Science education and the National Science Education Standards: the challenges ahead

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Science education and the National Science
Education Standards the challenges ahead

• UC Santa Cruz
• August 17, 2003
• Bruce Alberts
• President, National Academy of Sciences

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The pipeline that is needed fromcollege and
university science departments
Research in Universitiesand Industry
Other professions
Many professions using science expertise l Preco
llege Teaching l Curriculum Development l Science
Journalism l Science Policy l Government
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Talk outline

• A brief introduction to the National Academies
• The National Science Education Standards
• The critical role of science departments in our
  universities
• What the Academies are doing to help
• Energizing education research
• Giving a major voice to our best teachers

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U.S. National Academy of Sciences Charter
(1863)
The academy shall, whenever called uponby any
department of the government,investigate,
examine and report upon anysubject of science
or art , but the Academyshall receive no
compensation whatsoeverfor any services to the
government of the United States.
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Independent policy advice from the National
Academies

• More than 200 reports a year, 85 percent
  requested by the US government
• Full text released to the press, and to the
  public on our Website, when report is delivered
  to government
• Two types of reports most science for policy,
  but many are policy for science

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Published 1996 18,000 reviewers 250 pages
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National Science Education Standards

• Guiding Principles
• Science is for all students
• Learning science requires active engagement
• School science should reflect professional
  science
• Improving science requires system-wide reform
• The Standards
• Content
• Teaching (MUST READ THESE 25 PAGES!)
• Professional Development
• Assessment
• Program and System

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Supplement for teachers
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Booklet for parents
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The good news

• Inquiry based science education precisely fits
  the needs for workforce skills that have been
  widely expressed by US business and industry

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• The skills needed to be successful competitors in
  the modern world economy 
•  A high capacity for abstract, conceptual
  thinking.
•   The ability to apply that capacity for abstract
  thought to complex real-world problemsincluding
  problems that involve the use of scientific and
  technical knowledgethat are nonstandard, full of
  ambiguities, and have more than one right answer.
• The capacity to function effectively in an
  environment in which communication skills are
  vital in work groups.
• Ray Marshall and Marc Tucker,
  Thinking for a Living
•  

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While most descriptions of necessary skills for
children do not list learning to learn, this
should be the capstone skill upon which all
others depend. Memorized facts, which are the
basis for most testing done in schools today, are
of little use in the age in which information is
doubling every two or three years. We have
expert systems in computers and the Internet that
can provide the facts we need when we need them.
Our workforce needs to utilize facts to assist in
developing solutions to problems.
Robert Galvin and Edward Bales, Motorola,
1996
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The bad news
Inertia
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The tyranny of tests

• Most of fail to appreciate the extent to which a
  high-stakes examination can determine the nature
  and effectiveness of what is taught, how students
  learn, and their entire view of education.

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How we adults have defined education for the next
generation
We'll show you that you don't really have to
understand anything. You just have to make a
couple of simple associations, like these.
Aerobic respiration with presence of oxygen more
ATP produced... Anaerobic respiration with
absence of oxygen, less ATP produced... When we
get through, you may not really understand much
about the difference between aerobic and
anaerobic respiration. But you don't have to,
and we'll prove it... Whether or not you
understand your answers, the scoring machines at
the Educational Testing Service will think you
did. Their scoring machines don't look for
brilliant scientists and they don't look for
understanding... Stick with us, and you'll make
the scoring machines very happy.
Cracking the SAT II BIOLOGY
Subject Test
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An urgent challenge of the No Child Left
Behind Act

• High stakes science assessments are required in
  every State by the 2007-2008 school year
• Every child must be tested at least once in the
  grade bands 3-5, 6-9, and 10-12
• It is much easier to test for science words than
  for science understanding and abilities
• Bad tests will force a trivialization of science
  education and drive most students, including many
  potential scientists, away from science

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Describes the opportunity for new types of
computer-aided assessments New fast-track study
will advise states on No Child Left Behind
testing in science
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Textbook Publishers
State and National Exams
Colleges of Education
Teachers
Students
State Boards, School Districts
Parents
SchoolAdministrators
Unions
Politicians
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Any large-scale change at lower levels will
require major changes in the introductory science
courses at colleges and universities
In particular, we need 1). Inquiry-based
teaching of science and its relation to society,
for all students 2). Inquiry-based,
non-cookbook laboratory experiences associated
with introductory science courses.
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A new vision for introductory college science
courses
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biology chemistry physics calculus
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A major mission for the Academies Making a
science out of education

