ENHANCING SCIENTIFIC LITERACY: A RESOURCE FOR TEACHERS

Abstract

The standard science curriculum is meant to familiarize students with basic concepts in biology, chemistry, and physics. We do not dispute the necessity of this – indeed, a strong grasp of the fundamentals will facilitate the understanding of intermediate and advanced topics later on. Unfortunately, the evaluative approaches in these courses often misinform students of what it means to be a scientist. Students, especially those interested in biology, may be tempted to correlate scientific potential with the ability to retain and recall information for an exam. But that’s not science. As a professor once said at a first-year biology seminar, “We do a good job of teaching you the ‘what’. But we gloss over the ‘how’and the ‘why’.”