ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with an exploration of the meaning of “science” and “technology”, then moves to an investigation of the importance of science and technology as argued in documents relating to school curricula and citizenship. The need for citizens to know something about science and technology is established and the capability of citizens to have some input into societal decision-making is explored. Next, the attempts to measure public understanding of science are reviewed, noting that they indicate a generally illiterate public. The development of the concept “scientific literacy” is discussed in the context of Roberts’ ideas of Vision I and Vision II science curricula. By drawing from the literature, workable definitions of what it means to be literate in science and technology are presented. The notions of STEM and STEM literacy are described, and the acronym STEAM is mentioned briefly. Finally, this chapter addresses the questions of how much science and technology people need to know, how can they find this out, what resources are available to them, and how might they be helped in their learning. These questions are answered in subsequent chapters of the book.
