Fundamentals of Logic, Reasoning, and Argumentation:  An Evidence-Supported Curriculum Targeting Scientific Literacy to Increase Public Understanding and Engagement in Science

Abstract

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences suggested the definition of science literacy emphasize how crucial understanding the scientific process and the ability to evaluate conflicting scientific evidence is.  The purpose of this article is to present an evidence-supported curriculum covering the fundamentals of logic, reasoning, and argumentation skills to address the emphasized basic knowledge, skills, and abilities required to be scientifically literate, which will prepare the public to understand and engage with science meaningfully.  An analytic-synthetic approach toward understanding the notion of public is taken using a theoretical biomimetics framework that identifies naturally occurring objects or phenomena that descriptively captures the essence of a construct to facilitate creative problem-solving.  In the present case, the problem being solved is how to reconcile what is meant by public, how it ought to be interpreted, the different levels of confidence in science that exist, and various understandings of science all with one another.  The results demonstrate there is an inherent denotative-connotative inconsistency in the traditional notion of public that can be explicated through the concept of a fractal allowing for comprehension of the relationship between public confidence in, and understanding of, science.