The majority of adults in the US and in Europe appear to be scientifically illiterate. This has not changed in more than half a century. It is unknown whether the Australian public is also scientifically illiterate because no similar testing is done here. Public scientific illiteracy remains in spite of improvements in science education, innovative approaches to public outreach, the encouraging of science communication via the mass media, and the advent of the Internet. Why is it that there has been so little change? Is school science education inadequate? Does something happen between leaving high school education and becoming an adult? Does Australia suffer from the same apparent malady? The pilot study at the heart of this thesis tests a total of 692 Year Ten (16-year-old) Australian students across ten high schools and a first year university class in 2005 and 2006, using measures applied to adults. Twenty-six percent of those tested participated in a related scientific literacy project utilising in-person visits to Macquarie University in both years. A small group of the students (64) tested in 2005 were considered the best science students in seven of the ten high schools. Results indicate that no more than 20% of even the best high school science students - on the point of being able to end their formal science education - are scientifically literate if measured by adult standards. Another pilot test among 150 first year university students supports that indication. This compares to a scientific literacy rate of 28% for the US public. This thesis finds that the scientific literacy enterprise ?? in all its forms ?? fails scrutiny. Either we believe our best science students are leaving high school scientifically illiterate or there is something fundamentally wrong in our perceptions of public scientific illiteracy. This pilot study ?? probably the first of its kind ?? indicates we cannot rely on our current perceptions of a scientifically illiterate public. It demonstrates that a paradigm shift in our thinking is required about what scientific literacy is and in our expectations of a scientifically literate adult public. In the worst case scenario, governments are pouring millions of dollars into science education and public outreach with little or no basis for understanding whether either is effective. That is illogical, even irresponsible. It also impacts on the way astrobiology ?? or any science ?? is communicated in public.

The majority of adults in the US and in Europe appear to be scientifically illiterate. This has not changed in more than half a century. It is unknown whether the Australian public is also scientifically illiterate because no similar testing is done here. Public scientific illiteracy remains in spite of improvements in science education, innovative approaches to public outreach, the encouraging of science communication via the mass media, and the advent of the Internet. Why is it that there has been so little change? Is school science education inadequate? Does something happen between leaving high school education and becoming an adult? Does Australia suffer from the same apparent malady? The pilot study at the heart of this thesis tests a total of 692 Year Ten (16-year-old) Australian students across ten high schools and a first year university class in 2005 and 2006, using measures applied to adults. Twenty-six percent of those tested participated in a related scientific literacy project utilising in-person visits to Macquarie University in both years. A small group of the students (64) tested in 2005 were considered the best science students in seven of the ten high schools. Results indicate that no more than 20% of even the best high school science students - on the point of being able to end their formal science education - are scientifically literate if measured by adult standards. Another pilot test among 150 first year university students supports that indication. This compares to a scientific literacy rate of 28% for the US public. This thesis finds that the scientific literacy enterprise ?? in all its forms ?? fails scrutiny. Either we believe our best science students are leaving high school scientifically illiterate or there is something fundamentally wrong in our perceptions of public scientific illiteracy. This pilot study ?? probably the first of its kind ?? indicates we cannot rely on our current perceptions of a scientifically illiterate public. It demonstrates that a paradigm shift in our thinking is required about what scientific literacy is and in our expectations of a scientifically literate adult public. In the worst case scenario, governments are pouring millions of dollars into science education and public outreach with little or no basis for understanding whether either is effective. That is illogical, even irresponsible. It also impacts on the way astrobiology ?? or any science ?? is communicated in public.

This study examines a primary school teacher’s ambitions within science education and how those ambitions manifest in the classroom. This is being examined by interview with the mentioned teacher and by observations as a participant within four of the teacher’s science classes. The results of this study is categorized and analyzed with assistance of scientific literacy, vision I and vision II, fundamental scientific literacy and Roberts’ curriculum emphases. The results of the study points at both similarities and indifferences between what the teacher expresses as ambitions, and how science classes are being constituted and organized. In the light of this result, a discussion takes place around what these similarities and indifferences can be products of.

