NdCyT - CTS Garritz Et Al. 2011
NdCyT - CTS Garritz Et Al. 2011
NdCyT - CTS Garritz Et Al. 2011
Abstract (Attitudes on Nature of Science and technology by public high school and college’s Mexican
teachers and students. Iberian-American Evaluation Project on Science, Technology and Society Attitudes)
The authors have participated in the Iberian-American Evaluation Project on Science, Technology
and Society Attitudes (Spanish acronym, piearcts), and have delivered their results (Garritz,
Rueda y Robles, 2011) to the Iberian-American States Organization (Spanish acronym, oei). We
have decided to give an extended diffusion to these results by including them in this Journal
—now that the celebration of the International Year of Chemistry contemplates a section
especially dedicated to attitudes— giving a full description of some of the questions of the
Questionnaire of Opinions on Science, Technology and Society (Spanish acronym cocts by
Manassero y Vázquez, 1998), critically those in which there is an statistical meaningful difference
between students of high school and college or between students and teachers of both levels.
The general conclusion is the alarming poorness of beliefs on Science-Technology-Society
(sts) issues of the great majority of the participants, revealing a deficient knowledge on the
present conception of the Nature of Science and Technology (NoS&T).
If these groups, belonging to the highest level of education, show these kinds of results, they
cannot be a factor of change that allows Mexican people —surely with more deformed visions
on NoS&T— take convenient decisions about public policies on important topics of science and
technology for their everyday life. We conclude that it is necessary to actualize and improve high
school and university teachers on this theme, and put those contents nearer to teachers and
students of basic education.
In this way, the objective of science education could be achieved, that is: to develop autonomous
persons that use scientific and technological knowledge as a norm, conscious of the impact of
those activities on society, trusting in their capacity to face novelties and assuming ethic
responsibility for their actions, as individuals, as citizens as well as professionals. We have to
realize that to educate people it is necessary to contemplate not only knowledge —to know
concepts— but also skills —how to think and to do— and attitudes —to know how to be and
live with others. And to evaluate the last mentioned factor in relation to science, technology and
society this work is dedicated to.
1
Facultad de Química, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Introducción: cts y NdC&T, dos acrónimos
Ciudad Universitaria, Avenida Universidad 3000, 04510 México, importantes
Distrito Federal, México. Los autores hemos participado en el Proyecto Iberoamerica-
Correos electrónicos: [email protected] y [email protected] no de Evaluación de Actitudes Relacionadas con Ciencia-
2
Colegio de Ciencias y Humanidades, plantel Naucalpan, Tecnología-Sociedad (piearcts), y hemos entregado un re-
Calzada de los Remedios número 10, 53400, Colonia Los sultado de nuestra investigación (Garritz, Rueda y Robles,
Remedios, Naucalpan, Estado de México, México. 2011) a la Organización de Estados Iberoamericanos. En este
Correo electrónico: [email protected] proyecto han participado investigadores de siete países de ha-
3
Departamento de Pedagogía Aplicada y Psicología Educativa, bla hispana o portuguesa: Argentina, Brasil, Colombia, Espa-
Universidad de las Islas Baleares, España. ña, México, Panamá y Portugal; de verdad ha sido un proyecto
Correo electrónico: [email protected] colaborativo iberoamericano.