Pixel International Conferences

We all depend on experts and rely on their knowledge and methods. This is especially true for science: Scientists use the results, ideas and theories of their peers, which are for instance published in scientific journals or presented at scientific conferences. Unlike researchers, students and people outside academia typically do not know which scientific sources on novel issues are reliable and how to judge them [1]. This was particularly evident through the coronavirus pandemic, which not only created numerous uncertainties, but also new conspiracy theories [2].

To evaluate a scientific claim, an understanding about the social practices of the scientific community and the criteria of scientific expertise is needed [1]. In addition to teaching core scientific concepts, one of the goals of science education should be teaching these understandings. In this contribution we argue that a way to achieve this goal might be to make the scientific publication process transparent.  Therefore, we want to bring authentic scientific literature to non-scientists and argue, why the common used text genres like school books are not as authentic for science and not suitable for this goal. Focus of this contribution is the analysis of the educational and didactical potential of Adapted Scientific Literature for teaching the aforementioned understandings. Therefore, we compare the potential of Adapted Primary Literature [3] with Adapted Review articles.

Keywords: scientific literacy, adapted primary literature, scientific literature, reading

References:

[1] Osborne, J., & Pimentel, D. (2022). Science, misinformation, and the role of education. Science, 378(6617), 246–248. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abq8093">https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abq8093

[2] Kużelewska, E., & Tomaszuk, M. (2022). Rise of Conspiracy Theories in the Pandemic Times. International Journal for the Semiotics of Law. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11196-022-09910-9">https://doi.org/10.1007/s11196-022-09910-9

[3] Yarden, A., & Phillips, L. M. (2015). Adapted Primary Literature: The Use of Authentic Scientific Texts in Secondary Schools (1st ed.). Springer.