Changes in Science education: Difference between revisions

|resourcenumber=TE0013

|age=NA

|content=1 Unit overview<br />2 What is science?<br />3 Problems of teaching the Nature of Science<br />3.1 Introduction<br />3.1.1 (A) Science and certainty<br />3.1.2 (B) Observation and measurement<br />3.1.3 (C) Scientific methods and critical testing<br />3.1.4 (D) Cause and correlation<br />3.1.5 (E) Historical development of scientific knowledge<br />3.1.6 (F) Creativity<br />4 Who is science education for?<br />5 Education for democracy?<br />6 The public understanding of science<br />7 A way ahead? – Beyond 2000<br />7.1 Introduction<br />7.2 Assessing the quality of data<br />7.3 Multiple interpretations in science<br />7.4 Modelling in science<br />7.4.1 Uses of models not made explicit<br />7.4.2 Assumptions within models<br />7.4.3 Modelling errors<br />8 What are the chances that scientific literacy will prevail? 9 Evidence of progress?<br />10 ‘Science for all?’ A look at some contexts<br />11 Primary science<br />12 Science in secondary schools<br />13 Post-compulsory science education<br />14 Final thoughts<br />Next steps<br />Glossary<br />References<br />Acknowledgements

|strategy=Providing an overview of current issues in UK science education, this unit examines what type of science the curriculum should cover and for what purpose. The unit will introduce students to practical problems in the delivery of an effective science curriculum, and particular questions at all three educational tiers - primary, secondary and tertiary - will be touched on.

|Learning Objectives=After studying this unit, you should be able to:<br>*demonstrate an understanding of problems associated with defining the Nature of Science;<br>*write in an informed way about the purposes of compulsory science education;<br>*be aware of the educational complications and implications associated with the phrase ‘the public understanding of science’;<br>*show an ability to comment critically on curriculum proposals that aim to promote science citizenship/scientific literacy;<br>*provide examples of how specific scientific understanding might be used by lay individuals in a practical context;<br>*explain how the uses of the term ‘scientific models’ are variable and complex and the pedagogic implications of this;<br>*identify factors that have to date inhibited the wide-scale adoption of curricula geared to the needs of science citizenship;<br>*describe some of the practical problems associated with the introduction of science into the (England & Wales) primary National Curriculum;<br>*have a preliminary understanding of issues associated with the teaching of science at secondary level, especially practical work and problems of teacher support;<br>*distinguish (as far as is possible) between vocational and ‘academic’ approaches to science teaching and differences in outcomes.

|useful information=Part of the Teach and Learn series from the Open University, this unit is an adapted extract from the Open University course [http://www3.open.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/course/seh806.htm Contemporary issues in science learning (SEH806)]

|format=6 PDF, 2 JPEG and 2 MPEG Layer 3 audio files.

|resources=http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=3253