Basic competences that define scientific literacy

To determine the degree of scientific literacy of an individual, we must established the scope (see: why we teach science in school). This is directly linked to how the PISA tests try to evaluate students.

There are different stages (see perhaps: lifecycle of a sicentific idea) and skills (competences) that must be developed:[@minzi2018Aprender competencias científicas en la Universidad: estudio sobre la incidencia de un curso cuatrimestral con enfoque en la indagación.]

• Experimenting
• Hypothesis generation
• Evidence evaluation
• Inference

But, they can be further extended to a more concrete plane:

• Predictions/Hypothesis
• Variable correlations
• Experiment design
• Observation/Measurement
• Classification/serialization
• Investigative techniques
• Transformation
• Interpretation

These different skills fit perfectly the ideas if Curiosity-driven education, by science education should be method-oriented.

Although the different steps seem reasonable, I am completely missing the trigger. How can we experiment if we don't have a question. This is one of the biggest concerns I have: ideas are born through interaction with the world.

The competences are measured through standardized educational tests. Through this tests it is possible to know that, at least in Latin America, science education outputs correlate with socioeconomic level and that university students perform poorly in basic science tests.