ABSTRACT
By the early 1980s it was apparent to all that there was a second-generation crisis in Western, and particularly US, science education: it was labeled “the science literacy crisis.” Despite all the money and effort that had been expended since Sputnik, the bulk of American high school graduates and citizens had minimal scientific understanding. A few knew a great deal; the vast majority knew very little. This state of affairs had been documented in countless research articles, and government reports. But what brought it to popular attention in the US, and galvanized the government to action, was the publication in 1983 of A Nation at Risk (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983). Its conclusion was stark: “the educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a nation and as a people.” It expressed a particular concern about the abysmal state of scientific and mathematical knowledge of high school graduates.1 In the five years after the publication of A Nation At Risk, over three hundred reports documented the sorry state of US education. In 1983 twenty bills were put before Congress designed to offer solutions to the national crisis of science educa tion. These bills and reports all urged the adoption of “scientific and technology literacy for all” as the goal of school science instruction. “Sci ence for all” has been adopted as a goal for science education not just in the US, but in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and most other countries.
