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Globally, literacy in science has become a fundamental focus of public education. The term 'scientific literacy', however, attracts a diversity of views. A common theme in the literature is that it relates to being able to critique scientific discussions. The large-scale evaluation of students' scientific literacy was assessed in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Thailand participated in the PISA scheme every three years from 2000 to 2009. The results indicate that Thailand's performance decreased over the period and were below average. This has led to an increased focus on improving performance and scores and a desire to improve science education and science teaching for enhancing scientific literacy in Thailand. Science educators in universities, the Institute for the Promotion of Teaching Science and Technology (IPST), the Ministry of Education and others have organized various projects and research to improve scientific literacy. Research projects have focused on developing teachers' quality in science teaching and have gone on to consider the nature of science, contexts of science, socio-scientific issues and the relation between science, technology and society. The article will discuss the strategies that have been embarked upon to enhance scientific literacy in Thailand.

UIDB/04647/2020 UIDP/04647/2020 ; The COVID-19 pandemic is, currently, the focus of all personal and collective actions at the social, cultural, economic, political and religious levels, among other dimensions of human life. This Letter to the Editor focuses on the overwhelming existence of fake news directly related to COVID-19, which permeate social networks and even the media, where journalists should act as gatekeepers and not fake-keepers. The methodology used in the collection and selection of data consisted of bibliographic research, in international databases, of publications on the topic under study and their content analysis. The results allow concluding that there is a need to promote scientific literacy in the general population but especially among journalists themselves. ; publishersversion ; published

In this Letter to Editor, we put forth a reflection on the stigmatisation processes shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Received: 30 November 2020 / Accepted: 8 January 2021 / Published: 5 March 2021

Discusses the nature of (inter)disciplinarity & the development of a pedagogical approach to teaching scientific literacy that is based on its reconceptualization as "agential literacy." The nature of disciplinary knowledge & the need for joint conceptual shifts in basic understandings of scientific literacy are discussed. Agential realism is defined as an "epistem-onto-logical framework" that expands on the work of physicist Niels Bohr (1963) to focus on such things as the nature of scientific & other social practices; the essence of reality/matter; the role of natural, social, & cultural factors in scientific knowledge production; & links between the material & discursive. An exploration of the implications of agential realism for thinking about scientific literacy stresses that the making of science is not separate from the making of society, & teaching scientific literacy can no longer be seen as the sole responsibility of scientists. A course titled "Situated Knowledges: Cultural Studies of Twentieth Century Physics" was specifically designed to advance the agential literacy of science & nonscience majors. The course's approach & content are described. 24 References. J. Lindroth

The article offers detail analysis of the notion literacy from various perspectives; traces its evolution from the original understanding (the ability to read, write, and use arithmetic) up to the contemporary complex interpretation by numerous sources, encompassing the multiple meanings and scopes of unquestionably vital competencies. Besides, the author emphasizes the relevance of teaching/learning Geocultural scientific literacy as an education discipline in institutions of higher education in general and understanding its components in particular while preparing teachers for New Ukrainian School. The paper stresses that modern pedagogical education of Ukraine, is an integral component of the European educational space, aimed at forming a professional with firm scientific knowledge, ability to transmit it within the subjects of the academic process and is capable of active and effective livelihoods in a multinational and multicultural environment. Thus, solid knowledge of geocultural scientific literacy provides the perfect grounds for international cooperation in education sector, understanding uniqueness of relationships between the cultures, communities' members, natural environments, politics, history and other measurements. This knowledge serves the basis for studying many university disciplines.

ObjectiveThis study examines how commitment to sectarian Protestant religious groups and fundamentalist beliefs in the inerrancy of the Bible influence basic scientific literacy.MethodsI analyze data from the 2006 General Social Survey (N = 1,780), which included a 13‐point examination of scientific facts and reasoning. Ordinary least squares regression models are estimated to determine the impact of religious affiliations and beliefs net of other control variables such as race, gender, education, income, region, and rural residence.ResultsAnalyses show that sectarian Protestants, Catholics, and people with fundamentalist beliefs in the inerrancy of the Bible have significantly lower levels of scientific literacy when compared with secular Americans. Religious differences are identifiable in multivariate analyses controlling for other demographic factors.ConclusionsReligion plays a sizeable role in the low levels of scientific literacy found in the United States, and the negative impact of religious factors is more substantial than gender, race, or income.

Disengagement of students in science and the scientific literacy of young adults are interrelated international concerns. One way to address these concerns is to engage students imaginatively in activities designed to improve their scientific literacy. Our ongoing program of research has focused on the effects of a sequence of activities that require students to transform scientific information on important issues for their communities from government websites into narrative text suitable for a lay reader. These hybridized stories we call BioStories. Students upload their stories for peer review to a dedicated website. Peer reviews are intended to help students refine their stories. Reviewing BioStories also gives students access to a wider range of scientific topics and writing styles. We have conducted separate studies with students from Grade 6, Grade 9 and Grade 12, involving case study and quasi-experimental designs. The results from the 6th grade study support the argument that writing the sequence of stories helped the students become more familiar with the scientific issue, develop a deeper understanding of related biological concepts, and improve their interest in science. Unlike the Grade 6 study, it was not possible to include a control group for the study conducted across eight 9th grade classes. Nevertheless, these results suggest that hybridized writing developed more positive attitudes toward science and science learning, particularly in terms of the students' interest and enjoyment. In the most recent case study with Grade 12 students, we found that pride, strength, determination, interest and alertness were among the positive emotions most strongly elicited by the writing project. Furthermore, the students expressed enhanced feelings of self-efficacy in successfully writing hybridized scientific narratives in science. In this chapter, we describe the pedagogy of hybridized writing in science, overview the evidence to support this approach, and identify future developments.

Since 2000 the PISA-programme of the OECD assesses knowledge, skills and attitudes in the areas of reading, mathematics and science, areas which are seen as very important for the development of knowledge societies. Youngsters of age 15 in more than sixty countries are involved. The test items are based on three frameworks, not based on common curriculum standards but on knowledge requirements for future life. The PISA Scientific Literacy Framework deals with three competencies which are based on attitudes, contexts and knowledge, not only on science but also about science, i.e. procedural and epistemic aspects on which the work of scientists is based. The PISA-results are taken increasingly serious by media, ministers and members of parliament, resulting in visits to high ranking countries and quick measures, not always appreciated by teachers. In this paper it is argued that results should be interpreted with care and comments on interpretation of the results are given. Examples of implications for educational policy in various countries are shown. In view of the revised SL Framework (2015) recommendations are given for future international curriculum development.