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An interdisciplinary model integrating sciences and humanities is proposed to engage students’ interests, support inquiry as a human process, and include research opportunities and laboratory site visits.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & 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education reform discussed in the abstract?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"Progress in understanding science facts has occurred, but Americans’ understanding of the nature of science has improved far less.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"Why are college science courses described as an ideal venue for promoting science literacy?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"They offer a setting to teach students in ways that build science literacy, even though “nature of science” can be lost in conventional survey formats.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"How does the proposed interdisciplinary approach aim to improve science literacy for non-science majors?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"It integrates sciences and humanities to connect scientific concepts to students’ existing interests and knowledge, and it frames science as an inquiry process with a distinct 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\n1Department of History, 2Department of Counseling & Psychology, 3Department of Biological & Environmental Sciences, Troy University Troy, AL 36082  \n*  \nCorresponding Author: [kdross@troy.edu](kdross@troy.edu)  \nAbstract: Recognition of the value of a scientifically literate citizenry has driven American science education reform since the 1950s. We have seen some improvement in the comprehension of science facts in the past 10-20 years, but far less improvement in Americans’ understanding of the nature of science. College science courses are ideal venues for promoting science literacy. However, in an effort to condense a complicated subject into a single semester, the nature of science is often lost amidst the facts presented in a freshman survey course, often the entirety of a non-science major’s experience in science. We argue that an interdisciplinary approach that integrates the sciences and the humanities can attract non-science majors, increasing these students' exposure to scientific concepts by relating them to students' existing interests and knowledge. This fosters science literacy by teaching students that science is a process of human inquiry with a distinct methodology, instead of simply a litany offacts. We recommend that a successful interdisciplinary course should present an engaging topic with which students can identify, incorporate opportunities for student research, and offer site visits to working laboratories.  \nKey words: science literacy, education reform, interdisciplinary teaching, chronobiology, history  \nINTRODUCTION  \nRecognition of the value of a scientifically literate citizenry has driven American science education reform and standards since the end of World War II. The relevance of science and technology as demonstrated in the Cold War was dramatically underscored in 1957 when the Soviet Union launched the world’s first orbiting satellite, Sputnik 1, and it is no coincidence that the term“science literacy” first appeared in print the following year (DeBoer, 2000) . However, the precise meaning of science literacy is not always clear. It is often loosely defined as a basic understanding of the nature of science. The ability to comprehend science journalism as represented in the New York Times is frequently cited as evidence of science literacy. Numerous authors have noted, however, that this definition is imprecise and elastic. Jon Miller (2004), Director of the International Center for the advancement of Science Literacy, argues that the New York Times standard is sufficient, while others have advocated for a spectrum of literacies that range from the average citizen to the scientist or policy expert (Bybee, 2010) . In contrast, George DeBoer (2000), Deputy Director for Project 2061 of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, claims that the imprecision of the term is itself an asset. Because there are multiple paths to science literacy, argues DeBoer, the goal of educators should be to introduce students to the “world of science so they may pursue it throughout their lifetimes.”  \nOn the other hand, our inability to reach a consensus on the meaning of scientific literacy raises serious questions, for how do we measure and assess  \nscientific literacy if we cannot readily define it? According to Miller (2004, 2010), approximately one in four of American adults currently possesses science literacy. This figure is based on surveys by University of Michigan researchers and the National Science Foundation (NSF) which assess factual knowledge (e.g., is an electron bigger or smaller than an atom) as well as a basic understanding of scientific inquiry represented by rudimentary probability questions and comparisons of experimental designs (NSF, 2010) . American adults scored considerably higher on the fact-based questions than on questions intended to test their underst","cbCaiakjaQ0JVjot","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiakjaQ0JVjot","pdf",54556,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction\n## Definitions and measurement of science literacy\n## Why college courses matter\n## Limits of current introductory science instruction\n## Rationale for an interdisciplinary approach","[{\"question\":\"What major gap remains in science education reform discussed in the abstract?\",\"answer\":\"Progress in understanding science facts has occurred, but Americans’ understanding of the nature of science has improved far less.\"},{\"question\":\"Why are college science courses described as an ideal venue for promoting science literacy?\",\"answer\":\"They offer a setting to teach students in ways that build science literacy, even though “nature of science” can be lost in conventional survey formats.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the proposed interdisciplinary approach aim to improve science literacy for non-science majors?\",\"answer\":\"It integrates sciences and humanities to connect scientific concepts to students’ existing interests and knowledge, and it frames science as an inquiry process with a distinct methodology.\"}]","Promoting Science Literacy through an Interdisciplinary Approach | PDF",1792079363,15]