Title: Scientific Literacy of 15-years old pupils in the Czech Republic in the International Survey PISA Author: Pavel Petrášek Department: Department of Physics Education Supervisor: PhDr. Martin Chvál, Ph.D., Department of Physics Education Abstract: My thesis focuses on the results of 15-year old pupils in selected tasks of the international survey PISA. It contains a brief introduction to the methodology of a survey and its realization in our conditions. The thesis presents relations between pupils` success and other variables found out in additional questionnaires, such as sex, parents` education, relation to mathematics or pupils` social and economical backgrounds. Besides the thesis contains the comparison of the importance of individual variables and results from the years 2000 and 2003. The thesis can be used as a theme for further research of mentioned relations and their comparison in a longer time horizon with other results. Electronic form of my thesis is on enclosed CD. Keywords: tests, international survey, scientific literacy

Este trabalho investiga o ensino de evolução a partir do referencial teórico da alfabetização científica e da argumentação e tem como objetivo caracterizar argumentos escritos produzidos por alunos em problemas relacionados à evolução biológica. Uma sequência didática com o tema \"adaptações\", que continha atividades voltadas para a elaboração de argumentos, foi produzida e aplicada em um curso pré-vestibular popular. A partir de textos com exemplos de adaptações de alguns seres vivos, os alunos deviam escolher entre dois modelos teóricos - teleológico ou darwinista - que explicavam como surgiram essas adaptações. Eles também deveriam apontar por que o modelo não escolhido não seria adequado. As respostas escritas dos alunos foram analisadas em termos conceituais, estruturais e de qualidade dos argumentos. Constatou-se que a grande maioria dos alunos escolheu o modelo teleológico para explicar as adaptações dos seres vivos. Os estudantes tiveram maior facilidade para construir argumentos que justificassem a opção por um modelo do que para apontar as limitações do outro. Conclui-se que, além das dificuldades já conhecidas de compreensão da teoria darwinista, existe uma falta de entendimento sobre como a Ciência opera quando há mais de um modelo para explicar um fenômeno e sobre como evidências não experimentais podem endossar as teorias científicas. Além disso, os resultados sugerem que o exemplo utilizado pode influenciar na compreensão do aluno sobre o processo de seleção natural e que o mesmo aluno pode apresentar mais de um perfil conceitual sobre evolução durante a mesma aula. / This essay investigates the teaching of evolution from the theoretical framework of scientific literacy and argumentation and aims to characterize written arguments produced by students when the subject is biological evolution. A teaching sequence about \"adaptations\", which contained activities aiming the preparation of arguments, was produced and applied in a community pre-university course. From texts with examples of adaptations of some living beings, students had to choose between two theoretical models - teleological or Darwinian - explaining how those adaptations arose. They should also point out why the model they did not would not be appropriate. The students\' written responses were analyzed in conceptual and structural terms, along with the quality of the arguments. It was found that the vast majority of students chose the teleological model to explain the adaptations. Students were easier to construct arguments to justify the choice of a model than to indicate the limitations of the other. We conclude that, besides the already known difficulties of understanding of Darwinian theory, there is a lack of understanding about how science operates when there is more than one model to explain a phenomenon and how non-experimental evidence can endorse scientific theories. Furthermore, the results suggest that the example used can influence the student\'s understanding of natural selection and that the same student may present more than one conceptual profile about evolution during the same class.

