PROJECT 2061 AND OTHER SCIENTIFIC LITERACY INITIATIVES: OVERSEAS LESSONS FOR UKRAINIAN SCIENCE EDUCATORS

Abstract

A rapidly growing number of nations presently strive for the active development of competitive knowledge-based economy, making the issue of achieving science literacy one of the crucial global priorities. Acknowledgment of the role of scientific enterprise in the ideological, political, economic, social, and educational context has led to a rapid increase of attention this problem receives from specialists in various disciplines. Drawing on foreign experience, the authors of this article put before them the task of reviewing Project 2061 initiated by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) viewed as a promising approach to tackling the diminishing levels of science education both in our country and abroad. At the same time, we are interested in analyzing the underlying reasons that dictate the need to increase the scientific literacy of students representing various programs as they experience the effects of global technological advancement. The polydisciplinary nature of the natural sciences is yet another cardinal point of our current research since (when fully utilized) it allows one to approach study phenomena from all sides, thereby, forming a holistic picture of the world. As an international program aimed at assessing the academic achievements of schoolchildren PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) is based on precisely this kind of fruitful interdisciplinary method, whereby researchers gauge the level of the reading, mathematical, and natural scientific literacy of children. Serving as an effective evaluation tool, the PISA initiative not only helps estimate the volume of readily accessible knowledge but also measures the ability of learners to process information by utilizing scientific and critical thinking methods, dissect it and draw conclusions. Accordingly, it is our conviction that these academic benchmarking tools are invaluable for the modern generation of students worldwide as simple memorization and reproduction of information are on the cusp of being outperformed by the growing artificial intelligence industry which is able to provide more efficient alternatives for these simple mechanical knowledge acquisition skills. Consequently, if human intellectual development is swiftly reaching its bifurcation point we need to rely on ways of generating novel modes of thinking and problem-solving by taking into account consummate teaching methodologies that have the potential to serve as sure guidlines to increased global and national scientific progress and social wellbeing.