Enhancing Scientific Literacy in Thailand

Abstract

Globally, literacy in science has become a fundamental focus of public education. The term ‘scientific literacy’, however, attracts a diversity of views. A common theme in the literature is that it relates to being able to critique scientific discussions. The large-scale evaluation of students' scientific literacy was assessed in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Thailand participated in the PISA scheme every three years from 2000 to 2009. The results indicate that Thailand's performance decreased over the period and were below average. This has led to an increased focus on improving performance and scores and a desire to improve science education and science teaching for enhancing scientific literacy in Thailand. Science educators in universities, the Institute for the Promotion of Teaching Science and Technology (IPST), the Ministry of Education and others have organized various projects and research to improve scientific literacy. Research projects have focused on developing teachers' quality in science teaching and have gone on to consider the nature of science, contexts of science, socio-scientific issues and the relation between science, technology and society. The article will discuss the strategies that have been embarked upon to enhance scientific literacy in Thailand.