Category Archives: Contemporary issues

Scientific Literacy

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Group One

Lucy Allen, Corrie Donaldson, Eildih Lamont and Skye McLauchlan

Assessment criteria:

  • AC1 – Explanation of the concept of scientific literacy – Skye McLauchlan
  • AC2 – Analysis of an example where a lack of scientific literacy has led to inaccurate media reporting.
  • AC3 – Discussion of how teaching fair testing in school science links to scientific literacy.
  • AC4 – A carefully researched and referenced paper on scientific literacy.

Oxford University Press describes being literate as, “the ability to read and write” (Oxford University Press, 2016). Without the ability of reading and writing we would lead a very sheltered life where the most basic of tasks are problematic for us to carry out.

Therefore, scientific literacy could be broken down and be said that it is simply having the ability to understand different concepts and ideas in order to succeed within science.

Scientific literacy is also be the ability to use your knowledge of science in order to identify questions and to have the ability to come to your own conclusions through the use of looking at different sources of evidence. (OECD, 2003)

Scientific literacy is slowly but surely becoming the focused and primary goal for primary school science. (Millar. R, 2007). However this by no means, is saying that all children learning from the science curriculum are going to become scientific geniuses. In light, it is giving the children the chance to fulfil an “enlightened role” (European Commission, 1995) in being able to make and inform their own choices and ideas throughout their learning within science.

A lack of scientific literacy can lead to inaccurate media reporting’s and false belief from the public. For example, the outrage caused when it was, apparently, scientifically proven that the MMR vaccine caused Autism in babies. This belief has managed to frighten mothers into not allowing their babies to be given the vaccine. However, the evidence for the connection between the MMR vaccine and autism was based on a girl, Hannah Poling, in the USA who experienced a reaction to the vaccine. The author of the study claims that Poling was then diagnosed with autism but this is not true. Poling had a very rare mitochondrial disorder, due to her genetics not the MMR vaccine, which was made worse due to her bad reaction with the MMR which led to the occurrence of a few autism like symptoms, but not an autism disorder. Although this report made about MMR and Autism was not necessarily true, it still managed to make an impact on the public as there has been a revival of diseases such as measles and whooping cough, which could be avoided if a child is given the MMR Vaccine.

Having an understanding of fair testing is pivotal to scientific literacy because without it a child will be unable to effectively draw evidence-based conclusions or fully understand and facilitate scientific knowledge- both equally important aspects to science literacy. Understanding what can be changed and what cannot be changed in an experiment to make it fair is massively important to ensuring the results are accurate. For example, if one is comparing and testing the fuel efficiency of cars and one is driven by an experienced professional driver and the other by a newly qualified driver, this would not be a fair test as there are too many variables between the drivers. In order for a test to be fair, there must only be one variable that is changed. For example, if one is testing the absorption rate of paper, then only the type of paper used should be changed but the liquid should remain the same. If both the variables were altered (the type of paper and the amount/density of liquid used) then the experiment would not produce accurate results and therefore would become pointless. Learning to become conscious of the importance of such variables is central to a child’s scientific literacy and therefore vitally important to teach. As scientific literacy is becoming the number one goal in primary schools for science, teaching the concept and rules of fair testing is consequently a vitally important aspect of what we want our pupils to know and understand by the time they leave primary school.

European Commission, (1995) White Paper on Education and Training

http://theconversation.com/muddied-waters-setting-the-record-straight-about-mmr-vaccinations-and-autism-3391

Millar. R, (2007) Scientific literacy; Can the School Science Curriculum Deliver? Communicating European Research 2005, Pages 145-150.

OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development](2003) The PISA 2003 Assessment Framework – Mathematics, Reading, Science and Problem Solving Knowledge and Skills. Paris: OECD

Oxford University Press, (2016) Literate – definition of literate in English from the Oxford dictionary [online]. Oxforddictionaries.com Available at: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/English/literate [assessed 9 Feb 2016]

Personal and Professional Presence on Social Media

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What challenges/opportunities may you be faced with when marrying the personal vs professional presence on social media?

There are many factors which may be seen as challenges when trying to find an appropriate balance between personal and professional life with regards to social media. One of the most important challenges for professionals I feel is making sure that everything you post on social media sites is done so in a professional manner and that none of the information or comments that are posted are seen as inappropriate.

In my opinion; I feel that either using a name in which isn’t yours or using a completely different account to keep your personal and professional life separate is the best conclusion when dealing with social media online. This way you can make sure that either pupils or parents cannot have access to any of your personal details. This way you can also make sure that you are still able to engage with issues that can relate to your professional life in an appropriate manner.

Currently, all of my social media settings are turned to private. This means that only friends that I allow on my social media sites can see what I post, comment on and also what I may be tagged in. I feel that this has been the most appropriate choice for me up until now however, I am now thinking that I may open separate accounts to separate my professional life.

As well as the numerous challenges presented by social media, there is also an array of opportunities. It allows children to have experiences on different uses of technology that they may not have the opportunity to do so outside of school. Different forms of social media can have many different effects within the classroom. For some, it could be very effective in tying home and school together as social media will most likely be something that the majority of pupils use actively in their life outside the classroom.

As social media grows, it becomes a much more important tool to implement within classrooms. Due to this, the GTCS have very specific guidelines. These guidelines allow us as teachers to know the correct and appropriate way to use these sites in order to present ourselves as professionals and also to stay safe whilst online.

How are the challenges/opportunities afforded by social media framed? How will you frame things – positive of deficit viewpoint?

I most definitely have a very positive view point of technology and social media. Because of this, I will frame social media in a positive way when I am a teacher. I personally think that people feel that children are growing without a proper childhood and are using technology and social media instead of playing outside like we used to. However, with this ever changing society, we have to come to the conclusion that this route that our culture is taking and we should embrace this positively. I feel that we should use social media as a great advantage to help with education and embracing the children that we teach.

 

Gender Roles…

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From the very beginning of my educational memories; the girls ran towards the doll’s house to take care of little Alice who needed her bottle and the boys ran to see who could make their red Lamborghini do the most flips off of the sink… it was the norm.

At the time, I seen no segregation between sexes through education, and honestly, until now I have never actually sat down and thought about it. Looking back; I don’t particularly think that being a female hindered my education in any way or form. This is probably because I never experienced any negative issues whilst at school surrounding my gender. However, I do think that males and females will have very different accounts of what they gained from education by what sex they are.

I have no account whilst being at school of any of my peers, either male or female, being treated any differently. All the teachers within my school treated everyone fairly and encouraged everyone to gain the most they could out of their education in every aspect.

I do not feel that the gender of a child should have an impact on how that child is perceived. As I was treated with respect and as an equal throughout my years at school, I endeavour to do the same for the children that I will one day teach. I plan to make each individual child feel respected and treated fairly throughout their years at school and encourage that child to do the best they can based on their abilities and not their gender.