Connecting research in science literacy and classroom practice: a review of science teaching journals in Australia, the UK and the United States, 1998–2008

In the last 15 years (1994–2009), there has been considerable increased research interest in: (1) characterising the distinctive nature and constitutive elements of science literacy and (2) investigating classroom practices or necessary conditions that enable students to acquire this disciplinary capacity. This raises the question of the extent to which this research agenda and emerging findings have been reflected in science teaching journals that seek to influence classroom practice. In this paper, we review the content of science teaching journals in Australia, the UK and the USA, 1998–2008, to identify the degree of alignment between these two literatures. We found a research‐practice gap, with the science teaching journals more often citing research from literacy education than from science education. We conclude by considering the implications of these findings as well as possible strategies to develop a more generative relationship between research on the acquisition of science literacy and teacher journal prescriptions in this area.

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