Some Thoughts on Scientific Literacy: Motives, Meanings and Curriculum Implications (original) (raw)

The opening paragraph of Shahn's (1988) article is typical of much of the rhetoric surrounding the notion of scientific literacy, and is worth quoting at length: Science illiteracy is a serious problem. At one level it affects nations; because large parts of their populations are not adequately prepared, they cannot train enough technically proficient people to satisfy their economic and defense needs. More basically it affects people; those who are science illiterate are often deprived of the ability to understand the increasingly technological world, to make informed decisions regarding their health and their environment, to choose careers in remunerative technological fields and, in many ways, to think clearly.