Journal of Education & Social Policy

Dimensions of Scientific Literacy in Greek Upper Secondary Education Physics Curricula
Charikleia Kiouri, Michael Skoumios

Abstract
There has been limited research focusing on the analysis of secondary education science curricula in terms of scientific literacy dimensions. This study aims to investigate dimensions of scientific literacy in Greek physics curricula of upper secondary education (Greek Lyceum). Physics curricula of first, second and third years were analysed in terms of the dimensions of scientific literacy based on the PISA 2015 framework (knowledge, competences and contexts). As a unit of analysis was chosen each objective set by physics curricula. Data analysis showed that content knowledge dominates in physics curricula, whereas the occurrence of the other two kinds of knowledge (procedural and epistemic knowledge) is limited. Regarding the competences, it has been found that physics curricula mainly focus on the ability to recall and apply scientific knowledge. The presence of the other competences - relating to evaluate and design scientific enquiry as well as to interpret data and evidence scientifically - is limited. As regards to the contexts included in physics curricula, it has been found that there are only a few correlations with the contexts for the PISA 2015 scientific literacy assessment. The paper concludes with a discussion as well as recommendations for future research.

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