From Teaching-to-Know-to-Learning-to-Think for Sustainability:
What Should it Take? And How to Do it?

Uri Zoller 
(Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Haifa, Kiryat Tivon 36006, Israel)

Abstract: Given the current striving for sustainability and the corresponding paradigms shift in science, technology, R&D, environment perception, economy and politics; e.g., from unlimited growth-to-sustainable development, correction-to-prevention and passive consumption of “goods”, culture and education–to active participation, primarily in the science-technology-environment-society-economy-policy (S-T-E-S-E-P) context, the corresponding paradigms shift, at all levels of education is unavoidable. This requires a paradigm shift in conceptualization, thinking, and research in science education, particularly concerning the science-technology-environment-society (STES) interfaces. Consequently, "STES literacy" requires the development of students’ evaluative system thinking and transfer capabilities in this context via the corresponding innovative higher-order cognitive skills (HOCS)-promoting teaching assessment and learning strategies; meaning a shift, within different multicultural contexts, from the currently dominating lower-order cognitive skills (LOCS) algorithmic teaching-to-know, to HOCS-promoting learning-to-think, typified by students’ capabilities of critical evaluative system thinking and decision-making for problem solving and transfer. This should be consonant with innovative, interdisciplinary generic, contextually bound, research-based teaching strategies and assessment methodologies leading to “HOCS learning”. Our longitudinal research findings and application of this HOCS-promoting science education practice suggest that, although the road to STES literacy for sustainability is rocky, it is educationally doable and, therefore, attainable.

Key words: learning-to-think; LOCS-to-HOCS paradigm shift; science-technology-environment-society (STES) literacy for sustainability