Abstract:

A scientifically literate person is somebody who is able to use the specific languages of science that are fundamental to acquiring scientific understanding and knowledge (Venville and Dawson, 2012). Furthermore, the person is able to use his knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and processes for personal decision-making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic productivity (National Research Council, 1996). Scientific literacy has thus been identified as one of the foundational literacies in the 2015 World Economic Forum report (World Economic Forum, 2015). This paper thus expounds on four pedagogical innovations we developed for the Science for Everyday Living module to inculcate scientific literacy among the Polytechnic Foundation Programme students at Singapore Polytechnic. We first introduced the concept of the scientific method by exploring pebbles’ densities. Second, we developed some demonstrations as lead-in activities for the topics that will be lectured in class. Third, we designed home-based experiments using mobile phones and free resources from the internet. Lastly, we organized a science workshop in collaboration with the NUS Science Demo Lab. To gauge the effectiveness of these strategies, we conducted a pre and post-module survey. The result showed that the strategies have been effective in increasing the level of scientific literacy among the non-S&T PFP students.

References:
[1] National Research Council. 1996. National Science Education Standards. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.https://doi.org/10.17226/4962.
[2] Venville, G., and Dawson, V. 2012. The Art of Teaching Science: For Middle and Secondary School (2nd Edition). Allen Unwin. ISBN: 1742376592, 9781742376592.
[3] World Economic Forum. 2015. New Vision for Education: Unlocking the Potential of Technology. World Economic Forum.

Keywords:

Scientific literacy, polytechnic education, foundation programme.