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The quest

The quest. The ambition is to devise a science curriculum 5 to 16 that meets the needs of all young people. “For most young people, the 5 to 16 curriculum is an end in itself and must provide a basis for lifelong learning and a preparation for life in a modern democracy.”

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The quest

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  1. The quest • The ambition is to devise a science curriculum 5 to 16 that meets the needs of all young people. “For most young people, the 5 to 16 curriculum is an end in itself and must provide a basis for lifelong learning and a preparation for life in a modern democracy.” “The science curriculum from 5 to 16 should be seen primarily as a course to enhance general ‘scientific literacy’.” “To say this is not, however, to disregard the needs of those young people who choose to pursue the formal study of science beyond age 16. The curriculum needs to cater for this choice, as it does for other personal and socially valuable choices and interests.”

  2. Purposes of curriculum design in science • Redefining a subject and its place in the curriculum • Modernising content and linking theory with applications • Finding ways to teach about ‘how we know’ as well as ‘what we know’ • Devising a language and methods for teaching new science • Increasing the effectiveness of teaching and learning • Motivating learners to engage with the subject and later continue their studies in science • Exploring the effective use of new technologies • Developing models of assessment matched to curriculum aims • Disseminating the outcomes of educational scholarship and research • Capacity building and professional development See section 3 of Revitalising Physics Education at: http://stem.org.uk/rx42o

  3. Principles 1 Nuffield Advanced Physics - 1971 “The making of a curriculum begins and ends with judgements of value.” “We have done our best, guided by our particular vision of what physics is like, and what education is for.” “One of our basic decisions has been to sacrifice a wide acquaintance with many ideas for a deeper understanding of a few ideas.” “Understanding fundamental ideas and knowing how they fit together is not enough. … Some skill in learning and thinking is also needed.” “ It is the way the course is taught, and not what is taught, that will contribute most to the aim of teaching for understanding.” See Chapter 1 in Nuffield Advanced Physics Teachers’ Handbook at: http://stem.org.uk/rx4ze

  4. Principles 2 – Criteria for decency A decent science curriculum: • Is written by persons for persons. • Is courteous to teachers and students • Has a philosophy of the whole curriculum. • Suggests the processes and experiences of learning and not just the outcomes • Gives students access to the authentic voice of scientists – as persons • Gives a sense of what science adds to human life. • Does not attempt wide coverage at the expense of depth. Clive Sutton (University of Leicester)

  5. Nuffield Science Teaching Project • Developing models of assessment matched to curriculum aims • Building the capacity to create good assessments through professional development Aiming for a positive ‘backwash’ effect. Types of questions • Short answer • Essay (descriptive) • Multiple choice • Comprehension • Interpretation of data • Questions dealing specifically with apparatus and materials. 1966 See chapter 8 in the Introduction and Guide to Nuffield Chemistry (1966) at: http://stem.org.uk/cxf3. 1968

  6. Nuffield Advanced Science • Devising a language and methods for teaching new science Finding a language and symbolism to teach about thermodynamics in schools: ‘Change and Chance’ in the first edition of Nuffield Advanced Physics(1971)is translated into ‘Molecules don’t care’ in Revised Nuffield Advanced Chemistry (1984) Professor Jon Ogborn See Change and Chance in Unit 9 of Nuffield Advanced Physics: http://stem.org.uk/cxqb and the publications of Revised Nuffield Advanced Chemistry http://stem.org.uk/cxu4

  7. The SATIS project In the context of new criteria for GCSE Science (mid 1980s) the purposes were to: • Modernise content and link theory with applications • Increase the effectiveness of teaching and learning • Motivate learners to engage with the subject and later continue their studies in science • Increase design capacity and enhance professional development See the resources at: http://stem.org.uk/cx9n

  8. The SATIS approach to change Not as in later Salters Science courses:

  9. An early SATIS success

  10. The SATIS-unit design challenge Topic that is clearly syllabus related Learning activities that are engaging and authentic Based on up-to-date information and advice SuccessfulSATIS unit Has a clear end-point especially when the main activity is discussion Context described in accessible language

  11. Rethinking science education 1995-98 • The curriculum has to do two things: • develop the ‘scientific literacy’ of all students • provide the foundations for more advanced courses in science which some students need • Both are important but only the scientific literacy course should be compulsory • They are better done separately The Beyond 2000 Report can be downloaded here: http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/rationale

  12. Insights from research and scholarship (1996) • Three aspects of science necessary for scientific literacy: • Understanding aspects of science content • Understanding the scientific approach to enquiry • Understanding science as a social enterprise

  13. Our first attempt at a scientific literacy course (1998-2008) • A course for 16-19 year-olds which: • broadens the curriculum for those who interests lie mainly in the arts and humanities, or • gives those who study science an opportunity to reflect on their specialist interests

  14. Revised but the AS the same in principle (2008 - present) • A course for 16-19 year-olds which: • broadens the curriculum for those who interests lie mainly in the arts and humanities, or • gives those who study science an opportunity to reflect on their specialist interests For more information and all the available lesson activities see: http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/science-society

  15. Scientific literacy A person who is scientifically literate can: • read with understanding articles about science in the popular press • engage in discussion about the validity of the conclusions in such articles • identify scientific issues underlying national and local decisions and express opinions that are scientifically informed • evaluate the quality of scientific information on the basis of its source and the methods used to generate it • pose and evaluate arguments based on evidence and to apply conclusions from such arguments appropriately

