Best of: The future of science education

This podcast interviews Jonathan Osborne, a science education expert, about the alarming lack of critical thinking skills among students regarding scientific information and misinformation. The interview explores three key skills to teach students—identifying conflicts of interest, evaluating the credibility of sources, and understanding scientific consensus—to combat misinformation. Osborne argues that current science education focuses too much on rote memorization and not enough on fostering critical evaluation and understanding the "big ideas" of science. He suggests a more engaging, inquiry-based approach, using real-world examples and detective-style investigations to teach these skills, starting as early as elementary school. The discussion concludes by emphasizing the need for greater teacher autonomy and a more streamlined curriculum to allow for more flexible and engaging science education.