Scientific Literacy and the Social Constructivist Perspective Cover Image

Naučna pismenost i socio-konstruktivistička perspektiva
Scientific Literacy and the Social Constructivist Perspective

Author(s): Slobodanka Antić, Ana Pešikan
Subject(s): Education, Psychology
Published by: Филозофски факултет, Универзитет у Београду
Keywords: scientific literacy; socio-constructivism; development of scientific literacy in school; teaching/learning methods; education;

Summary/Abstract: The term scientific literacy is already common in our educational rhetoric. Although the term is widely used, there are no papers that analyse the definition of the term and the range it encompasses in Serbia. If scientific literacy is a necessary outcome of education, this analysis is an important base for designing the teaching/ learning process which is intended to develop such an outcome. Therefore, this paper provides an analysis of the concept of scientific literacy (SL), the different viewpoints on SL and the nature of the concept. Furthermore, five key lines as courses of action in the teaching/learning process, necessary for the development of these competencies, are defined: appreciation of students’ previous knowledge, encouragement of students’ basic functional literacy and reading comprehension skills, the development of students’ understanding of the socio-cultural perspective on the origin and use of scientific knowledge and technological products, and practicing of scientific research, either through school science or science applied in the context of cooperation between school and the local community, i.e. in the socio-cultural background where students live.

  • Issue Year: 18/2015
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 99-119
  • Page Count: 21
  • Language: Serbian