Introduction
Literacy is one of the key aspects in career and personal development of almost every individual. It also determines the degree of success achieved by individuals. Literacy can be defined as the ability to read, write, understand or use different types of information. This term has been expanded to refer to a range of knowledge, and skills related to science, and mathematics, among other subjects. This reflects on the changes that have taken place in the last few decades not only on technology but also on the school curriculum.
Technology has gone through deep changes and this has resulted in the use of key science concepts across many occupations. Science has been recognized as one of the most important subject and has become an academic requirement for job recruitment in many occupations. The literacy levels have increased significantly compared to the past two decades and many people are now able to participate in the society and even to understand key issues affecting the society.
Technology and science encompass all facades of life ranging from how people work, converse, do their shopping or pay out bills. It has become an important aspect of life without which is it difficult to live in the society. This paper looks at the importance of scientific skills and knowledge to an individual, society and the nation at large. It also looks at how the subject has developed from a traditionally to a modern perspective and changes expected to occur in future.
Importance of scientific skills
While theoretical arguments from the literature on science and innovation suggest that the set of skills scientist acquire during research process may not only be important input into other types of activities, it can be suggested that, the results of research studies have received by far the most attention in innovation studies.
The results show that scientific skills are indeed rated more important than propositional knowledge both for the categories of knowledge classified as specific as well as for non-specific knowledge categories. This indicates that methodological knowledge carries a higher potential for the creation of economic value in areas other than basic research (Terry 2006)
The world has become complex and individuals have to acquire some level of proficiency in scientific knowledge as well as reading in order to comprehend and take part in economic and social life. The level of literacy in the society determines the performance of a country in economic terms. The world has also gone through substantial changes from what it was in the past generation.
Moreover, through innovation in technology, the procedure for working has been altered, there has been an raise in global competition, and the labour market has developed from being agricultural based and it is now based on services. These changes among many others have resulted in an increase in the requirement of skills in almost all sectors of the economy (Terry 2006). Scientific skills and knowledge have become a determining factor of how well a country performs in the global economy.
Countries with a large pool of scientific skills are better placed to deal with the challenges that come about with globalization. Also countries that have a population of strong literacy skills and knowledge are better placed to tackle the social challenges they are confronted with. It is alleged that, a populace with high scientific skills is in a superior position to meet the multifaceted challenges of governance in a diverse society. Such a population is also able to take care of its health problems and other related issues.
Scientific Literacy
Scientific literacy can be defined as the scientific knowledge possessed by individuals and the application of that knowledge in identifying questions, acquiring new knowledge, explaining scientific happenings, and drawing convincing conclusions on issues related to science. It can also be defined as understanding the features of science, knowledge of science and technology and how it shape materials, and enthusiasm to participate in science correlated issues.
This can be summarized in a single term as scientific knowledge. This keeps on changing with time depending on attitudes and skills. Scientific skills need to be updated as technology changes in order to be able to solve problems, make decisions in the rapidly changing world. Students need to become lifelong learners and uphold an intelligence of what goes on in the world.
Although specific knowledge attainment is vital in school learning, the relevance of that knowledge in adult life depends critically on the individual’s attainment of broader perceptions and skills. In reading, the capacity to develop interpretations of written material and to reflect on the content and qualities of text are essential skills.
In sciences, being able to reason quantitatively and to correspond to relationships or dependencies is more significant than the ability to answer well-known textbook questions when it comes to deploying scientific skills in everyday life. In science, having specific knowledge, such as the names of specific plants and animals, is of less value than an understanding of broad concepts and topics such as energy consumption, biodiversity and human health in thinking about the issues of science under debate in the adult community.
Teaching Science Subject
In the present information age that is fuelled by technology, students need not only to understand the concepts and processes of science, but also how to apply the scientific skills acquired in class to become effective members of the rapidly changing world of the 21st century. To be scientifically literate, a student has to possess a set of scientific skills that merges the knowledge of science concepts and facts and the ability to use language to communicate about these facts.
It is therefore the responsibility of teachers to ensure that their students are able to internalize scientific habits, for instance the ability to separate opinion from fact. If students are to become influential adults of the 21st century, who are capable of making informed decisions and taking effective actions, then they must be able and willing to absorb scientific habits into their pattern of thoughts so that such habits become part of their thinking even after leaving school.
