Scientific Literacy: The Role of Goal-Directed Reading and Evaluation in Understanding Scientific Information

TLDR

Scientific literacy is defined as the ability to understand and critically evaluate scientific content to achieve goals, and this article focuses on how explanatory and argumentative texts are processed. The article examines the mental processes and representations required of laypersons when learning about science issues from texts. The authors identify three challenges to learning from science texts—intrinsic complexity, coordination of multiple documents, and rhetorical structure—and investigate two executive‑control components, goal‑directed guidance and content evaluation, as strategies to overcome them. They conclude with three implications for designing interventions that improve laypersons’ understanding of scientific information.

Abstract

In this article, we examine the mental processes and representations that are required of laypersons when learning about science issues from texts. We begin by defining scientific literacy as the ability to understand and critically evaluate scientific content in order to achieve one's goals. We then present 3 challenges of learning from science texts: the intrinsic complexity of science phenomena, the need to coordinate multiple documents of various types, and the rhetorical structure of the texts themselves. Because scientific information focuses on models, theories, explanations, and evidence, we focus on how explanatory and argumentative texts are processed. Then we examine 2 components of executive control in reading—goal-directed guidance and evaluation of content—that readers can acquire and adopt to deal with these challenges. Finally, we discuss 3 implications that these theories and empirical findings have for interventions intended to improve laypersons’ understanding of scientific information.