School of Science, Technology, Accessibility, Mathematics, and Public Health, Gallaudet University, 800 Florida Avenue NE, Washington, DC 20002.
Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant, University of Georgia, Savannah, GA 31411.
CBE Life Sci Educ. 2022 Dec;21(4):es5. doi: 10.1187/cbe.21-12-0338.
As college science educators, we must prepare future college graduates to be engaged, science-literate citizens. Yet data suggest that most college biology classes as currently taught do little to make science truly useful for students' lives and provide few opportunities for students to practice skills needed to be key decision makers in their communities. This is especially important for our non-science majors, as they represent the vast majority (82%) of college students. In this essay, we identify three critical aspects of useful college science education to prepare science literate non-science majors: prioritize local socioscientific issues; highlight communal opportunities in science that impact students' communities; and provide students with opportunities to practice skills necessary to engage with science beyond the classroom.
作为大学理科教育工作者，我们必须培养未来的大学毕业生成为有参与意识、具备科学素养的公民。然而，数据表明，目前大多数大学的生物课程并没有真正使科学对学生的生活有用，也没有为学生提供多少机会来练习成为其所在社区的关键决策者所需的技能。对于我们的非理科专业学生来说，这一点尤为重要，因为他们占大学生的绝大多数（82%）。在本文中，我们确定了使非理科专业学生具备科学素养的有用大学理科教育的三个关键方面：优先考虑当地的社会科学问题；突出对学生所在社区有影响的科学中的共同机会；为学生提供超越课堂参与科学所需的技能练习机会。