The possession of scientific skills and knowledge has become an important asset in the present generation and it is clear that, it might become more important in the near future. Educators therefore have an opportunity of merging the teaching of both science and language literacy in order to strengthen the students’ skills.
Studies have revealed that children’s language can be developed through science and increased knowledge of languages is positively related to the development of scientific ideas. Moreover, researchers have found out that students learn science better if they are able to read and write about their thinking and through this process they are able to acquire new ideas and relationships with prior knowledge.
This integration between science and language may also provide a feedback to the writer and encourage personal involvement. Science and language have therefore become inseparable subjects in the learning of scientific facts and also in the application of scientific skills and knowledge. These reciprocal skills give teachers and students a unique leverage: by merging science and language in the classroom, teachers can help students learn both subjects more effectively.
Scientific Skills and Experiments
Through research, it has become clear that students learn better when they experience something by doing it practically instead of reading it in class or from the text-book. When students act like scientists, they make use of language to recognize, organize and internalize scientific concepts and principles.
Science is a practical subject that can only be understood clearly through experiments. Experiments provide literacy opportunities for science students that help them enrich the context and effectively expand their personal structures of science knowledge by improving their language skills. Research has shown that true learning takes place only when students engage with information and processes deeply enough to weave that content into their personal views and understandings of how the world works.
The use of experiments or practical applications gives equal weight to knowledge and skills, scientific facts, and processes. It emphasizes concepts more than rote formulas and learning science in a personal and social context rather than through abstractions (Ward, et al 2008).
Teachers must rely on students’ language skills if they are to succeed in taking students beyond the formulaic aspects of science. By embedding an inquiry within both the context of students’ lives and string science content, and then sequencing investigations as part of a larger curricula design, teachers can reach their instructional goals for science and English at the same time.
Introduction of Science as a Core Subject
The introduction of the science subject into the curriculum was faced with many challenges. However, it is one of the success stories of the National Curriculum. The biggest surprise for many teachers, especially the primary school teachers, was the inclusion of science as a core subject. Since its inception, the progress in terms of the amount and quality of science work going on in primary classrooms has changed considerably.
A valuable aspect of the development of science has been the increasing interest in and understanding of the nature of children’s learning in science. The framework for analyzing learning of skills and processes, knowledge and understanding and attitudes, articulated by early science curriculum developers remains appropriate in the current climate. However, research carried out in 1990s provided new insights into the relationship between these dimensions (Meadows 2004).
Most of the scientific research is aimed at addressing the question of how young children learn to behave scientifically and how their scientific ideas about the world around them develop. Research project have pointed out that learners actively construct ideas for themselves and that existing ideas that student bring to the classroom have s significant influence on the development of new ideas.
They place emphasis upon the inextricable links between the process skills students’ use and the concepts they develop. Scientific activity involves exploratory work, which ideally will lead to questions that can be investigated systematically. Crucially, these approaches take children’s existing ideas seriously, using them as the basis for deciding upon appropriate teacher interventions aimed at supporting learners in using their skills and the processes of science to test out their own or other people’s ideas.
Before the introduction of science as a core subject in the school curriculum, good practice in science was evident in some classrooms and schools. However, with the introduction of science as a core subject, teachers have become competent at identifying opportunities for science experiences for their students within the classroom and beyond. They are now able to plan appropriate science activities within an integrated curriculum as well as focusing at times on specific science topics (Meadows 2004).
The debate concerning the relationship between process and content, skills and knowledge and understanding, have been ongoing for many years. Government intervention in the curriculum has led to the science education community becoming a much more unified voice seeking to defend the importance of process and skills in the curriculum. It has not been an easy battle and has not been one with some set-backs; however the profession has somehow won.
Science Curricula in the 21st Century
In the past century, the content of science curricula was dominated by the desire to provide the foundations for the professional training of a small number of scientists and engineers.
However, with the growing role of science and technology in the 21st century, the objectives of personal fulfilment, employment and full participation in the society require all people (not only those aspiring for scientific careers) to be scientifically and technologically literate.
Science literacy has become an important aspect in the understanding the environment, economy, and other issues affecting the modern society, which are directly related to the technological and scientific advances.
