ASSIGMENT 3 Roles of Technologies in Promoting the Scientific Literacy

8/9/2019 ASSIGMENT 3 Roles of Technologies in Promoting the Scientific Literacy

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Jennifer Tiansin (MT1312202T) Roles of technologies in promoting the scientific literacy

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ASSIGNMENT 3

Q : Discuss the roles of technologies in promoting the scientific literacy

Roles of technologies in promoting the scientific literacy

Before discussing more about the roles of technology in promoting scientific literacy, it is

best to give a brief definition about the term technology and again scientific literacy.

In more general definition, technology is defined a body of knowledge that is used

to create tools, develop skills, and extract or collect materials. It is also the application of

science which is the combination of the scientific method and material to meet an objective

or solve a problem (National institute of Health, n.d.). In the other hand, the term

technology that is used in the field of education can be easily understand as a medium (or

tools) to encourage inquiry, enhance communication, construct teaching materials, and

assist students self-expression (Beak et al., 2008). To lead a clear direction for this

assignment, I would like to focus the discussion on the use Data-logger or Microcomputer

Based Laboratory (MBL) and the collection of data with the aid of sensors (probwares) and

computers, as part of practical work in science

As for the definition of scientific literacy, in this assignment we should see that

scientific literacy as a whole different context with science literacy even though the two

terms have always been used interchangeably. For example, American Association for the

Advancement of Science(1989 ; in Holbrook & Rannikmae, 2009) has been using the term

science literacy to refer to the scientific literacy. In this assignment, the scientific literacyshould not be taken as to mean the knowledge of a lot of science but rather the

understanding of how science really works (Durrant, 1994).

According to National Science Education Standards:

Scientific Literacy means that a person can ask, find, or determineanswers to questions derived from curiosity about everyday experiences.It means that a person has the ability to describe, explain, and predictnatural phenomena. (National Research Council,(Dani, 2009).


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Thowalter (1974; cited in Laugksch, 2000), has define scientific literacy in seven

dimensions:

i. The scientifically literate person understands the nature of scientific

knowledge.

ii.

The scientifically literate person accurately applies appropriate science

concepts, principles, laws, and theories in interacting with his universe.

iii. The scientifically literate person uses processes of science in solving

problems, making decisions, and furthering his own understanding of the

universe.

iv. The scientifically literate person interacts with the various aspects of his

universe in a way that is consistent with the values that underlie science.

v. The scientifically literate person understands and appreciates the joint

enterprises of science and technology and the interrelationship of these with

each and with other aspects of society.

vi. The scientifically literate person has developed a richer, more satisfying, and

more exciting view of the universe as a result of his science education and

continues to extend this education throughout his life.

vii. The scientifically literate person has developed numerous manipulative skills

associated with science and technology.

In this assignment, I will refer to the above mentioned scientific literacy to give a

clear direction of the discussion.

Technology such as Microcomputer Based Laboratories (MBL) is one of the ICT

applications in science laboratories that can be practically used in schools. The tool consist

of one or more sensors or probewares that are connected to an interface which is usually

an analogue-digital converter that allow real time visualization of the variables of an

experiment and provides the possibility of measuring magnitudes which are difficult to

measure with traditional equipment. Pertinent software allows programming the frequency

of measures, and the data format (table, kind of graph) to be presented on the computer

screen. Using this technology, predictions and hypothesis formulated by learners can have

easy, quick and precise feedback ratification.


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Integration of technology in teaching plays important roles in promoting scientific

literacy. One of commonly used students-centre teaching strategy that benefits the

technology is inquiry-based teaching. National Research Council (in (Soloway, Grant,

Tinker, Roschelle, & Hands, 1999) states that inquiry into authentic questions generated

from student experiences is the central strategy for teaching science, thus taking the first

step to scientific literacy.

The inquiry that is meant by the National Research Council (NRC) is not the

idealized method that linearly follows the step of investigation in orderly sequence. Rather,

the initial investigation is only part of the initial inquiry process. For instance,

computational tools that are used by students in the school lab will eventually can satisfy

the what ifquestions arise from the students by doing their own experiment outside the

classroom. The uses of handheld devices enable children to collect data outside the

classroom. No doubt that this will enable the students to conduct the experiment they were

not able before. Thank you to the technology.

With the technology, the learning becomes contextual. They can finally bring the

probewares everywhere and run the experiments and they can connect the device to their

laptops or smartphone to analyse the output. This will develop numerous manipulative

skills associated with science and technology as one of the dimensions of scientific literacy

that has been mention above.

Even for the nave science learner, MBL provides opportunity to explore and

quantify the physical world using sensors that are not commonly available to students,

particularly in courses for non-majors. The effectiveness may be the result of the

immediate linking of a concrete measurement of an actual physical system with the

simultaneous production of the symbolic representation (Thornton, 1987). The accurately

application of appropriate science concepts, principles, laws, and theories in interacting

with his universe eventually contribute to scientifically literate person.

With the technology, lab experiments will never be the same again. The chance to

do the experiments outside the classroom in their daily life setting gives them more

confidence about the data they gathered. If they are to present their findings, they can

elaborate their findings and results with the accurate explanation since they have actually

interacting with the environment. The immediate-display data such as graph can give more

room for studentsfurther inquiry.


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Novak & Gleason (2001) have done a detail research about management and

organizing computer-aided practical work that use portable handheld probewares in the

Our Water Projectusing project-based learning to promote students inquiry in learning.

Students that were divided in groups were actually design and carry out a plan of their own

to investigate the cleanliness of their adopted portion of the stream. Using portable

technology as scientific instruments, students collect and analyse various quantitative

water-quality data along with qualitative data to make conclusions about the health of the

stream. Using the portable technology, the students are provided with scientific tools that

enable them to do the science just like the real scientist do. The students also learn to

learn independently without the cookbookinstruction and practicing good data collection

and problem-solving techniques. In addition, the students value the roles of technology in

learning.

The technology of portable handheld devices gives the opportunity to the students

to use the scientific tools that are similar to those scientists use in students' hands. This

will create more opportunities for the students to design and carry out meaningful

investigations and to answer questions posed by their own "what if questions.

The roles of technology in promoting scientific literacy are no longer new to many

countries. It is our time to start taking serious action so that our future generation can

benefit the technology toward the scientifically literate society.


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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Beak, Y., Jung, J., & Kim, B. 2008. What makes teachers use technology in the classroom?Exploring the factors affecting facilitation of technology with a Korean sample. Computer &Education.50, 224-234.

Dani, D. (2009). Scientific Literacy and Purposes for Teaching Science : A Case Study ofLebanese Private School Teachers. International Journal of Environmental and ScienceEducation, 4(3), 289299.

Holbrook, J., & Rannikmae, M. (2009). The Meaning of Scientific Literacy. InternationalJournal of Environmental and Science Education, 4(3), 275288.

Laugksch, R. (2000). Scientific Literacy : A Conceptual Overview. Science Education, 84(1),7194.

Novak, A. M., & Gleason, C. I. (2001). Incorporating Portable Technology to Enhance anInquiry, Project-Based Middle School Science Classroom. In Portable Techonologies(pp. 2962). New York.

Soloway, E., Grant, W., Tinker, R., Roschelle, J., & Hands, T. (1999). Science in the Palmsof Their Hands. Communication of the ACM, 42(8), 2126.

Thornton, R. K. (1987). Microcomputer-Based Laboratories for the Naive Science Learner.Collegiate Microcomputer, 5(1), 100106.

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ASSIGMENT 3 Roles of Technologies in Promoting the Scientific Literacy