När Energimyndigheten 2008 frågade ungdomar om förnybar energi kunde 40 % av de tillfrågade inte namnge en enda förnybar energikälla. Användandet av förnybar energi är en del av den strategi som Förenta Nationerna [FN] har lagt fram för att nå en hållbar utveckling i framtiden. FN framhäver även vikten och behovet av att undervisa om hållbar utveckling och förnybar energi. Vi ville studera vilka förnybara energikällor som förekom i läroböcker för grundskolans senare år och gymnasiet. Detta för att få en uppfattning om hur lärare kan använda läroböckerna i framtida undervisning om förnybar energi. Vi har gjort en kvantitativ innehållsanalys av energikapitlet i olika läroböcker där vi har studerat hur området förnybar energi presenterades, bland annat utifrån perspektivet scientific literacy. Våra resultat visar signifikanta skillnader mellan läroböckerna för gymnasiet och grundskolans senare år. Bland annat presenteras många fler energikällor i läroböckerna på gymnasiet, och de presenteras även på ett sådant sätt att de ingriper flera områden av perspektivet scientific literacy. Några av de vanligast förekommande energikällorna var vattenkraft och vindkraft.

This research attempts to identify the factors which influence the choice of science subjects in Mauritius among girls at the end of the third year of secondary education, the level up to which science is a compulsory subject. This low uptake of science subjects by girls beyond the compulsory level is a matter of concern. The study was undertaken in four purposely selected schools in Mauritius, two mixed-sex and two girls’ schools. Using mainly a qualitative approach, data were collected through: (i) non-participant observations of 60 science and 20 non-science lessons, (ii) 16 semi-structured face-to-face interviews of teachers, and six group interviews with pupils and (iii) 135 questionnaires administered to the parents of the pupils in the classes observed in the four schools. Based on the results of a pilot study, modifications were made for the main study. The data provided insights into teachers’ teaching approaches, the behaviour and interest of pupils in the lessons and other factors such as pupils’ perceptions of science, their self-identity and role models, and the extent to which parents and peers influence the choice of subjects among girls. The findings show that teaching approaches were mainly traditional and that both girls and boys prefer hands-on activities and contextual examples reflecting real-life situations. The majority of the girls’ experiences of science were negative and this deterred them from taking science beyond the compulsory level although they were aware of its importance. Teachers had positive opinions about girls’ ability to do science but stated that lack of infrastructure facilities did not allow them to involve the pupils in practical work as much as they would wish. However, brighter girls’ decisions to study sciences were not outweighed by these factors. Parents felt that they did not influence their daughters in the choice of subjects or eventual careers though they held science in high esteem.

