Preparing Scientifically Literate Citizens: Pre-Service Teacher Candidates' Use of Normative and Logical Thinking for Critically Examining News-Media

Scientifically literate citizens are able to evaluate news reports on everyday problems with a critical stance to information, which means using both value and norm-based as well as evidence and logic based thinking. Developing a critical stance towards information in the news media, requires familiarity with a complex set of interdisciplinary skills, currently examined by standards in separate content domains. Therefore, our current schooling is limited in preparing future citizens for the combination of multiple skills and both value-based and logic-focused thinking processes. Using an exploratory, descriptive design, this study documented 14 pre-service elementary teacher candidates' critical examination of news media reports as they developed arguments about the use products from Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) discoveries in response to dire human need. The results indicated candidates' difficulties in combining logic focused thinking and the use of factual, "hard" evidence with personal perspectives based on personal values and norms. As a result their integration of evidence to develop well-supported arguments for civic action was limited. The findings suggest the need for additional studies on the evidence-interpretation processes of pre-service teacher candidates. By better understanding the argument and reasoning processes of teacher candidates, we can improve the preparation of our citizens for evidence-based civic action based on news-media reports.