News from SEPUP - Issue-Oriented Science for Scientific Literacy
If we believe that our citizens need to be scientifically literate so they can participate in science-related decision making, then we need to teach them science in the context of science-related issues that concern them. That was the central message of Herbert D. Thier's talk on "Accomplishing Meaningful Instructional Redesign in Science" to the New York Academy of Sciences Education Section on 2 May 1997. "Facts learned as facts out of context are soon forgotten," he said. Moreover, he added, "Science is not merely a collection of facts; it is an approach to thinking and decision making that relies on evidence." Therefore, "Science topics and processes should be selected based on their relationship to and usefulness in understanding issues of direct concern and interest . . . ." This is what Thier calls "issue-oriented science."
Thier is Director of SEPUP (Science Education for the Public Understanding Program), which prides itself in developing issue-oriented science teaching materials. Although "in issue-oriented science, the issues and the science are inextricably linked," "the goal of issue-oriented science, as defined by SEPUP, is to develop student understanding of scientific concepts and approaches to problem solving without advocating specific positions . . . ." "Issue-oriented science education requires objectivity in the search for, processing of, and analysis of evidence."
What does this mean for the design of science education materials? To Thier, it means that they be evidence-based ("designed to minimize the impact of personal opinions"), materials-centered ("80 percent of . . . science instruction time . . . spent on laboratory-related experiences"), and inquiry-oriented ("ask questions, and make evidence-based rather than purely emotional decisions"). It also means more investment in teachers: "Policy makers who really want to bring about meaningful long-term improvements in the educational system need to take the risk of investing their limited resources in teachers, the only group with the capacity to reach the learner."
In its development of issue-oriented science education materials, SEPUP is now field testing its second-year high school program, Science and Sustainability. According to our Spring 1995 issue, this program was originally entitled Science for Citizenship in the 21st Century, but its theme that "confrontation between development and the environment is a no-win situation" remains. The May 1997 draft of Science and Sustainability consists of 65 activities, divided among five topics related to sustainable living: Human Survival, Our Use of Material Resources, Energy Needs, Feeding the World, and The Future of Human Populations. Like the topics in SEPUP's first-year high school program, Issues Evidence and You (water, materials science, energy, and environmental impact), these topics are truly integrative of the sciences -- and the topics of materials and energy (albeit in different contexts) are shared between the two programs.
SEPUP has also produced an "enhanced" version of its popular CHEM (Chemistry, Health, Environment and Me) program for students in grades 4-6. Called CHEM-2, it consists of 15 units, each beginning with a "CHEM Dilem," in which students are asked what they think -- both at the beginning and again at the end. CHEM-2's publication has been supported by the Exxon Education Foundation, and an Australian adaptation of CHEM has been supported by ICI Australia. SEPUP and CHEM materials have also been adapted into Spanish and Catalan versions -- in Spain the program is known as APQUA.
For more information about SEPUP, visit their website: http://www.lhs.berkeley.edu/SEPUP/SEPUP.html, from which, among other things, you can download a one page formatted master listing Herb Thier's "Student Bill of Rights for Science Education in the 21st Century."
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