The Niche of Science, Technology and Society (STS) in Building Scientific Literacy: A Phenomenographic Study

Rubilee  Macoycruz,

The Niche of Science, Technology and Society (STS) in Building Scientific Literacy: A Phenomenographic Study

Abstract:

One of the most significant outcomes of science education is to produce scientifically literate graduates. The term scientific literacy was utilized for rallies and demands way back in 1958. However, the scope of this term changed in 1966 to include an understanding of the basic concepts of science; its nature; the ethics that control scientists in their work; and the interrelationships of science, technology, and society. This phenomenographic study was conducted to describe the opinions, views, and concepts of science teachers and college students of Universidad de Zamboanga on the niche of Science, Technology, and Society (STS) in building or developing scientific literacy. Through open-ended, face-to-face, and focus group interviews, the participants were privileged to freely express their experiences, opinions, and concepts on scientific literacy, and questions related to STS as a course to build scientific literacy. The study revealed the following interesting conclusions: participants’ opinions and concepts about scientific literacy centered on the knowledge, understanding of concepts, processes, skills, and even values and attitudes; the teacher participants agreed that the following components are important in building or developing scientific literacy: knowledge of science content; understanding of science as a way of knowing; and understanding and conducting science as inquiry; all topics needed longer time for discussion, especially on biodiversity and climate change; while topics on the history of science, technology and society can be discussed in a shorter period of time. Some teacher participants agreed that STS content is enough to build the scientific literacy for the college students while some teachers disagree because of the limited instructional activities and materials. The latter may be because STS as a course was recently introduced into the tertiary education system. On the basis of the findings, some curriculum improvement can be considered to include a review of the length of time in which topics were being discussed; the search for new references or books with additional instructional materials and activities based on the contents that the ST's syllabus from the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has provided.

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