Science education gets a makeover
The 'Science education for diversity' project (SED) has sought to improve science education by researching and incorporating its connection to culture, gender, religion and various teaching techniques. The project was able to do this through the participation of six culturally diverse countries (United Kingdom, Netherlands, Turkey, Lebanon, India and Malaysia). The first part of the project dealt with researching the factors involved in declining interest and also the current teaching strategies. Surprisingly, the findings didn’t support the folk-hypothesis, which links increased science popularity in developing countries to economics and the possibility it provides to move abroad. Instead, in these countries, increased popularity of scientific study seemed related to students’ perception of the nature of science and its practical applicability. However, the teachers and students in such non-European countries also seemed to have a more deterministic view of science. Thus, it became an important part of the project to work towards a curriculum that could peak scientific interest through practical applicability. But it also shows the importance of continually testing its principles and controversial issues. The most influential aspect of the project was the curriculum framework that was developed and utilised by the partners in their school-based interventions. Of particular importance was the inclusion of inquiry- and context-based science education, and dialogic teaching. These methods help encourage the student voice and raise gender issues, and were reported as successful in switching teaching styles from factual to conceptual. In response to this, partners reported an increase in student participation and a higher cognitive level of questions. At the end of the interventions, students’ reported liking science for more varied reasons and also increasingly related what they learned to their everyday activities. Improving science education will help appease the rising need for scientific skills and increase international competitiveness. Hopefully, these findings will continue to be implemented in curricula and eventually policy in Europe and around the world.
Keywords
Science-driven fields, education, curriculum, intervention