• This means creating a much more effective
  education research enterprise, focusing on real
  classroom settings
• The goal is to use knowledge of what does and
  does not improve student learning, based on
  scientifically obtained evidence, to create a
  continuously improving education system at all
  levels

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Increasingly used as a text for teacher
preparation courses
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How People Learn some key points

• Conceptual understanding is facilitated when new
  knowledge is structured around major concepts and
  principles
• Students preconceptions must be engaged in order
  to construct new understandings
• Learners have different strategies, ability sets,
  and learning styles for gaining comprehension
• Learners motivation affects what is learned

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There are big gaps in our knowledge
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To create a continuously improving education
system, we badly need a more focused and
effective system of education research

• Otherwise our nations schools will continue to
  be driven by one simple magic bullet solution
  after another, as new leaders seek a quick fix.
• It is critical that, as in science, we accumulate
  a commonly accepted body of knowledge based on
  confirmable evidence.

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What is good research in education? Published
2002
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Scientific Research in Education (2002)

• Designs for the Conduct of Scientific Research in
  Education
• What Is Happening?
• Estimates of population characteristics
• Descriptions of localized educational settings
• Is There a Systematic Effect?
• Causal relationships determined through
  randomized field trials when feasible
• How or Why Is It Happening?
• Mechanisms and development of theories to drive
  further research

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Published 2003 Recommends establishing a set of
research field sites, in which many teachers and
school system leaders interact closely with
researchers.
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• Urgently needed more research on teaching
  science as inquiry

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• Inquiry in school science
• Learners engage in question provided by teacher,
  materials, or other source.
• Learners directed to collect certain data.
• Learners guided in process of formulating
  evidence.
• Learners coached in communicating their answers
  to the question in form of explanations.
• Teacher guides class toward correct explanations.

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• An effective investigation of inquiry based
  science education will require
• An extensive program of on-going teacher
  professional development.
• Monitoring of the actual classroom teaching by
  skilled investigators to assess delivery.
• A long term longitudinal study designed to
  determine the effect of the delivered curriculum
  on the students -- for example, on their career
  and educational outcomes.

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• But who will do this research?

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Postdoctoral students in US university
departments of science engineering

• There are approximately 40,000 of these postdocs
  in a holding pattern looking for more permanent
  positions today.
• Our survey of a sample suggests that about a
  third of these talented individuals would be
  willing to consider a career in secondary
  education under the right conditions.
• BUT there is presently no obvious place for
  these talented individuals to go to be trained
  effectively for a productive career in either
  education or education research.

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Proposes special programs to move selected PhDs
into careers in K-12 education
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A unique role for PhDs who can link two different
cultures
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What keeps me up at night

• There is a vigorous back to basics movement
  that has already moved science education backward
  in California the progress made since 1996 is
  fragile.
• The US business community remains largely
  ignorant of their own vital interests, leaving
  science education vulnerable to political and
  economic forces that threaten our long-term
  national security.
• Our best science teachers need to have much more
  influence on the education system current trends
  will drive these talented people to more
  lucrative and respected careers.

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• new Teacher Advisory Council at the National
  Academies
• Designed to give a major voice for teachers in
  the work of the National Academies.
• Each member must be spending at least 50 percent
  time as a K-12 classroom teacher of math,
  science, or technology.
• First meetings held in 2002.
• Can we also use this group to create an effective
  national voice for teachers?

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Some modern-day heroes
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In conclusion

• We have both a great opportunity, and a great
  need, to increase the effectiveness of our
  education system by moving inquiry based science
  education to the center of the curriculum at all
  levels ages 5 to 20.
• Success in this grand endeavor will require a new
  type of partnership between scientists and
  science teachers, based on a new respect for the
  special expertise and talents of each group.
• Be ambitious, we need major institutional changes
  at both the college and school system levels.
• The National Academies exist to help you with
  your mission, please keep in touch.

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www.national-academies.org
Full text of more than 2800 books available
on-line, accessible through a powerful search
engine
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http//www.si.edu/nsrc/
Sally Shuler, Director
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We are part of an international movement of
science academies

• A focus on recruiting the best scientists in each
  nation to support science education for young
  people.
• A focus on teaching science as inquiry, rather
  than as fact memorization.
• A focus on using scientifically based research to
  create a continuously improving education system.

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Just released report prepared at the request of
Congress