Understandings of Nature of Science & Scientific Inquiry and Evaluation of Scientific Information in Media among Non-science Majors

Scientific literacy has been recognized internationally for itsimportance as a goal of science education. Lying at the core ofscientific literacy are understandings of nature of science (NOS) andscientific inquiry (SI). A desired outcome from a scientifically literatepopulace is – critical evaluation of reports and discussions aboutscience in media. For all these years, it appears that informedconceptions of NOS and SI will automatically be transformed into thisdesired outcome of scientific literacy. However, whether thisassumption holds true or not remains to be confirmed as ascientifically literate populace is yet to be developed and empiricalevidence has been limited for justifying this assumption.
The aim of this study is to examine the relationship, if any, betweenunderstandings of NOS and SI and evaluation of scientific informationin media. Given that non-specialists are the major consumers ofscience constituting large part of the public, thus non-science majorsare selected as participants in this study. If the current studysupports the aforementioned assumption, it serves to provide empiricalevidence for supporting that understandings of NOS and SI can be ameans to the end of critical evaluation of science in media. Should thestudy not support the taken-for-granted belief, the question of whyteaching NOS and SI can become critical.