Nasr Nancy
Granada Hills Charter High School, 10535 Zelzah Ave, Granada Hills, CA 91344 USA.
Cult Stud Sci Educ. 2021;16(2):345-356. doi: 10.1007/s11422-021-10064-6. Epub 2021 Jun 21.
Science educators can provide learning experiences that challenge notions of mistrust in science, and provide students with the science skills necessary to obtain, evaluate, and communicate credible scientific information. As the COVID-19 pandemic persists, the American public continues to be inundated with messages reinforcing the importance of social distancing, hand-washing and the effectiveness of masks to slow the spread of the coronavirus. While most citizens diligently responded to these recommendations with compliance, there remained subcultures of the American public determined to resist these recommendations and engage in a discourse rooted in a mistrust of science. This discourse of science mistrust was perpetuated through the use of social media, as well as the modeling behaviors of government leaders, particularly as social media posts and news coverage were primary methods of social interaction during mandated stay-at-home orders. The discourse of science mistrust perpetuated during the COVID-19 pandemic reveals that a concerted effort is required by all science educators to aid with overcoming this discourse. Overcoming science mistrust begins in the science classroom by implementing pedagogical opportunities for science students to obtain, evaluate, and communicate scientific information. Allowing students to obtain and evaluate information are a critical skill to develop in the science classroom as science educators aim to produce competent consumers of scientific information. Furthermore, science students ought to also have experience with the skills associated with communicating scientific information. Communicating scientific information is a critical skill for science students to develop as it is through the effective communication of credible scientific information that the discourse of science mistrust can be overcome. Providing these learning opportunities to science students empower students to effectively evaluate social media and news coverage associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, and promote a future, wherein citizens are able to read, interpret, and critically consume scientific information to overcome discourses of science mistrust.
科学教育工作者可以提供学习体验，挑战对科学的不信任观念，并为学生提供获取、评估和交流可靠科学信息所需的科学技能。随着新冠疫情持续，美国公众仍不断收到强化社交距离、洗手以及口罩在减缓冠状病毒传播方面有效性的信息。虽然大多数公民认真遵守这些建议，但仍有美国公众的亚文化群体决心抵制这些建议，并参与基于对科学不信任的讨论。这种对科学不信任的讨论通过社交媒体以及政府领导人的示范行为得以延续，特别是在强制居家令期间，社交媒体帖子和新闻报道是主要的社交互动方式。新冠疫情期间持续存在的对科学不信任的讨论表明，所有科学教育工作者都需要共同努力来帮助克服这种讨论。克服对科学的不信任始于科学课堂，为理科学生提供获取、评估和交流科学信息的教学机会。让学生获取和评估信息是科学课堂中要培养的一项关键技能，因为科学教育工作者旨在培养有能力的科学信息消费者。此外，理科学生还应该有与交流科学信息相关技能的经验。交流科学信息是理科学生要培养的一项关键技能，因为只有通过有效传播可靠的科学信息，才能克服对科学不信任的讨论。为理科学生提供这些学习机会，能使学生有效地评估与新冠疫情相关的社交媒体和新闻报道，并推动一个未来，即公民能够阅读、解读并批判性地接受科学信息，以克服对科学不信任的讨论。
