There is no singular definition for scientific literacy and throughout many texts there are varied definitions. The Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development's (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) (as cited in Curriculum Support, n.d) define it as “the capacity to use scientific knowledge, to identify questions and to draw evidence-based conclusions in order to understand and help make decisions about the natural world and the changes made to it through human activity”.
While Fitzgerald (2013, p.7) expresses scientific literacy as a series of literary attributes of questioning, investigating, making evidence-based conclusions, scientific discussions and making informed decisions about health, wellbeing and the environment. Feasey (1999, as cited in Skamp, 2012, p.84) puts forward the idea that science and literacy are connected with science providing “natural contexts for the use and development of literacy skills and understanding” that supports the development of a student’s engagement with the oral, written, visual and multimodal literacies that are present in science.
A scientifically literate person is defined as having understanding and sound knowledge of science content, application of this knowledge in a range of contexts and demonstrates emerging skills of scientific inquiry (Feasey and Gott, 1996, as cited in Skamp, 2012, p.57). While there is no singular definition for scientific literacy they each share the idea that literacy is rich in the world of science. By supporting students to positively engage and use the wide variety of literacies present in science, educators are able to facilitate a learning environment that provides students to opportunity to socially construct meaning about themselves and the world around them.
While Fitzgerald (2013, p.7) expresses scientific literacy as a series of literary attributes of questioning, investigating, making evidence-based conclusions, scientific discussions and making informed decisions about health, wellbeing and the environment. Feasey (1999, as cited in Skamp, 2012, p.84) puts forward the idea that science and literacy are connected with science providing “natural contexts for the use and development of literacy skills and understanding” that supports the development of a student’s engagement with the oral, written, visual and multimodal literacies that are present in science.
A scientifically literate person is defined as having understanding and sound knowledge of science content, application of this knowledge in a range of contexts and demonstrates emerging skills of scientific inquiry (Feasey and Gott, 1996, as cited in Skamp, 2012, p.57). While there is no singular definition for scientific literacy they each share the idea that literacy is rich in the world of science. By supporting students to positively engage and use the wide variety of literacies present in science, educators are able to facilitate a learning environment that provides students to opportunity to socially construct meaning about themselves and the world around them.