Enhancing powerful knowledge in undergraduate science curriculum for social good

Abstract

Social realist theorising about curriculum and social justice in higher education has emphasised the importance of providing equity of epistemic access to powerful knowledge. However, there has been little discussion about what constitutes powerful knowledge and how students can use it for social good. In the science disciplines, the traditional undergraduate curriculum is shaped by economic agendas and by perceptions of its purpose to train future scientists. This has resulted in a curriculum focused on the learning of scientific facts rather than on how scientific knowledge is created, validated and critiqued, overshadowing the potential for the curriculum to simultaneously empower learners to develop critical scientific literacy to productively engage with urgent socio-scientific issues such as climate change. In this paper, I argue that social good can be better served by engaging students with powerful knowledge of the epistemology of science through including ‘Nature of Science’ (NOS) in the curriculum.