Curricular and Pedagogical Implications
Implications of changes in science standards and the definition of scientific literacy
The shift from the NYS core curriculum science standards to the NYS Next Generation Science Standards denotes an update to the definition of scientific literacy, and calls for a change in the way educators teach science. These changes carry implications for K-12 science education, as well as the next generation’s knowledge, competencies, and perceptions of science. Where the soon-to-be retired NYS core curriculum standards drill student memorization of scientific facts and participation in isolated lab exercises in science, the Next Generation Science Standards call for student experiences in authentic and meaningful scientific practices. These new standards demand changes to way science teachers educate students in the classroom.
Teachers who incorporate the scientific and engineering practices of the NGSS will engage their students in collaborative inquiry science. For example, teachers might encourage students to design and carry out experiments to address real-world issues through project-based learning. If educators embrace the NGSS the new definition of scientific literacy, then they will use different measures to evaluate student learning: successful science students will graduate high school as scientifically literate citizens, rather than as students with high test scores and good grades in science classes. Assessment of students will likely change as a result of the change in standards and definition of scientific literacy. Teachers may also assess students based on metacognitive pieces like student reflection and their individual identity development within the discipline of science.
Implications of change for anyone who participated in the conference
“Without careful attention to what it means to learn in the subject areas and what counts as knowledge in the disciplines that undergird those subjects, educators will continue to struggle to integrate literacy and instruction in those areas” (Moje, 2008, p.99). Each science educator thus has a twofold responsibility to build science literacy among students. The first requires building one’s own understanding of new science literacy and how to truly engage with the nature of science, as captured by the Next Generation Science Standards and through authentic science practices. In doing so, each educator will be prepared to fulfill a second and even more important responsibility of providing “support for youth in identifying and engaging productively in literate activity” (Skerrett, 2012, p.73). This entails providing students with the opportunities to access scientific knowledge and build the necessary skills to engage in authentic science learning and the nature of science. In doing so, students will become scientifically literate, and “thereby allowing them to critique and change that knowledge” (Moje, 2008, p.97). Such student participation as critics and builders of knowledge places students in the role of being self agents of their own knowledge, which can foster feelings of empowerment and even drive motivation to learn.
This all begins, however, with science teachers recognizing “the role of three central aspects of disciplinary learning: discourses and practices, identities and identifications, and knowledge” (Moje, 2008, p.100). Once accomplished, teachers will have the means to cultivate authentic learning opportunities and provide “young people with opportunities to examine the [science] discourses they are learning in the discipline in relation to the practices, discourses, and identity enactments of everyday life” (Moje, 2008, p.101). In fact, as seen in a study by Skerrett (2012), there “is a need for teachers and students to take a critical approach to the construct of academic identity in relation to the specific academic discipline that students are learning” such as taking “a critical lens not just to the curriculum, but to the construct of academic identity” (p.72-73).
Luckily, as evidenced in the New Scientific Literacy Conference, current educators are successfully engaging students in new science literacy practices and helping them develop their identities in science. As seen in our three main presenters, students are actively engaging in critical literacy and science practices through peer-to-peer interviews to conduct investigations, using models to conceptualize their thought processes and growing science knowledge, and conversing in debates to argue and critique such science knowledge. Moreover, teachers themselves are and can continue to utilize mentor teachers and other professional institutes to have these conversations about literacy.
Works Cited
Moje, E.B. (2008). Foregrounding the disciplines in secondary literacy teaching and learning: A call for change. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 52, 96-107.
Skerrett, A. (2012). “We hatched in this class”: Repositioning of identity in and beyond a reading classroom. The High School Journal 95(3), 62-75.