Resumen de Writing news spots about science: a way to promote scientific literacy
Ralf Marks, Juliane Otten, Ingo Eilks
Use of the 'Journalist Method' in science education is described, in which pupils are asked to create short news presentations (we call them news spots) for a fictitious television newscast about science-related issues. The writing of such news spots by cooperative teams of pupils is supported by collections of background information taken from various sources. These collections mirror the different perspectives on an issue and appear in a news agency type format. This method can be used to stimulate debate about media reporting of science-related topics in everyday life. It can also help to teach pupils important elements of communication and evaluation competencies, as an integral part of developing their scientific literacy in its most basic sense. A structured approach describing the activity of writing news spots in science classes, including an example from German lower secondary chemistry education, is described. The example is taken from a lesson on the problematic effects of musk fragrances in cosmetic products. Experiences from : the classroom are also discussed and ideas for further examples of suitable topics are outlined.
