- Relevance of design, technology & science on innovation and invention.
- The methods of gaining knowledge”
- How science makes predictions
- How science helps us understand our world.
- How science demands evidence in the form of data/observations (empirical evidence) and the strengths and limitations of data.
- Use formal logic or reasoning as a way of knowing.
- The role of theoretical and mathematical models.
- The role of emotions as a way of knowing
- The importance of open-mindedness, freedom of thought, creativity and imagination in the creation of knowledge.
- The people who have shaped what we know.
- How design, technology and science is subject to change.
- The connections between design, technology & science to other areas of knowledge like sport or psychology.
- How paradigm shifts (new ways of thinking) lead to new theories.
- Possible biases and limitations in the way knowledge is produced or presented.
- Recognition that many of societies problems like climate change and AIDS are international in nature and require a global multidisciplinary approach.
- How new knowledge is verified and justified.
- The nature of truth in Science.
- How the economic, social and political contexts affects the type of scientific research undertaken.
- The role of technology/the internet in the advancement of scientific knowledge.
- The language used to communicate science.
- The strengths and weakness of scientific knowledge.
- The role of peer review in the acceptance of new knowledge.
- Why some areas of scientific research are controversial. What makes them so.
- How science is a social activity involving many different people and that scientists participate in society as specialists and as citizens.
- How science is an international endeavour, relying on the exchange of information and ideas across national boundaries.
- How the foundations for modern day science was laid many centuries before by Arabic, Indian, Chinese and European civilisations.
- How science is organised into different disciplines
- How science is conducted in schools, universities, research institutions, and companies and is promoted by organisations like the UN, WHO, UNEP and UNESCO.
- That there are generally accepted ethical principles in how science is conducted.
Adapted from http://blogs.saschina.org/chemicalparadigms