The development of scientific literacy has become a central objective of contemporary science education because students are increasingly expected to interpret evidence, evaluate scientific claims, and make responsible decisions in situations that connect science with everyday life. Environmental problems provide a particularly productive context for this purpose because they combine scientific knowledge with social relevance, uncertainty, data interpretation, and the need for evidence-based action. This study examines how PISA-type tasks situated in environmental contexts can be used systematically to develop students’ scientific literacy. The research employed a qualitative methodological design based on document analysis, comparative framework analysis, and pedagogical task modelling. OECD PISA science frameworks, including the 2018, 2022, and 2025 assessment frameworks, were examined together with peer-reviewed studies on context-based science education, socio-scientific reasoning, argumentation, environmental literacy, and evidence evaluation. The analysis showed that effective environmental PISA tasks should not function merely as assessment questions; they can be transformed into instructional sequences that connect a real-world stimulus, a scientifically meaningful problem, multiple forms of evidence, inquiry-oriented questioning, and a reasoned decision. The findings indicate that such tasks can integrate content, procedural, and epistemic knowledge while developing the abilities to explain phenomena scientifically, evaluate investigations, interpret data critically, assess the reliability of information, and justify environmentally responsible decisions. The study concludes that regular classroom use of environmentally contextualized PISA tasks can provide a practical bridge between curriculum content, scientific reasoning, and education for sustainability.
Developing Students’ Scientific Literacy Based on Pisa Tasks in An Environmental Context
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