Controversy in Science Museums

Re-imagining Exhibition Spaces and Practice

Erminia Pedretti, Ana Maria Navas Iannini

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9780429017759
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Kunst
• Subtopic: Museumswissenschaft

Controversy in Science Museums focuses on exhibitions that approach sensitive or controversial topics. With a keen sense of past and current practices, Pedretti and Navas Iannini examine and re-imagine how museums and science centres can create exhibitions that embrace criticality and visitor agency.

Drawing on international case studies and voices from visitors and museum professionals, as well as theoretical insights about scientific literacy and science communication, the authors explore the textured notion of controversy and the challenges and opportunities practitioners may encounter as they plan for and develop controversial science exhibitions. They assert that science museums can no longer serve as mere repositories for objects or sites for transmitting facts, but that they should also become spaces for conversations that are inclusive, critical, and socially responsible.

Controversy in Science Museums provides an invaluable resource for museum professionals who are interested in creating and hosting controversial exhibitions, and for scholars and students working in the fields of museum studies, science communication, and social studies of science. Anyone wishing to engage in an examination and critique of the changing roles of science museums will find this book relevant, timely, and thought provoking.

PART 1
Articulating theoretical landscapes

1
Towards more progressive views of scientific literacy in science museums

Introduction

Scientific literacy is a long-standing fundamental construct that underpins the work of formal and informal institutions worldwide. In many ways it has become a kind of slogan that forms the bedrock of educational polices and science museum mandates and practices. However, its meaning is diffuse and complex. The concept of ‘scientific literacy’ has been used to express a diverse range of skills and practices that serve to describe the ways in which individuals relate to science and technology and to the scientific enterprise (Bybee, 2015). In this chapter, we explore its different meanings, interpretations, and applications. In so doing, we perceive a movement from dominant perspectives of scientific literacy, which have emphasized acquisition and comprehension of concepts, to progressive views, which have articulated the discourse of scientific literacy with citizenship, political engagement, and action. We also discuss specific frameworks that have reframed scientific literacy, including socio-scientific issues (SSI), socially acute questions (SAQ), and science, technology, society, and environment (STSE). These perspectives bring commitments to moral and ethical dimensions of science education, social empowerment about current and relevant controversial science topics, critical thinking, informed decision making, and agency into the conversation.

In the second half of the chapter we explore the impact of the concept of scientific literacy on informal educational practices. We consider the ways in which theoretical insights and practical applications of the concept have influenced the work of science museums and their exhibitions. We conclude the chapter with some examples of science exhibitions that have embraced more progressive views of scientific literacy and civic dimensions of this construct. Note that throughout the book we will use the umbrella term ‘science museums’ to refer to science centres, science museums, science and technology museums, and museums of natural history.

On the meanings of scientific literacy

Coined in the decade of 1950s (Hurd, 1958, 1998), scientific literacy has been described as a diffuse concept (Laugksch, 2000; Sadler & Zeidler, 2009) involving different meanings and interpretations. It has also been used as a powerful slogan for supporting educational practices in school and non-school settings. Consider the following excerpts from science museums’ mission and/or vision statements that include scientific literacy as foundational to their work:

The Gateway Science Museum [Chico, California, U.S.A.] envisions an environment where people of all ages and demographics are inspired by science. … We aspire to provide a stimulating experience for visitors as they grow into adulthood. We are devoted to the advancement of science literacy and life-long learning.

(Gateway Science Museum, n.d., para. 2)

Tech Dome Penang [Pulau Pinang, Malaysia] is an initiative by the Penang State Government to create a hub for technology learning and exchange of ideas. It will be a vehicle for improving scientific literacy and technology ability in Malaysia.

(Tech Dome Penang, n.d., para. 1)

The mission of Fernbank Science Center [Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.] is to provide extraordinary science instruction, exhibits, opportunities and experiences to the DeKalb County School District, the local community and beyond. The science center is dedicated to science literacy and life-long science learning for all people and all ages.

(Fernbank Science Center, n.d., para. 1)

The NIHERST National Science Centre … [D’Abadie, Trinidad] aims to advance the levels of scientific and technological literacy in both the children and adults of Trinidad & Tobago and the wider Caribbean, by presenting knowledge and experiences of Science and Technology in their most palatable forms. In so doing, we hope to support the formal science curriculum with our own informal brand of learning and in the process stimulate our young people to pursue careers in these fields.

(National Science Centre, n.d., para. 2)

[Our aspirations] Promote science literacy, and skills that are particularly important in the 21st century: communication, cooperation, critical and creative thinking, problem solving, and innovation. At the same time promote and preserve appreciation for Hawaii’s cultural traditions and legacy.

(Maui Science Center, n.d., para. 12)

According to Hodson (1998, p. 2), “while scientific literacy seems to be almost universally welcomed as a desirable goal, there is little clarity about its meanings”. How then, is scientific literacy understood, and by implication enacted? (As an aside, similar statements that tout scientific literacy as an outcome can be found in school-based curriculum and policy documents.) At this point we step back and explore the many meanings of scientific literacy over the last few decades. We argue that theoretical efforts to define this concept can help us to understand the extent, challenges, and possibilities of embracing this construct in the work done by science museums.

