Report of the Science Strategy Review Group.

  • Scotland. Science Strategy Review Group.
Date:
2000
Catalogue details

Licence: Open Government Licence

Credit: Report of the Science Strategy Review Group. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    the public’s perceptions of science and risk. An understanding of risk is central to any evidence-based policy process. 16. The view that science is too complex and difficult for the public to understand should also be challenged. This is a three-way process and requires the engagement of not only scientists and the public but also the media who have a major role to play in this area. However the explanation of complex scientific principles and understandings is not easy. Further questions for a strategy are therefore how to secure a debate on scientific issues with the public, how to assist the media in presenting science and its role in policy, and how to address the issues of communication skills for scientists, and help improve public understanding of science (in which school education can also play a significant role). 17. | A related issue is how to build up the degree of trust between scientific experts and the public when different scientific opinions on a difficult or novel piece of science may be equally defensible in the light of existing knowledge. This is a particularly sensitive issue when public concern is high. Truly independent scientific advice can be difficult to obtain but the key is to access advice that is accepted as being objective, balanced and deals with uncertainty in a credible fashion. 18. A key to this may be that scientific experts should be willing to participate in open debate. This will inevitably result in a wide range of views and interpretations. The question for a science strategy is to identify processes that can cope with such problems. The public have an important input to make, especially on ethical issues and on how science impacts on quality of life. Increased consultation over scientific issues of public concern, while carrying resource implications, should provide substantial long-term benefits with the public being more fully committed to new initiatives and policies. SCIENCE AND EDUCATION 12; Science-teaching in schools is an important cross-cutting issue for a science strategy. It can enhance public understanding of science, ensure that tomorrow’s leaders of industry have the background to take advantage of technological opportunities, ensure that science is embedded in policy-makers’ thinking, and provide the seed-corn for the next generation of developers of the science base and of specialists to meet the technological needs of the industrial (especially SME) base. 20. In the Group’s discussions it was highlighted that Scotland has in many respects led the way in terms of curriculum innovation, levels of pupil participation and attainment in science courses, and— in secondary schools— the use of a well-qualified teaching force. However questions arise about how to arrest the fall-off in interest and attainment at upper primary and lower secondary levels (at a time when pupils are beginning to develop ideas on choices for the future), how to address the relatively low levels of scientific training in primary school teachers (and a concomitant lack of confidence in teaching the general science curriculum at that level), and what mechanisms should be put in place to provide for the continuing professional development of specialist science teachers in secondary schools as scientific knowledge expands. #8 hy So far as the curriculum is concerned, a strategy would need to address the question of whether further development in curriculum content is required. For example, is the existing emphasis on a general scientific education and scientific literacy - and its relevance to