Science literacy in controversial contexts: An epistemic balancing act

"Science literacy" is considered important for thinking and deciding about everyday personal and social issues relating to science, including controversial topics, such as anthropogenic climate change. In recent years, science literacy has been conceptualized as the ability to access and make sense of scientific expertise in the time and in the context of need. Recently, evidence has shown that when people attempt to make sense of controversial issues, their processing of scientific information is biased by their existing ideologies and worldviews. This is considered the culprit of persistent controversy about scientific findings, such as the findings that indicate anthropogenic climate change. Here, we propose an implication to this evidence: To promote science literacy, educators should promote an "epistemic balancing act" in the science classroom, avoiding both credulity and hyper-skepticism. Implications for educational policy are discussed.