In the past, science was a subject that was only studied by people aspiring to be scientists or engineers but with the changes brought about by technology, it has become a subject that is studied by all people of all ages. it does not matter the career that one aspires to specialize in, but mere knowledge of scientific facts and aspects is crucial if one wants to become an effective member of the society.
Moreover, a country’s performance of best students in scientific subjects may have an implication on the part played by that country in the future’s advanced technology sector, and in its global competitiveness. On the contrary, deficiencies in scientific literacy can have negative consequences on the labour market, earning prospects and participation in the society.
As a result, educators and policy-markers have attached great importance in the study of scientific subjects in the school curriculum. Most of the science subjects such as chemistry, biology, and mathematics have compulsory for students in many schools unlike before when students were allowed to choose for themselves and it did matter whether they decided to take any science subject or not.
Addressing the increasing demand for scientific skills requires excellence throughout the curriculum, and it is important to monitor how well countries provide young adults with fundamental skills in this area.
The Future of the Science Subject
The role of science subjects and consequently, the role of science educators in the curriculum have undergone evident changes within the last few years. The past two decades have seen an ongoing debate on the future of science subject in the school curriculum. The argument that sciences can no longer be retained in the traditional manner within the curriculum holds true.
As the curriculum evolves, conventional courses should give way to new system of basic science instruction, recognizing that transformation in the classical ideology of basic science teaching is crucial to its subjects sustaining their position within the new curriculum. Indeed, the concept of transformation brings with it, the contemplation of identity within a new environment of schools (Ward, et al 2008).
With a dissolution of input-based curricula that nurtured the traditional format of basic teaching, the challenge that now presents is that of teaching an old subject in a new world. Educators have a growing responsibility therefore, to produce well-educated, competent scientists who are able to professionally and effectively function within the new environment.
They should be able to translate scientific discoveries into practical applications and utilize electronic information technologies. A basic science course is defined by its objective in providing fundamental scientific theories and concepts necessary for application in later years. Traditionally, subjects included anatomy, physiology, biochemistry and pathology. The current teaching model includes genetics, cell and molecular biology, nutrition, and energy metabolism.
Basic science subjects that have traditionally been pure content are now being utilized in order to incorporate the new trend toward holistic education. Holistic education is aimed towards encouraging intellectual, social, creative and emotional development during the learning process. One of the major factors impacting on the style of teaching is the concept of learning towards a more active learning environment.
In this situation the students can learn to restructure the new information and their prior knowledge into new knowledge (Terry 2006). Changes in the approaches to science teaching are paralleled with advancements in technology. The development of more powerful computers, video cards, simulation technology and high speed internet connections has allowed educators to incorporate high quality imaging, interactive training modules, and learning experiments in the classrooms.
Conclusion
Science is a core subject in the curriculum. It is one of the subjects that have acquired great importance not only in the development of individual life but also the development of the society at large.
Traditionally, science was only pursued by students who aspired to take scientific careers such as doctors and engineers. However, with technological advancement this has changed and every student is required to take at least one science subject. It has been found out that, scientific skills and knowledge are important in career development as well as the development of a nation.
A country with students that perform well in science subjects is better placed to deal with the challenges that are likely to present themselves in the near future. It has also been found that, basic scientific knowledge and skills are important in dealing with issues related to health or matters of public policies. Many organizations therefore require the possession of basic scientific skills in their recruitment process.
Science has gone through substantial changes in the curriculum and its still evolving. Before the introduction of science as a core subject, teachers relied entirely on the text-book but this has changed. They have now realized that; science does not only require the understanding of basic aspects and facts but also how to apply these aspects in a real life situations.
Experiments have now become an integral part in the teaching of the science subject and teachers are now relying on the use of experiments to help students understand the subject better. Changes in technology are likely to bring about changes in the approaches used in teaching and it’s therefore upon policy makers and educators to implement such changes as they occur.
Reference List
Meadows, J., 2004. Science and ICT in the Primary School: A Creative Approach to Big Ideas. London, Fulton.
Terry, J., 2006. Thinking Skills Science. London, Hopscotch Educational.
Ward, H. et al., 2008. Teaching Science in the Primary Classroom. London, SAGE Publications Ltd.