NEWS OF THE WEEK

SCIENTIFIC LITERACY: Sweeping changes in teaching urged

Teach less science but teach it bet­ter. That's one of the fundamental, and somewhat surprising, premises of a new study, Science for All Americans, released last week by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The study is the first phase of Pro­ject 2061, AAAS's long-term effort to improve scientific literacy in fu­ture U.S. generations. The second and third phases will deal with im­plementing the recommendations.

Two sharp departures from tradi­tion are recommended. First, sci­ence teaching should focus on con­nections rather than boundaries between traditional academic disci­plines. For example, energy trans­formations take place in physical, biological, and technological sys­tems. Similarly, evolutionary change manifests itself in stars and socie­ties as well as in organisms.

Second, science teaching should emphasize ideas and thinking rath­er than specialized vocabularies and memorized procedures. "Schools do not need to be asked to teach more and more," the report says, "but to teach less so that it can be taught better." Subject matter and tech­niques change with time, it adds, but "the general attributes of scien­tific inquiry persist."

The Science for All Americans ef­fort is headed by F. James Ruther­ford, chief education officer of AAAS. The report incorporates the advice of the National Council on Science & Technology Education, a body of 26 distinguished scientists and educators appointed by AAAS. The council is cochaired by chemist William O. Baker, retired chairman of AT&T Bell Laboratories, and Mar­garet L. A. MacVicar, professor of physical science and dean for un­dergraduate education at Massachu­setts Institute of Technology.

Rutherford: heads up AAAS project

Project 2061 got under way in 1985, the year that Comet Halley last appeared in the skies. The com­et is scheduled to return in 2061, "a human lifetime from now," Ruther­ford observes. Most of the children who are now starting school will live to see the event. Thus the title.

Scientific literacy—embracing sci­ence, mathematics, and technol­ogy—is a central goal of education, the report says. "Yet," it points out, "general scientific literacy eludes us in the U.S." As evidence, AAAS cites "the dozens of studies" showing the poor performance of U.S. students in science and mathematics com­pared with students in other coun­tries, student avoidance of those sub­jects, and "demoralized and weaken­ing teaching staffs in many schools."

According to the report , U.S. teachers must cope with "over­whelming" instructional loads. To make things even worse, few ele­mentary teachers have even a basic education in science and math. Text­

books and teaching methods often actually hinder progress.

Despite those criticisms, the re­port's purpose is not to "point the finger of blame" nor to prescribe specific remedies. Instead, its basic purpose is to characterize scientific literacy and to define "the common core of learning that all students should acquire as they proceed from kindergarten through high school."

Specifically, Rutherford notes, the report calls for all h igh school graduates:

• To understand how the scien­tific endeavor works—what science, math, and technology are like and how they are related to one another.

• To be able to view the world of nature and the role of humans in it.

• To grasp a limited but power­ful amount of knowledge about sci­ence, math, and technology in the context of history and of the cogent themes that cut across all such knowledge.

• To acquire habits of mind that prepare them to be inquisitive, crit­ical participants in world affairs.

The second phase of Project 2061, already under way, is expected to last three or four years. Teams of scientists and educators will design new curriculum models reflecting the philosophy set forth in the re­port. Other project participants will "draw up blueprints for reform" in teacher education, materials, testing, educational policies, and other areas. School systems in Texas, California, Georgia, and Wisconsin have already signed up to participate.

The final phase, expected to last a decade or more, will be a "wide­spread national effort" by educa­tional reform groups to put into practice strategies—drawn from the first two phases—that will propel the U.S. toward scientific literacy.

Ward Worthy

4 February 27, 1989 C&EN