JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING VOL. 46, NO. 8, PP.

862 – 864 (2009)

EDITORIAL

Scientific Literacy and Contexts in PISA 2006 Science

Received 2 July 2009; Accepted 21 July 2009

International assessments contribute to a greater understanding of science education around the world
by helping participating countries understand potential changes in policies, programs, and practices in
science teaching. In 2006, science was the primary domain for the Programme for International Student
Assessment (PISA), supported by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
and conducted by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). Compared to the school program
orientation of Trends in International Math and Science Study (TIMSS), PISA provides a unique and
complementary perspective by focusing on the application of knowledge to science and technology-related
life situations. The orientation of PISA is one of scientific literacy, a theme of great importance to the science
education community.
One question formed the basis for the PISA 2006 Science survey of 15-year-olds—What is important for
citizens to know, value, and be able to do in situations involving science and technology? The question is
deceptively simple. Answering the question in the form of a framework for an international assessment and a
survey that included a test and questionnaires for students and administrators differentiates PISA 2006
Science from other assessments, both international and national. The question and answer also broadens our
understanding of the purposes of science education. Several features of the question clarify the uniqueness of
PISA 2006 Science.
First, the question centers on citizens. As citizens, what scientific knowledge is important? Certainly,
basic concepts of the disciplines, but that knowledge must be understood and applied in contexts that
individuals encounter in life. At this point we also note that citizens often encounter situations that require
some knowledge and understanding of science itself. That is, they need to know something about the
processes of scientific inquiry and scientific explanations.
Now, and in the foreseeable future, citizens will have to address numerous challenges that are clearly
related to science and technology. Contemporary challenges include:

Health maintenance and appropriate responses to infectious diseases; for example, applying
biomedical advances and responding to H1N1 virus and Swine flu.
Natural resources use and appropriate conservation and efficiency use of renewable and non-
renewable energy resources in an increasingly carbon-constrained world; for example, increased use
of wind and solar energy.
Environmental quality and an appropriate response to global climate change; for example, reduction
of carbon emissions through cap and trade agreements.

Citizens confront these and other challenges from perspectives that are personal, social, and global. The
PISA 2006 Science survey used the contexts displayed in Table 1.
Scientific literacy involves more than scientific knowledge. The PISA 2006 Science survey uses contexts
to present science in a variety of situations that citizens confront. Assessment tasks had to be part of a 15-year-
old’s experience. Assessment items were framed with contexts that included the details needed to formulate
specific questions. To be clear, the PISA 2006 Science survey was not an assessment of contexts. The primary

Correspondence to: R. Bybee; E-mail: rbybee@bscs.org

DOI 10.1002/tea.20332
Published online 26 August 2009 in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com).

2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

 EDITORIAL 863
Table 1
Contexts for the PISA 2006 science assessment
Personal Social Global
(Self, Family, and Peer Groups) (The Community) (Life Across the World)
Health Maintenance of health, Control of disease, social Epidemics, spread of
accidents, nutrition transmission, food choices, infectious diseases
community health
Natural resources Personal consumption of Maintenance of human Renewable and
materials and energy populations, quality of life, non-renewable, natural
security, production and systems, population
distribution of food, growth, sustainable
energy supply use of species
Environment Environmentally friendly Population distribution, Biodiversity, ecological
behavior, use and disposal disposal of waste, sustainability, control
of materials environmental impact, of pollution, production
local weather and loss of soil
Hazards Natural and human-induced, Rapid changes (earthquakes, Climate change, impact of
decisions about housing severe weather), slow and modern warfare
progressive changes (coastal
erosion, sedimentation),
risk assessment
Frontiers of science Interest in science’s explanations New materials, devices Extinction of species,
and technology of natural phenomena, and processes, genetic exploration of space,
science-based hobbies, sport modification, weapons origin and structure of
and leisure, music and personal technology, transport the universe
technology

Note. Assessing scientific, reading, and mathematical literacy: A framework for PISA 2006 (OECD, 2006).

aim was to assess scientific competencies, understandings, and attitudes toward science that students have
acquired by age 15, generally the end of the compulsory years of schooling.
What is important for citizens to value? This question is best answered by bringing into play the
understanding and appreciation of the nature of science by 15-year-old students in the participating countries.
What should citizens be able to do? PISA 2006 answered this question by establishing scientific
competencies which are central to the PISA definition of scientific literacy. Given a situation with significant
scientific components, citizens should be able to: Identify scientific issues, Explain phenomena scientifically,
and Use scientific evidence as they respond to the situation.
The theme for this special issue of Journal of Research in Science Teaching is Scientific Literacy and
Contexts in PISA 2006 Science. The science contexts and perspectives emphasized in PISA 2006 were those
described in Table 1. In addition, PISA 2006 included items that explored students’ understanding of
knowledge about science (i.e., scientific inquiry and scientific explanations) and attitudes toward science
(i.e., interest in science, support of scientific inquiry, and responsibility toward resources and environments).
These topics are timely and important for jurisdictions considering curricular reforms.
The first article in this special issue by Rodger Bybee, Barry McCrae, and Robert Laurie introduces the
science component of the 2006 survey. Administered every 3 years, the PISA alternates emphasis on Reading,
Mathematics, and Science Literacy. In 2006, PISA emphasized science and was administered in 57 countries
to approximately 500,000 students. The assessment framework (OECD, 2006) and this article include a
definition of scientific literacy, three competencies that constitute scientific literacy, scientific knowledge,
and attitude toward science. The article provides details of the assessment including the design and
development of units and items for the test. Finally, the article presents selected results from PISA 2006
Science.
Peter Fensham provides an in-depth discussion of real-world contexts in the second article. Since the
first survey in 2000, PISA has placed assessment items in contexts that are meaningful to 15-year-old
students. The article discusses a variety of issues associated with the use of scientific and technological
contexts in PISA in particular and implications for science education in general.
Journal of Research in Science Teaching
864 BYBEE, FENSHAM, AND LAURIE

The article by Peter Nentwig, Silke Roennebeck, Katrin Schoeps, Stefan Rumann, and Claus Carstensen
investigates the degree of contextualization. They categorized assessment items by the degree to which they
required students to extract and apply information from the contexts provided.
Troy Sadler and Dana Zeidler use the lens of socioscientific issues (SSI) to analyze and criticize the PISA
approach to assessment. They find that at the general level the PISA and SSI aims are well aligned. However,
at the more specific level the connections become more tenuous.
Finland scored the highest of all countries on PISA 2006 Science. The article by Jari Lavonen and Seppo
Laaksonen explores students’ opinions about learning activities, classroom communication, interest in
science, self-efficacy, beliefs about their own competency, and their performance in science as possible
explanations for Finnish students’ performance. The article also includes the importance of national
education policy in Finland.
The final article by Mary Ratcliffe and Robin Millar addresses the critical issue of teaching science using
contexts such as those developed for PISA 2006 Science. They use a recently developed UK curriculum,
Twenty First Century Science Course, as the basis for their analysis.
All of the authors and this special issue of the Journal of Research in Science Teaching contribute to a
deeper understanding of the crucial place of contexts in science teaching and the influential place of
international assessments such as PISA in education.
Rodger Bybee
670 Ridgeside Drive
Golden, Colorado 80401

Peter J. Fensham
School of Mathematics
Science and Technology Education
Queensland University of Technology
Kelvin Grove, QLD Australia

Robert Laurie
New Brunswick Department of Education
Fredericton, New Brunswick
Canada

Journal of Research in Science Teaching