Science education: critical for Europe’s future

John HolmanUniversity of York, UK

Science and art belong to the whole world, and before them vanish the barriers of nationality.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

International seminar on teaching evolution, National Science Learning Centre, 2009

The National Science Learning Centre, York

Mission for the Science Learning Centres

To inspire a new generation of scientists by inspiring their teachers

by securing and updating subject knowledge and extending teaching skills

Outline of my talk

1. Why is science education so important?

2. The critical factors in science education

3. The right curriculum

4. The right pedagogy

5. The right assessment

6. The most important thing of all

Outline of my talk

1. Why is science education so important?

2. The critical factors in science education

3. The right curriculum

4. The right pedagogy

5. The right assessment

6. The most important thing of all

Ferranti Mercury computer (1960s)

Moore’s Law

Computing power doubles every 18 months

Sickle Cell Disease

A single error in the DNA molecule causes a single error in the haemoglobin protein chain, which results in a very serious blood disease.

ScienceTechnologyEngineeringMathematics

TechnologyEngineeringMathematics

EngineeringMathematics

Mathematics

S T E M inside the classroom

STEM outside the classroom

Europe needs scientists (1)

By 2020 there will be 20 million high-skilled and 30 million medium-skilled jobs using STEM in Europe.

EUN

Europe needs scientists (2)

The key point is equipping every citizen with the skills needed to live and work in the knowledge society by giving the opportunity to develop critical thinking and scientific reasoning that will enable them to make informed choices.

Science Education Now! The Rocard report for the European

Commission, 2007

Confederation of British Industry Education and Skills Survey, 2010Responses from 694 employers

CBI Education & Skills Survey 2010

Gross additional lifetime earnings (wage premiums) by degree subject compared to two or more GCE A-levels

Skills supply and demand in Europe to 2020

... a considerable shift in labour demand towards skilled workers, implying that future jobs will become moreknowledge and skills intensive .

Technicians and associate professionals ….. have the highest potential for job creation in the next decade (around 4.5 million)

European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, 2010

Educate to Innovate

• That gives you a sense of what’s

happening around the world.

There is a hunger for knowledge,

an insistence on excellence, a

reverence for science and math

and technology and learning.

That used to be what we were

about. That’s what we’re going

to be about again.

• Barack Obama 23 November 2009

•

Horizontal axis: Human Development IndexVertical axis: Score on positive attitudes towards science

Svein Sjoberg, University of Oslo: Project ROSE

Science teaching has many supporters

Science teaching in schools and colleges

Governments Foundations Academia Industry Informal sector

What do we agree on?

• We need good achievement and good participation in science

• - more young people doing well in science subjects and more wanting to continue studying them.

Outline of my talk

1. Why is science education so important?

2. The critical factors in science education

3. The right curriculum

4. The right pedagogy

5. The right assessment

6. The most important thing of all

Young people make early decisions about their future career

A survey of 1141 scientists and engineers found that 63% of them first began thinking about working in STEM by the age of 14.

Taking a Leading Role, Royal Society, 2004

Attitudes to science are formed in primary schools • Children’s early

experiences are critical to shaping future attitudes to science careers

High quality careers guidance needs to

• Start when pupils are young • Be based on rich data about the labour market

curriculum

assessmentpedagogy

The basic elements of science education

Inquiry-based science education: what does it mean?

1. A curriculum that includes scientific processes as well as content.

2. Pedagogy that takes a practical, hands-on approach

3. Assessment that encourages 1 and 2.

Outline of my talk

1. Why is science education so important?

2. The critical factors in science education

3. The right curriculum

4. The right pedagogy

5. The right assessment

6. The most important thing of all

Inquiry-based science education: what does it mean?

1. A curriculum that includes scientific processes (the methods of science) as well as content.

2. Pedagogy that takes a practical, hands-on approach

3. Assessment that encourages 1 and 2.

We are all scientists now

For developed countries, it is essential to have young people prepared to become the expert doctors, engineers and research scientists of the future.

It is essential, but not enough. Developed countries also need a population who understand science, and critically aware of its implications.

Public confidence in science is easily shaken

The alleged link between the mumps-measles-rubella vaccine and autism led to

• a drop in the vaccination rate from 91% to 80% in the UK

• a rise in mumps cases from 119 in 1998 to 43,000 in 2005

Sir David King, Government Chief Scientist

A scientifically literate person

….. Understands the processes (methods) of science as well as its essential content (facts and principles)

….. Examples of scientific processes: designing controlled experiments, testing hypotheses, using peer review ……

The challenge is to get the right balance between the two.

