Science education -- what is "science literacy"?

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, several efforts to reform the science education system led to new understanding that students might learn science "better" if they actually learned less. Teachers should focus on key ideas, and not try to get students to stuff their heads full of facts, went the argument. In addition, students should have the opportunity to engage in "hands-on" or "inquiry-driven" science themselves.

Two key publications:

• National Research Council. (1996). National Science Education Standards. Washington: National Academy Press <http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/nses/>
• American Association for the Advancement of Science. (1993). Benchmarks for Science Literacy. New York: Oxford University Press <http://www.project2061.org/publications/bsl/online/bolintro.htm>

Now there's a new push to reform science education, reducing even further the key ideas. The goal, again, is that by communicating "less," students will actually retain "more" -- they'll get the key ideas: Mervis, J. (2006). SCIENCE EDUCATION: Doing More With Less. Science, 314(5804), 1374-1376. <http://sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/314/5804/1374>


What do you think?