A Reflection on Distorted Views of Science and Technology in Science Textbooks as Obstacles to the Improvement of Students’ Scientific Literacy

Abstract

Scientific literacy has been increasingly considered a major goal of science education. While text- books remain the most widespread tools for pursuing this goal within classrooms, they have been slow to adapt to the most recent epistemological paradigms, often still conveying distorted views of science and technology. Accordingly, we present herein a theoretical framework specifically in- tended to highlight the potential of textbooks to promote students’ scientific literacy. It is addi- tionally argued that, often, the misconceptions conveyed by textbooks represent obstacles to the acquisition of a fair image of science and, therefore, to the acquisition of scientific literacy. Finally, a textbook analysis is suggested.

Keywords

• scientific literacy, knowing about science, science, inquiry, technology, society, environment, textbooks, conceptions

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