The research project presented here it´s being developed in the context of a Master’s dissertation in the field of Science Education – in the line of Education and Human Development - at the Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia (Faculty of Sciences and Technology) of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa (New University of Lisbon). The research project focus is the importance that the Scientific Literacy is assuming in contemporaneous societies and aims to understand how citizens are “responding” to this new demand: how are they learning Science and about Science not only in School, but fundamentally, in non-formal and informal environments like Science Museums, Science Centers or even through Media. In this paper we aim to present some of the theoretical framework and background that is guiding our investigation, the methodology chosen for the empirical work and also the outcomes reached in this stage of the investigation. Therefore, this paper will include three main sections: At the first section we will explicit (briefly) the theoretical guidelines that are informing our investigation in the conceptual field. These will focus the characterization of the contemporaneous society as mainly supported on knowledge and information, characterized by the fluency of information in a “web” way where each individual assumes different “roles” – sometimes searching for information and other times being the source of information himself. The context assumes, in this matter, an extreme importance because the “global citizen” contacts and lives in different contexts (family, school, job…). In this perspective we can assume that Scientific Literacy is, in fact, assuming an extreme importance, considering questions like the climate changes, stem cells or the concur of the outer space are discussed almost everywhere and the citizens are expected to give an opinion and called to decide about local, national and international policies concerning these issues. International organizations are also paying more and more attention to these facts and Scientific Literacy is being reported as a “Key Competence for Lifelong Learning” (Education and Training Programme 2010 – European Comission; OECD International Programme for Students Assessment |PISA|). The second section of the paper will refer to some epistemological and methodological questions. The project presented in this paper adopted a qualitative approach compatible with it’s objectives of deepening the knowledge and understanding of the themes considered. We initiated the empirical work with some exploratory interviews in order to comprehend what kind of learning contexts and subjects the individuals could identify and relate (we’ve questioned fundamentally their opinion about the concept of Lifelong learning). We also interviewed the individuals about their perceptions and opinions about the importance of Scientific Literacy in their lives. In a second phase of the empirical work we used a technique developed by Galvani – The Blazon Technique – in order to obtain data about the representations of the individuals about science, science learning, scientific matters and competences related with the scientific attitude (critical thinking, creativity or problem solving). This technique provided us with very enriching narratives that were analysed following not only the orientations of Galvani’s work but also recurring to the content analysis orientations (Vala 2005, Bardin 1995, Ghiglione&Matalon 1993). Finally, in the third section, the empirical findings will be presented. We will focus on the results of the content analysis of the exploratory interviews and the results of the “Blazon Technique” concerning the representations about science, scientific literacy and the contexts identified for it’s development.

According to the objectives of the research project presented in this paper (deepening the knowledge and understanding the citizen’s perceptions of Scientific Literacy and apprehending in what environments Scientific Literacy is being developed) we adopted a qualitative approach so that we could obtain as deep and meaningful data as we could. Although we are aware that the generalization of the results obtained is not possible we considered that it’s deepness and largeness is very enriching for the state of the art in this research lines. We initiated the empirical work with some exploratory interviews in order to comprehend what kind of learning contexts and subjects the individuals could identify and relate (we’ve questioned fundamentally their opinion about the concept of Lifelong learning). We also interviewed the individuals about their perceptions and opinions about the importance of Scientific Literacy in their lives. The individuals chosen for the interviews are young (28-37 years old) and all have frequency of Higher Education courses but in different areas. We´ve opted for these individuals so that we could understand if the area of the diploma has an influence in their relations with scientific knowledge and science. In a second phase of the empirical work we used a technique developed by Galvani – The Blazon Technique – in order to obtain data about the representations of the individuals about science, science learning, scientific matters and competences related with the scientific attitude (critical thinking, creativity or problem solving). This technique provided us with very enriching narratives that were analysed following not only the orientations of Galvani’s work but also recurring to the content analysis orientations (Vala 2005, Bardin 1995, Ghiglione&Matalon 1993).

We expect to be able to provide some increased knowledge about the educational potentialities of our present day society concerning Scientific Literacy. Therefore, in this paper we’ll reveal the outcomes of the research project presented here. We trust that the discussion with the audience about these outcomes will raise new questions and new approaches to innovative our research projects in this field. The findings presented to discussion will include: - the main results of the exploratory interviews, concerning the individuals perceptions of “Lifelong Learning” in the contemporaneous society; - the results from the “Blazon Technique” regarding the individuals representations of Science and Scientific Literacy: it’s importance nowadays, applications in everyday life and the contexts that provide learning science; - the reliability of the empirical methods and techniques used and how could we improve the knowledge about these themes using other approaches.