We begin with the work of Benjamin Shen (1975), whose reflections on scientific literacy comprise a well-known, relevant, and often cited framework. In Shen’s (1975) view, there are three forms of scientific literacy: practical, civic, and cultural. The first form refers to the use of scientific and technological knowledge to resolve practical problems related to the most basic human needs, such as health and food and, consequently, to improve living standards. This form of literacy is mostly related to the dissemination of information – for example, through television. Civic scientific literacy is linked to the awareness of public issues related to science and technology such as energy consumption, natural resources, environmental pollution, food quality, and to the full participation of citizens in democratic processes associated with these discussions. For Shen, a citizen who is scientifically literate is going to be (intellectually) stimulated by contradictory scientific opinions, instead of feeling excluded or overwhelmed by them. Finally, cultural scientific literacy is described as the enjoyment of certain aspects of science and the understanding of science as located within other human and cultural productions.

Through a critical perspective, Shamos (1995) suggests that pursuing universal scientific literacy is a myth. He argues that scientific literacy encompasses three domains, that may or may not be fully achieved by citizens. According to Shamos, cultural scientific literacy involves understanding of basic scientific facts and concepts. Functional scientific literacy requires not only the comprehension of basic scientific vocabulary but also the capacity to communicate, read, and write coherently in a scientific context. Finally, true scientific literacy is the most difficult to achieve; in addition to the previous forms and goals of literacy, it involves knowing about, and being critical of, aspects of the scientific enterprise including the nature, methods, and processes of science.

Similar to Shamos (1995) and Shen (1975), de Carvalho and Sasseron (2011) also identify three dimensions (axes) of scientific literacy that consider acquisition of knowledge and understandings related to the scientific enterprise. The first axis relates to the ability to understand terms and fundamental concepts related to science and technology. According to the authors, it involves the comprehension of key terms that will help individuals to understand science-related information and issues in everyday situations. The second axis is associated with a broad comprehension of the nature of science (NOS) and the ethical and political forces in which scientific practices are embedded. For de Carvalho and Sasseron (2011) this axis focuses on human and social aspects related to the production of scientific knowledge. The third axis involves the complexities of the relationships between science, technology, society, and environment. This axis involves the capacity to understand the applications of scientific knowledge and its impacts.

Replacing the idea of dimensions of scientific literacy by a continuum, Roberts (2007) suggests that two visions can be encompassed. Vision I, located on one extreme of the continuum, is associated with the “cannon of orthodox natural science” (p. 730). It involves understanding the products and processes of science. Vision II, situated at the other extreme, derives from situations with science and technology issues that individuals can encounter as a citizen in their everyday activities. By looking into Roberts’ continuum and also, into the dimensions and axis of scientific literacy that we examined earlier, we visualize a movement from basic forms of scientific literacy, related to acquiring and understanding facts and concepts, to more complex views that consider a broad and critical comprehension of the nature of science and its socio-political contexts and aspects of citizenship. These latter elements are reflected in specific frameworks that we will discuss in the following section.

Progressive views of scientific literacy

Issues of citizenship

Theoretical discussions about science education and democratic participation in science and technology (e.g., Bazzul & Yacoubian, 2015; Kolstø, 2001; Levinson, 2010; Roth & Désautels, 2004) have brought issues of agency, activism, social justice, engagement, and participation to understandings of what it means to be a scientifically literate citizen. In this context, Dos Santos (2009) calls our attention towards humanist perspectives in science education that relate goals of scientific literacy with possibilities for social and political transformation of the modern world through agency and engagement. Within these reflections we visualize the emergence of what we identify as progressive views of scientific literacy – in other words, views that take into consideration citizenship within the discourse of scientific literacy.

More than a decade ago, Hodson (2003, pp. 653–654) suggested shifting the emphasis of scientific literacy. The author advocated the need to move from ideas related to the acquisition of scientific knowledge and skills to “the clarification of problems and negotiation of possible solutions through open, critical dialogue and active participation in democratic mechanisms for effecting change”. In Hodson’s (2003) view, this interpretation of scientific literacy challenges educational practices (such as curriculum development and implementation) that involve the presentation of social, political, and economic context of science and nature and history of science perspectives, without engaging the learners (citizens) in socio-political action. Therefore, possibilities for embracing agency and activism emerge as part of what is expected from scientific literate citizens (Bazzul & Yacoubian, 2015; Bencze & Alsop, 2014). For Hodson (2003, p. 658), the notion of socio-political engagement is a fundamental part of achieving critical scientific literacy and consequently one of its four dimensions (Figure 1.1). Through Hodson’s (2003) framework, we understand why scientific literacy is a welcoming goal. Moving from a more traditional (and limiting) per...