| Science education as liberal education in the age of science and technology - focused on the case of subject |
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Eun Kyung Lee, Ki-Won Lee, Nam Ho Jeoung |
| 과학기술시대의 교양과학 교육 |
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이은경, 이기원, 정남호 |
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| Abstract |
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This study investigated science education as liberal education corresponding to modern science and technology development focused on the case of ‘Natural Scientific Project’ subject. This subject aimed students to consider three fundamental questions : “where does humanity come from?”, “where is it going to?”, and “how does humanity proceed?” Students selected a subject of research that they were interested in natural science fields. They did experiments on it with their group members and presented the poster about the results of their research. The goal of this project is to cultivate community mind with their group members, to enhance logical thinking through experiencing of scientific methods, and to improve problem solving ability and creativity facing on unexpected difficulties. For the course, students discussed the merits and demerits of nuclear energy which is one of the hot issues in modern society. With participating in discussions about the social issues, students could realize that the developmental direction of science is determined not only by scientists but also by their decisions and participations.
The survey on all contents of subject was conducted from the second semester of 2014 to the first semester of 2016. The results in each semester did not show any significant tendencies of students according to their majors. Students answered that they understood well ‘science in daily life’ among all of contents in the first semester. In the second semester, they preferred the contents required group activities to the others. However, the overall survey results showed ‘science in daily life’ was the most understandable and favorite content.
Therefore, it is necessary to include the contents which are controversial and social issues in modern science connected to daily life. Those make students to feel comfortable as one of the sciences in daily life and improve their scientific literacy. Scientific literacy is the knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and processes required for personal decision making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic productivity. With this kind of science education, students will realize the importance of civic awareness, civic responsibility and civic engagement, and also have good experiences of public consultation process. |
| Key Words:
science education as liberal education, scientific literacy, civic awareness, civic engagement, public consultation |
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