Scientific Literacy

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What does it mean to be scientifically literate? Well first off, you need to know what it means to be literate; being literate is having the ability to read and write (Oxford University Press, 2016). Having this ability to read and write helps us in everyday life without us really noticing. For example, being literate means that we can read newspapers and read and write text messages. So, from using this concept of what it means to be literate, I would presume that being scientifically literate means having the ability to understand scientific terminology and use it accurately in writing.
Understanding scientific literacy and being able to use them means that someone has the ability to pose questions about science. This means that they can understand and draw conclusions from experiments, understand why specific reactions are happening and are able to explain it. It is important that anyone who wishes to teach or explain science must be, to some extent, scientifically literate.

“If our attitudes are based on accurate knowledge they are more likely to be positive than if based on hearsay and innuendo. However, research (Irwin and Wynne, 1996; Miller et al., 1997) indicates that scientific literacy is not common in society and is an extremely complex concept, although many adults are extremely competent on a need-to-know basis.” (Johnston, 2005, p.109). Scientific literacy means having an understanding of science, but not only this, it means being able to form questions and conclusions from the evidence found through experiments. Teaching fair testing in school science links to scientific literacy in many ways, for example ensuring variables in an experiment are valid and that information gathered is reliable. In our group, we created our own task to demonstrate fair testing. We had 4 groups of people, all at different starting points trying to throw an object into a hula-hoop. Group 1 were closest and had a bean bag whilst Group 4 were furthest away and had to throw a shuttlecock. There were other variable such as which hand to throw with, the angle on which they were throwing and the size of the hula-hoop. Group 1 would be more likely to achieve this, and Group 4 didn’t have much chance of achieving this. By demonstrating this in school it shows how fair testing is important for a valid and fair result. However, if all the pupils were to throw from the same angle and the same distance with the same object, the results would be valid and reliable and no one would be disadvantaged. This links to scientific literacy as it lets the children understand more about variables and they may be able to form questions and conclusions from this. (287 words)

References

Johnston, J. (2005) Early explorations in science. 2nd edn. Maidenhead, England: Open University Press.

Brodie, Danielle, Kiera and Micha

Why teaching?

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Ever since I started Primary School, I looked up to my teachers. I loved the way that they taught and how lovely they were to me. Ever since then it’s all I’ve worked towards during my time in school. I chose subjects which would help me get into uni to study education.

In my 3rd year at school I chose to go to a local Primary school for work experience. I was lucky enough to change classes every day to witness every year group. I loved watching children begin to understand what they were learning. After this week, I decided that my favorite year group was Primary 3, 4 and 5. I think this was down to the children in the class. I helped the children with their maths and story writing. I liked the level they were working at and found that what they were writing was so imaginative!

Following on from this, I volunteered at a local Primary school on Thursday afternoons while in Sixth year. This was the time of week I looked forward to the most. I helped around different classes, so I got an insight into different classes again. All the teaching staff were so helpful and gave me all the advice I’d ever need to becoming a teacher.

When doing my higher exams I worked hard to achieve what I needed to get into uni, but unfortunately didn’t achieve the grade I needed in English to get in. This meant I had to do a year at college to get in. Although this was not part of my plan, college was one of the best experiences. I think by going to college, it will help me at uni because I have a sound knowledge of working with children. During my placement at college, I learned more that I ever thought possible in a year. I learned so much about children and what goes on within a nursery. I was included in meetings about what was going on within the nursery. Before I started at placement, I had never heard of GIRFEC, but after being in the nursery, I knew all about it. The school I was placed in, was within a disadvantaged which had children with many issues within the home. I was included in meetings where these children were discussed and found out a lot about the steps taken when things go wrong at home or when a child discloses something to you. I feel this gave a huge insight into what to expect when I start in my own class.

This all helped to confirm my choice of doing Primary Education at university and I’m so excited to continue in my journey to achieving this.