Jack Holbrook

The Nature of Science Education for Enhancing Scientific Literacy.

This article explores the meaning of the nature of science education to enhance scientific literacy. It argues that the teaching approach for science education should be regarded as “education through science”, rather than “science through education”. A model of the nature of science education is proposed, having its foundations based on activity theory rather than logical positivism. This encompasses an understanding of the nature of science, with links to achievement of goals in the personal domain, stressing intellectual and communication skill development, as well as the promotion of character and positive attitudes, plus achievement of goals in the social education domain, stressing cooperative learning and socio‐scientific decision‐making. Although the nature of science is seen as an important component of science education, the over‐riding target for science teaching in school, as an aspect of relevant education, is seen as responsible citizenry, based on enhancing scientific and technological literacy. The meaning of scientific and technological literacy is discussed.

A Competence-Based Science Learning Framework Illustrated through the Study of Natural Hazards and Disaster Risk Reduction.

This article proposes a competence-based learning framework for science teaching, applied to the study of ‘big ideas’, in this case to the study of natural hazards and disaster risk reduction (NH&DRR). The framework focuses on new visions of competence, placing emphasis on nurturing connectedness and behavioral actions toward resilience and sustainability. The framework draws together competences familiarly expressed as cognitive knowledge and skills, plus dispositions and adds connectedness and action-related behaviors, and applies this by means of a progression shift associated with NH&DRR from abilities to capabilities. The target is enhanced scientific literacy approached through an education through science focus, amplified through the study of a big idea, promotion of sustained resilience in the face of disaster and the taking of responsibilities for behavioral actions. The framework is applied to a learning progression for each interrelated education dimension, thus serving as a guide for both the development of abilities and as a platform for stimulating student capabilities within instruction and assessment.

Motivational Science Teaching Using a Context-Based Approach

This chapter recognises the important need for a motivational approach to science teaching and advocates a context-based focus, particularly promoting the relevance of the learning in the eyes of the students. The goal of education is seen as none other than scientific and technological literacy (STL), and in striving towards this, the context-based focus uses an education through science approach. This approach can be described in terms of teaching by means of a three-stage model. Initially the relevance is established through a social setting or scenario. This stage is also identified with determining prior learning and in setting the pathway towards conceptual learning in a decontextualised second stage, seen as promoting inquiry-based science education (IBSE). The third stage relinks the science with society and through a recontextualised approach focuses the learning on decision-making within a socio-scientific issue (SSI) orientation. The chapter ends with an example of a teaching module, which relates to this approach and illustrates the various sections that can be incorporated into a module to support the teacher. These include a foreword to indicate the intended learning outcomes, student activities, teacher guide and ideas for formative/summative assessment of students, as well as additional notes to provide more on the scientific background.

Context-Based Teaching and Socio-Scientific Issues

This chapter introduces the concept of context-based teaching and the value of teaching through socio-scientific issues in science teaching.