Scientific literacy
Science was the major domain of PISA 2025, with an updated framework. It sees the student as someone able to act thoughtfully on science-related issues.
Definition
Scientific literacy is the ability to engage with science-related issues and ideas as a reflective citizen: explaining phenomena scientifically, evaluating enquiry, and using scientific information to make decisions.
Three competencies
Explain phenomena scientifically
Recognise, offer and evaluate explanations for natural and technological phenomena.
Design enquiry and interpret data
Construct and evaluate designs for scientific enquiry; interpret data and evidence critically.
Research, evaluate and use scientific information
Find scientific information, judge its credibility and use it for decisions and action.
Types of knowledge
- Content knowledge: physics, chemistry, biology, Earth and space.
- Procedural knowledge: how scientific enquiry is done: variables, measurement, error.
- Epistemic knowledge: why science produces knowledge we can trust: evidence, models, peer review, disagreement.
Contexts
Tasks are set in personal, local or national, and global contexts. Topics include health, natural resources, environmental quality, hazards, and frontiers of science and technology. The 2025 framework gives more weight to the environment and sustainability and to dealing with scientific misinformation.
Levels
The science scale is also divided into levels. Level 2 is the baseline: in a familiar context the student recognises a simple scientific explanation and interprets the conclusion of a simple investigation. At higher levels students apply models in unfamiliar situations, design investigations themselves and see the limits of evidence.
In class
- Ask students to find flaws in a ready-made experiment: what was not controlled, does the conclusion match the data?
- Take apart a “scientists have proven” claim from the news: who, how, with what data?
- Give two explanations for one phenomenon and ask which evidence supports each of them.
Example task: “Plants and light: is the experiment fair?”.
Sources
Our summary of the PISA 2025 science framework.