SILVA, Gerlylson Rubens dos Santos. Manifestações avaliativas de engajamento no gênero relatório de pesquisa produzido por alunos do ensino médio. 2016. 152f. – Dissertação (Mestrado) – Universidade Federal do Ceará, Departamento de Letras Vernáculas, Programa de Pós-graduação em Linguística, Fortaleza (CE), 2016. / Submitted by Márcia Araújo (marcia_m_bezerra@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-06-15T11:09:41Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2016_dis_grssilva.pdf: 1387331 bytes, checksum: 23a31b5f082b2a37ee430ebed8c2b08e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Márcia Araújo (marcia_m_bezerra@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-06-15T11:43:09Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2016_dis_grssilva.pdf: 1387331 bytes, checksum: 23a31b5f082b2a37ee430ebed8c2b08e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-15T11:43:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2016_dis_grssilva.pdf: 1387331 bytes, checksum: 23a31b5f082b2a37ee430ebed8c2b08e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016 / Inserted into a context of interventions that aims to restructure the high school curriculum, Ceará public schools pride themselves with the arrival of an approach that brings new practices of literacy. This new approach, named Core Labor, Research and Social Policies (Núcleo de Trabalho, Pesquisa e Práticas Sociais – NTPPS), intends to develop socio-emotional skills of students in order to use scientific research as an educational principle in high school learning process. Within this context, this research seeks to verify the state of scientific literacy (MILLER, 1983; OSBONER, 2002; SANTOS 2007) of NTPPS students through the evaluative expressions of Engagement (MARTIN; WHITE, 2005) mobilized in Theoretical Framework section of their research reports. The study explains the association we conjecture that exists between certain dialogic choices assumed by the producer of the report and the state of scientific literacy evidenced by these linguistic marks. The corpus of this work, collected in July 2015, consists of thirty-six Theoretical Frameworks of scientific research reports produced by first-year students of high school. We analyze the data identifying the dialogic choices adopted by the producers and the inter-subjective level of engagement assumed in the construction of argumentative positions. The material revealed the presence of 810 evaluative expressions of Engagement, 222 classified as monoglossics and 588 classified as heteroglossics that pass by all the subcategories found in this subsystem classification network. More than a half of evaluations (60,5%) concerns of Dialogic Contractions while 39,5% enter in the expansive scope of dialogue. We observed that 61,5% of the Theoretical Frameworks present a range of linguistic marks of evaluation that reveal a minimum criteria of suitability in levels of engagement with the text, presenting appropriate evidences of authorial role. The analysis of the material allowed us to infer that the NTTPS intervention has shown positive results in the development of scientific literacy skills of high school students. The discursive practices ruled by scientific methodology, that had sporadically been worked in schools are, nowadays, parts of the school community as a belonging exercise of a large portion of students. We observe the consequences of this in their research reports, which we can view as representative products of the process of scientific literacy acquisition. / Inserida em um contexto de intervenções que visam à reestruturação do currículo do Ensino Médio, a educação pública cearense brinda a entrada de uma abordagem que pretende trazer à rotina escolar novas práticas de letramento. Essa nova abordagem carrega o título de Núcleo de Trabalho, Pesquisa e Práticas Sociais (NTPPS), objetiva desenvolver as competências socioemocionais do corpo discente e utilizar a pesquisa científica como princípio educacional no processo de aprendizagem do Ensino Médio. Dentro desse contexto, o presente trabalho busca verificar o estado das habilidades de letramento científico (MILLER,1983; OSBORNE, 2002; SANTOS, 2007) do aluno de NTPPS por meio das manifestações avaliativas de Engajamento (MARTIN e WHITE, 2005) acionadas na seção Referencial Teórico de seus relatórios de pesquisa. O estudo explica a associação que conjecturamos existir entre determinadas escolhas dialógicas assumidas pelo produtor textual e o estado de letramento científico evidenciado por essas marcas linguísticas. O corpus desse estudo, que teve sua coleta encerrada em julho de 2015, é formado por trinta e seis Referenciais Teóricos de relatórios de investigação científica produzidos por alunos matriculados na primeira série do Ensino Médio. Os dados foram analisados através da identificação das escolhas dialógicas adotadas pelos produtores textuais e do nível de engajamento intersubjetivo assumido na construção argumentativa dos posicionamentos. Em todo material de análise, foram pontuados 809 casos de avaliações por Engajamento, sendo 222 classificadas como avaliações monoglóssicas e 587 como avaliações heteroglóssicas que perpassam por todas as subcategorias encontradas na rede de classificação desse subsistema. Mais da metade das avaliações (60,5%) é calcada no solo das Contrações Dialógicas, enquanto 39,5% entram no âmbito expansivo do diálogo. Observamos que 61,5% dos Referenciais Teóricos apresentam uma gama de avaliações linguísticas que revelam o alcance de critérios mínimos de adequação em níveis de engajamento com o texto, apresentando adequadas evidências de protagonismo autoral. A análise desse material nos permitiu inferir que a intervenção NTPPS tem apresentado positivos resultados quanto ao desenvolvimento das competências de letramento científico dos alunos do Ensino Médio. As práticas discursivas regidas pela metodologia científica que, antes, eram trabalhadas na escola de forma esporádica, hoje, fazem parte da comunidade escolar como exercício de pertença de grande parcela dos alunos. Os reflexos disso são observados em seus relatórios de pesquisa, objetos vistos como produtos de representatividade do processo aquisitivo das competências do letramento científico.