The dual role of science education

The first stages of a

training in scientific

expertise

Access to basic

scientific literacy

for a minorityfor all

The science curriculum has to provide:

Specialists and generalists

• Less than 10% of school pupils will go on to become professional scientists and engineers

• Over 90% will not study specialist science• School curricula are usually designed to meet the

needs of the future specialists, even though they are in the minority.

Inquiry-based science education: for high-flyers too

Science teaching based on inquiry-based methods does not mean giving up the ambition of excellence.

Science Education Now! The Rocard report for the European

Commission, 2007

Outline of my talk

1. Why is science education so important?

2. The critical factors in science education

3. The right curriculum

4. The right pedagogy

5. The right assessment

6. The most important thing of all

curriculum

assessmentpedagogy

The basic elements of science education

Inquiry-based science education: what does it mean?

1. A curriculum that includes scientific processes as well as content.

2. Pedagogy that takes a practical, hands-on approach, developing concepts from practical experience

3. Assessment that encourages 1 and 2.

Pedagogy that takes a practical, hands-on approach, developing concepts from practical experience

– Especially important for younger pupils.

Is Europe using all its talent ……?

• In the EU 27, about 70% of graduates in science, mathematics, engineering and computing are male.

Eurostat

UK students’ experiences and perceptions of Science Education (374 14-18 year olds)

• 81% find science lessons interesting or very interesting

• 55% find them more interesting than English• 51% agree science is a popular subject among

young people in general • Young women are less positive about science than

young men.

Wellcome Trust Monitor 2009

UK students’ experiences and perceptions of Science Education (374 14-18 year olds)

• 52% say having a good teacher encouraged them to study science

• 47% said a bad teacher put them off • 41% were put off learning science because they

found the subject too difficult; 40% because it was too boring

• Young women were especially likely to be put off because they found the subject difficult.

Wellcome Trust Monitor 2009

Inquiry-based science education: dream or reality?

While most of the science education community agrees on the fact that pedagogical practices based on inquiry-based methods are more effective, the reality oif classroom practice is that in most European countries, actual science teaching does not follow this approach.

Science Education Now! The Rocard report for the European

Commission, 2007

Outline of my talk

1. Why is science education so important?

2. The critical factors in science education

3. The right curriculum

4. The right pedagogy

5. The right assessment

6. The most important thing of all

curriculum

assessmentpedagogy

The basic elements of science education

Inquiry-based science education: what does it mean?

1. A curriculum that includes scientific processes as well as content.

2. Pedagogy that takes a practical, hands-on approach

3. Assessment that encourages 1 and 2.

The Washington Post

How Shanghai topped PISA rankings -- and why it's not

big news in ChinaBy Valerie Strauss

Q. How did Shanghai students, participating in a high-profile international exam for the first time, land at the top of the math, reading and science

rankings? A. An obsession with test-taking, to the exclusion

of a lot of other things

Outline of my talk

1. Why is science education so important?

2. The critical factors in science education

3. The right curriculum

4. The right pedagogy

5. The right assessment

6. The most important thing of all

What made you study Chemistry?

• Survey of 160 first year Chemistry and Biochemistry undergraduates at the University of York, UK, November 2010

How important was each of these in influencing you?

(1 = not important; 5 = very important)

Course and textbooks

Quality of school labs

Your chemistry teacher

Your parents

The job prospects

What your friends were choosing

Your exam grades at age 16

Your exam grades at age 17

Average, 2010

How important was each of these in influencing you?

(1 = not important; 5 = very important)

Course and textbooks

Quality of school labs

Your chemistry teacher

Your parents

The job prospects

What your friends were choosing

Your exam grades at age 16

Your exam grades at age 17

Average, 2010

3.22

2.53

4.01

2.46

3.86

1.62

3.01

3.64

How the world’s best-performing school systems come out on top McKinsey, September 2007

Three things matter mosto Getting the right people to become teacherso Developing them into effective instructorso Ensuring the system is able to deliver the best

possible instruction for every child

Excellent teachers have

• Excellent subject knowledge

• Excellent pedagogical skills

• Excellent assessment skills

How the world’s best-performing school systems come out on top McKinsey, September 2007

‘Above all, the top performing systems demonstrate that the quality of an education system depends ultimately on the quality of its teachers’

john.holman@york.ac.uk