Scientific literacy is approached on the premise that language is key to understand the nature of both learning and participation, in scientists’ practices as well as in liberal education for citizenship. Some of the questions that are addressed in the book are: • What does it take to be able to participate in different arenas in society involving science? • How does everyday language relate to scientific language? • How can students’ texts be analyzed to gain insights into their learning? • How can images be analyzed alongside verbal language? This book offers a thorough introduction to key ideas in M. A. K. Halliday’s systemic functional grammar through examples and practical analysis. Detailed analysis is offered of science textbooks and curriculum documents, classroom talk, experimental work, and students’ discussions of complex environmental issues. Further, an analytical model guiding the design and analysis of science learning discourses is introduced. The book starts with introducing excerpts from whole-class discussions, group work, experimental reports and textbooks as text-in-context. From this starting point, key aspects of language are carefully explained. The role of grammatical metaphor in the development of science knowledge is an important topic throughout the book. Tools for analyzing multimodal representations, intertextuality and multiple voices are also among the topics covered for understanding and analyzing school science discourses.

Science is a way of knowing about the world. At once a process, a product, and an institution, science enables people to both engage in the construction of new knowledge as well as use information to achieve desired ends. Access to scienceâ€"whether using knowledge or creating itâ€"necessitates some level of familiarity with the enterprise and practice of science: we refer to this as science literacy. Science literacy is desirable not only for individuals, but also for the health and well- being of communities and society. More than just basic knowledge of science facts, contemporary definitions of science literacy have expanded to include understandings of scientific processes and practices, familiarity with how science and scientists work, a capacity to weigh and evaluate the products of science, and an ability to engage in civic decisions about the value of science. Although science literacy has traditionally been seen as the responsibility of individuals, individuals are nested within communities that are nested within societiesâ€"and, as a result, individual science literacy is limited or enhanced by the circumstances of that nesting. Science Literacy studies the role of science literacy in public support of science. This report synthesizes the available research literature on science literacy, makes recommendations on the need to improve the understanding of science and scientific research in the United States, and considers the relationship between scientific literacy and support for and use of science and research.

As more schools begin to implement the National Science Education Standards, adults who care about the quality of K-12 science education in their communities may want to help their local schools make the transition. This booklet provides guidance to parents and others, explains why high-quality science education is important for all children and young adults, and shows how the quality of school science programs can be measured. Center for Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Education Staff; 1998, 32 pages, 8.5 x 11, single copy, $10.00; 2-9 copies, $7.00 each; 10 or more copies, $4.50 each (no other discounts apply).

Scientific literacy is part of national science education curricula worldwide. In this volume, an international group of distinguished scholars offer new ways to look at the key ideas and practices associated with promoting scientific literacy in schools and higher education. The goal is to open up the debate on scientific literacy, particularly around the tension between theoretical and practical issues related to teaching and learning science. Uniquely drawing together and examining a rich, diverse set of approaches and policy and practice exemplars, the book takes a pragmatic and inclusive perspective on curriculum reform and learning, and presents a future vision for science education research and practice by articulating a more expansive notion of scientific literacy.

This book presents a new and entirely different perspective on scientific literacy in that it valorizes the capacities of human beings to participate in worldly affairs and to change their life contexts.

The development of science literacy has the potential to have an enormous impact on real world outcomes. Specifically, developing science literacy may persuade individuals to act. We hope that this book will influence scientists, science journalists, sociologists, anthropologists, communication specialists, political leaders, media outlets, educational institutions, and individual science content consumers. The chapters in this book describe a definition of science literacy that draws on the emotional, cognitive, and social. The authors strive to help prepare individuals to read, write, and speak science in a continuously evolving information landscape. In order to meet these objectives, the chapters examine both qualitative and quantitative research. It is within these frameworks that we can begin to address science literacy in the 21st century.

This book presents the findings of two case studies in the 'Making Connections' two-year project funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Education. It shows how science literacy was improved in a state coeducational school with Pacific Island students from diverse linguistic backgrounds. This book details ideas and strategies relevant to schools where English literacy has an impact on the science engagement and achievement of ethnically diverse student populations. It also presents the teaching as inquiry model and its usage by teachers to improve aspects of their teaching strategies.