Teaching scientific explanation and argumentation in a post-truth era
Science education is currently facing an unprecedented crisis. We are now living in a posttruth period where basic facts are contested by fake news and conspiracy theories. As public trust in science is declining, the goal of scientific literacy will increasingly be more important. The emphasis...
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
2021
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| Online Access: | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/84706 |
| Summary: | Science education is currently facing an
unprecedented crisis. We are now living in a posttruth period where basic facts are contested by
fake news and conspiracy theories. As public trust
in science is declining, the goal of scientific literacy
will increasingly be more important. The emphasis
of science education in K-12 needs to shift from
knowledge acquisition to a deeper appreciation of
the nature of science that generates our knowledge
of the world. After all, the challenge in an information
age is not whether children know about the solar
system, evolution, virus, climate change or any
information that can be found easily on the internet.
Rather, the challenge is to engage children in
developing scientific habits of mind that could critically evaluate information based on sound
reasoning and evidence. |
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