Vision II Scientific Literacy Assessment Instruments for Secondary Education: A Scoping Review

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Vision II Scientific Literacy Assessment Instruments for Secondary Education: A Scoping Review
Language: English
Authors: Jenny M. Dauer, Valentina Bravo Gaona, Ralph Meulenbroeks
Source: International Journal of Education in Mathematics, Science and Technology. 2025 13(2):498-516.
Availability: International Journal of Education in Mathematics, Science and Technology. Necmettin Erbakan University, Ahmet Kelesoglu Education Faculty, Meram, Konya, 42090, Turkey. e-mail: ijermst@gmail.com; Web site: https://www.ijemst.net/index.php/ijemst/index
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 20
Publication Date: 2025
Document Type: Journal Articles
Information Analyses
Education Level: Secondary Education
Descriptors: Scientific Literacy, Secondary Education, Science Tests, Attitude Measures, Epistemology, Scientific Principles, Scientific Attitudes, Secondary School Students, Student Attitudes
Assessment and Survey Identifiers: Test of Science Related Attitudes
ISSN: 2147-611X
Abstract: Scientific literacy is an organizing principle for K-16 education but is notoriously difficult to operationalize. This study provides a list of instruments that measure aspects of Vision II scientific literacy, or science for citizenship. Based on the definition of scientific literacy by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), a scoping review was performed to identify assessments aimed at secondary education, specifically for Vision II aspects of scientific literacy: "Identifying and Judging Scientific Expertise," "Epistemic Knowledge," "Cultural Understanding of Science," and "Dispositions and Habits of Mind." Nineteen widely-cited instruments were found for secondary education levels, published after 1990 in the English language. Epistemic knowledge was assessed by 14 of them, cultural understanding of science in 12, dispositions and habits of mind in eight, and identifying and judging scientific expertise in four assessment tools. Only one tool measured all four of these aspects. Four assessment tools were framed around fully articulated specific socioscientific issues contexts, the rest were generalized. Areas of strength and deficit in evaluating success in achieving Vision II scientific literacy were identified, including the challenge of assessing scientific literacy at a community level, and trade-offs that exist around the degree of contextualization within the instrument.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2025
Accession Number: EJ1475658
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:Scientific literacy is an organizing principle for K-16 education but is notoriously difficult to operationalize. This study provides a list of instruments that measure aspects of Vision II scientific literacy, or science for citizenship. Based on the definition of scientific literacy by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), a scoping review was performed to identify assessments aimed at secondary education, specifically for Vision II aspects of scientific literacy: "Identifying and Judging Scientific Expertise," "Epistemic Knowledge," "Cultural Understanding of Science," and "Dispositions and Habits of Mind." Nineteen widely-cited instruments were found for secondary education levels, published after 1990 in the English language. Epistemic knowledge was assessed by 14 of them, cultural understanding of science in 12, dispositions and habits of mind in eight, and identifying and judging scientific expertise in four assessment tools. Only one tool measured all four of these aspects. Four assessment tools were framed around fully articulated specific socioscientific issues contexts, the rest were generalized. Areas of strength and deficit in evaluating success in achieving Vision II scientific literacy were identified, including the challenge of assessing scientific literacy at a community level, and trade-offs that exist around the degree of contextualization within the instrument.
ISSN:2147-611X