Este trabalho investiga o ensino de evolução a partir do referencial teórico da alfabetização científica e da argumentação e tem como objetivo caracterizar argumentos escritos produzidos por alunos em problemas relacionados à evolução biológica. Uma sequência didática com o tema \"adaptações\", que continha atividades voltadas para a elaboração de argumentos, foi produzida e aplicada em um curso pré-vestibular popular. A partir de textos com exemplos de adaptações de alguns seres vivos, os alunos deviam escolher entre dois modelos teóricos - teleológico ou darwinista - que explicavam como surgiram essas adaptações. Eles também deveriam apontar por que o modelo não escolhido não seria adequado. As respostas escritas dos alunos foram analisadas em termos conceituais, estruturais e de qualidade dos argumentos. Constatou-se que a grande maioria dos alunos escolheu o modelo teleológico para explicar as adaptações dos seres vivos. Os estudantes tiveram maior facilidade para construir argumentos que justificassem a opção por um modelo do que para apontar as limitações do outro. Conclui-se que, além das dificuldades já conhecidas de compreensão da teoria darwinista, existe uma falta de entendimento sobre como a Ciência opera quando há mais de um modelo para explicar um fenômeno e sobre como evidências não experimentais podem endossar as teorias científicas. Além disso, os resultados sugerem que o exemplo utilizado pode influenciar na compreensão do aluno sobre o processo de seleção natural e que o mesmo aluno pode apresentar mais de um perfil conceitual sobre evolução durante a mesma aula. / This essay investigates the teaching of evolution from the theoretical framework of scientific literacy and argumentation and aims to characterize written arguments produced by students when the subject is biological evolution. A teaching sequence about \"adaptations\", which contained activities aiming the preparation of arguments, was produced and applied in a community pre-university course. From texts with examples of adaptations of some living beings, students had to choose between two theoretical models - teleological or Darwinian - explaining how those adaptations arose. They should also point out why the model they did not would not be appropriate. The students\' written responses were analyzed in conceptual and structural terms, along with the quality of the arguments. It was found that the vast majority of students chose the teleological model to explain the adaptations. Students were easier to construct arguments to justify the choice of a model than to indicate the limitations of the other. We conclude that, besides the already known difficulties of understanding of Darwinian theory, there is a lack of understanding about how science operates when there is more than one model to explain a phenomenon and how non-experimental evidence can endorse scientific theories. Furthermore, the results suggest that the example used can influence the student\'s understanding of natural selection and that the same student may present more than one conceptual profile about evolution during the same class.

This dissertation contributes to efforts to rethink the meanings of democracy, scientific literacy, and non-scientist citizenship in the United States. Beginning with questions that emerged from action research and exploring the socio-political forces that shape education practices, it shows why non-science educators who teach for social justice must first recognize formal science education as a primary site of training for (future) non-scientist citizens and then prepare to intervene in the dominant model of scientifically literate citizenship offered by formal science education. This model of citizenship defines (and limits) appropriate behavior for non-scientist citizens as acquiescing to the authority of science and the state by actively demarcating science from non-science, experts from non-experts, and the rational from the irrational. To question scientific authority is to be scientifically illiterate. This vision of 'acquiescent democracy' seeks to end challenges to the authority of science and the state by ensuring that scientific knowledge is privileged in all personal and public decision-making practices, producing a situation in which it becomes natural for non-scientist citizens to enroll scientific knowledge to naturalize oppression within our schools and society. It suggests that feminist and equity-oriented science educators, by themselves, are unable or unwilling to challenge certain assumptions in the dominant model of scientifically literate citizenship. Therefore, it is the responsibility of non-science educators who teach for social justice to articulate oppositional models of non-scientist citizenship and democracy in their classrooms and to challenge the naturalized authority of scientific knowledge in all aspects of our lives. It demonstrates how research in the field of Science & Technology Studies can serve as one resource in our efforts to intervene in the dominant model of scientifically literate citizenship and to support a model of democracy that encourages the critical engagement of and opposition to scientific knowledge and the state. / Ph. D.