Beyond the Consensus View: Whole Science

The “consensus view” on the nature of science (NOS) is now outmoded. To help frame an enduring alternative, one should attend first to the “why” of NOS education. Functional, or civic, scientific literacy is foundational. Acknowledging a need for consumers and citizens to assess the reliability of scientific claims in personal and public decision making leads to an expansive, open-ended, and inclusive list of contextualized NOS elements—experimental, conceptual, and social—known as Whole Science. Any enduring reform also needs to consider practicalities, such as the challenge of assessment, the inevitable role of epistemic dependence (and lessons about expertise, trust, and science on artists), NOS education beyond the classroom, and the development of concrete lessons based on inquiry learning.