Counsel (OLGC), a primary school that chose to actively engage in teaching for scientific literacy. By analyzing the insights and thinking that emerged as they attempted to unravel some of the pedagogical complexities associated with constructing an understanding of scientific literacy in their own classrooms, these teachers demonstrate the professional knowledge and skill inherent in the expertise of teaching and learning science in a primary classroom. The chapters in this book illustrate the processes and structures that were created at OGLC to provide the conditions that allowed these teachers to explore and build on the range of ideas that informed their approach to teaching for scientific literacy. This book is a compelling example of how a whole school approach to scientific literacy can make a difference for students’ learning of science and offer a concrete example of the development of professional knowledge and practice of teachers.

Science Literacy

Science Literacy
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 167
Release: 2016-11-14
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0309447569

Science is a way of knowing about the world. At once a process, a product, and an institution, science enables people to both engage in the construction of new knowledge as well as use information to achieve desired ends. Access to scienceâ€"whether using knowledge or creating itâ€"necessitates some level of familiarity with the enterprise and practice of science: we refer to this as science literacy. Science literacy is desirable not only for individuals, but also for the health and well- being of communities and society. More than just basic knowledge of science facts, contemporary definitions of science literacy have expanded to include understandings of scientific processes and practices, familiarity with how science and scientists work, a capacity to weigh and evaluate the products of science, and an ability to engage in civic decisions about the value of science. Although science literacy has traditionally been seen as the responsibility of individuals, individuals are nested within communities that are nested within societiesâ€"and, as a result, individual science literacy is limited or enhanced by the circumstances of that nesting. Science Literacy studies the role of science literacy in public support of science. This report synthesizes the available research literature on science literacy, makes recommendations on the need to improve the understanding of science and scientific research in the United States, and considers the relationship between scientific literacy and support for and use of science and research.

Science Education for Australian Students

Science Education for Australian Students
Author: Angela Fitzgerald
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 239
Release: 2020-07-16
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1000247244

In this ground-breaking book science education is explored as a learning continuum across all years of schooling from Foundation to Year 12. The expert authors, members of Monash University's Science Education Research Group, seek to build pedagogical and content expertise by providing both a level of support and challenge for all teachers based on current research and best practice. The text considers key issues including: what the learner brings to the science classroom; what primary and secondary teachers can learn from each other; the constructivist perspective and its value in learning science; context-based science education; the structure of the Australian curriculum and science education policy; teacher identity; the nature of scientific knowledge; principles of assessment and understanding the role of ICT in science teaching and learning. Featuring case studies and practical examples in each chapter, this book provides pre-service teachers with the understanding and tools to ensure their students are engaged and inspired in science education throughout their school years.

The PISA Effect on Global Educational Governance

The PISA Effect on Global Educational Governance
Author: Louis Volante
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2017-09-18
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1315440512

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international achievement measure that assesses 15-year-old student performance in the areas of reading, mathematics, and science literacy in over 70 countries and economies triennially. By presenting an in-depth examination of PISA’s role in education governance and policy discourses, this book provides the reader with a critical analysis of the educational change process within our increasingly global educational policy environment. Exploring the prominent socio-political drivers of large-scale educational reform across the globe, chapter authors examine PISA’s national and global implications from a diverse range of regional contexts. Through the presentation of cross-disciplinary viewpoints and topical issues related to the PISA international survey, this volume explains the degree to which PISA-focused research is linked to national educational policy discourses and international education agendas.

The World of Science Education

The World of Science Education
Author:
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 309
Release: 2009-01-01
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9087909292

The focus of this Handbook is on Australasia (a region loosely recognized as that which includes Australia and New Zealand plus nearby Pacific nations such as Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, and the Samoan islands) science education and the scholarship that most closely supports this program.

The Age of STEM

The Age of STEM
Author: Brigid Freeman
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2014-10-24
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1317663667

Across the world STEM (learning and work in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) has taken central importance in education and the economy in a way that few other disciplines have. STEM competence has become seen as key to higher productivity, technological adaptation and research-based innovation. No area of educational provision has a greater current importance than the STEM disciplines yet there is a surprising dearth of comprehensive and world-wide information about STEM policy, participation, programs and practice. The Age of STEM is a state of the art survey of the global trends and major country initiatives in STEM. It gives an international overview of issues such as: STEM strategy and coordination curricula, teaching and assessment women in STEM indigenous students research training STEM in the graduate labour markets STEM breadth and STEM depth The individual chapters give comparative international analysis as well as a global overview, particularly focusing on the growing number of policies and practices in mobilising and developing talent in the STEM fields. The book will be of particular interest to anyone involved in educational policy, those in education management and leaders in both schooling and tertiary education. It will have a wider resonance among practitioners in the STEM disciplines, particularly at university level, and for those interested in contemporary public policy.