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Trust: The Need for Public Understanding of How Science Works
Author(s) -
Solomon Miriam
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
hastings center report
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.515
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1552-146X
pISSN - 0093-0334
DOI - 10.1002/hast.1227
Subject(s) - criticism , scientific literacy , ideology , science communication , social science education , curriculum , science, technology, society and environment education , sociology , scientific integrity , inclusion (mineral) , science education , outline of social science , public awareness of science , engineering ethics , scientific consensus , nature of science , political science , epistemology , public relations , social science , pedagogy , law , politics , global warming , ecology , philosophy , climate change , biology , engineering
General science literacy contributes to good public decision‐making about technology and medicine. This essay explores the kinds of science literacy currently developed by public education in the United States of America. It argues that current curricula on “science as inquiry” (formerly the “nature of science”) need to be brought up to date with the inclusion of discussion of social epistemological concepts such as trust and scientific authority, scientific disagreement versus science denialism, the role of ideology and bias in scientific research, and the importance of peer review and responsiveness to criticism.