  16. Two strands of scientific literacy • Some understanding of major scientific ideas and explanations • Some understanding ofscience itself and how it works • the methods and processes of scientific enquiry • the nature of scientific knowledge • The way the scientific community works • the interface between science and society

  17. Major scientific ideas and explanations • Focus on the ‘big ideas’ of science • The idea of a ‘chemical reaction’ as a rearrangement of atoms; nothing created or destroyed • The gene theory of inheritance • The theory of evolution by natural selection • and so on … • Aim for a broad, qualitative understanding • Depth of treatment: only as much as a citizen requires

  18. Ideas about science • Assess the quality of data (know that all data are uncertain, how to assess and deal with this) • Evaluate claims about correlations and causes (controlling variables, comparing groups, matching samples, etc.) • Distinguish data (evidence) from explanations, and recognise that all explanations are to some extent tentative • Appreciate the important role of the scientific community (critical scrutiny of claims, peer review) • Interpret data on risk, and evaluate specific actions in terms of risks and benefits • Recognise the issues raised by specific applications of science (technical, economic, social, ethical), evaluate views expressed by others, and express your own views rationally

  19. Modules Science Explanations Ideas about Science etc. Course structure Teaching topics in interesting contexts Ideas about how science works

  20. Early studies of infectious diseases • Early development of epidemiology by Snow • Jenner, Pasteur and vaccination • Key features of living cells • Microbes and disease • The immune system. • Correlation and cause • Testing explanations • Competing explanations for the same data

  21. Q Identify two ways that Snow demonstrated a correlation, between the type of water supply and the incidence of cholera Q Why was the removal of the handle of the Broad Street pump in 1854 so effective in persuading people that Snow’s theory might be correct? See teaching and learning resources at: http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/activities-germ-theory-disease

  22. Approaches to teaching and learning • Class discussion • Small-group discussion • Evaluating media stories about scientific research • Developing arguments • Evaluating research evidence • Role play • Simulations and games • Critical reading For details see: http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/teaching-and-learning#AS teaching and learning

  23. How science works Exploring correlations between factors and outcomes. Using scattergraphs to examine the strength of correlations. Showing that the existence of a correlation between a factor and an outcome may suggest but does not prove a causal link. Data analysis activity from the web site at: http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/activities-infectious-diseases-now Aiming to help students how to think about authentic data. (See handout)

  24. Yes A course that is significantly different A course that students enjoy and value No Teachers slow to change pedagogy Ideas about science underemphasised Breaking the mould? By 2002: See the Breaking the Mould? report at: http://stem.org.uk/rx38b

  25. Timescale for Twenty First Century Science • 1998 Beyond 2000 suggests approach for KS4 • Oct 2000 QCA ask UYSEG to develop models for KS4 • Apr 2002 OCR appointed as awarding body • Sep 2003 Pilot began in 70+ schools • Independent evaluators appointed • June 2004 First Y10 examinations • June 2005 First awards made • Evaluation report • Sept 2005 New specifications available to schools • Sept 2006 National availability • Sept 2011 First teaching of the second edition

  26. Research informing practice (The EPSE projects)

  27. Findings of a seminar on vaccination • The people • Researchers in medicine and health care • Public health lab staff • GP and nurse • Health visitor • MRC customer liaison officer • Broadcaster The question What do people need from their education to make an informed decision about whether or not to accept MMR vaccination for their children? • Conclusions • People need to understand: • The limitations of science – it can offer probabilities not certainties • That raw data does not settle debate because data are always open to interpretation • That science cannot remove the responsibility for the decision. • That, in reality, decisions are not made on purely rational grounds but also have emotional, moral and ethical elements.

  28. The curriculum model GCSE Additional Science GCSE Biology GCSE Chemistry GCSE Physics Entry level GCSE Science or GCSE Additional Applied Science For some students For all students For most students For some students

  29. GCSE Science for scientific literacy • Topics for 2011 • You and your genes - B • Air quality - C • The Earth in the Universe - P • Keeping healthy - B • Material choices - C • Radiation and life - P • Life on Earth - B • Chemicals in our lives - C • Sustainable energy - P For more details see the project web site: http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/twenty-first-century-science

  30. Twenty First Century Science • Redefining a subject and its place in the curriculum • Modernising content and linking theory with applications • Finding ways to teach about ‘how we know’ as well as ‘what we know’ • Increasing the effectiveness of teaching and learning • Motivating learners to engage with the subject and later continue their studies in science • Exploring the effective use of new technologies • Disseminating the outcomes of educational scholarship and research • Capacity building and professional development

  31. Politics

  32. Profound conservatism The persistence of the error identified in the 1988 report by Gordon Higginson: • “The most fundamental error in the traditional system was that each stage was designed to be suited to those who were going on to the next. School children who were not good enough to go on were regarded as expendable.” • “The other view …is that each stage of education should be designed for the main body of those who take it and the following stage has to start from where the previous stage ended.”

  33. Department for Education, 2011 Nick Gibb press release in January 2011. “We will also review the National Curriculum to make sure pupils are properly equipped for further study. The introduction of the new English Baccalaureate, which will include science GCSEs, will also provide a powerful incentive for schools to drive participation in science at GCSE and beyond.” “Our review will examine the best school systems in the world and give us a world-class curriculum that will help teachers, parents and children know what children should learn at what age.”Michael Gove, January 2011

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