Perspectives on K-12 Science Education

1. Perspectives on K-12 Science Education Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program Conference Washington, DC July 9, 2010 Bruce Alberts, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Editor-in-Chief, Science magazine US Science Envoy (Indonesia & Pakistan)

2. My life from 1993-2005 A 12-year education in Washington

3. My most important take-home lesson from 12 years in Washington Science is much more important than most scientists think!

4. More specifically: It is critically important that science, and scientists, achieve a much higher degree of influence throughout both their nations and the world. • This is important for the success of each nation. • It is also important for building a better world.

5. In particular, we need much more of the creativity, rationality, openness, and tolerance that are inherent to science --- what Indian Prime Minister Nehru called a “scientific temper” -- for both the US and all other nations

6. Three ambitious goals • Through science education for all Americans: • Enable all children to acquire the problem-solving, thinking, and communication skills of scientists – so that they can be productive and competitive in the new world economy. • Generate a “scientific temper” for our nation, with scientifically trained people in many professions, ensuring the rationality and the tolerance essential for a democratic society. • Help the US generate new scientific knowledge and technology by casting the widest possible net for talent.

7. To accomplish these goals, we must redefine what we mean by the term “science education”

8. My History Requested by the 50 state governors, this is what I spent half my time on at the US National Academies, from 1993-1995 18,000 reviewers 250 pages

9. An emphasis on active inquiry

10. What science should look like in school

11. What 5 year olds can do • Put on clean white socks and walk around school yard. • In class, collect all black specks stuck to socks and try to classify them: which are seeds and which are dirt? • Start by examining each speck with a 3 dollar, plastic “microscope”. • End by planting both those specks believed to be dirt and those believed to be seeds, thereby testing their own idea that the regularly shaped ones are seeds.

12. The VisionImagine an education that includes solving hundreds of such challenges over the course of the 13 years of schooling that lead to high school graduation – challenges that increase in difficulty as the children age. Outstanding curricula of this type already exist, having been developed and refined in the United States for 50 years.I believe that children who are prepared for life in this way would be great problem solvers in the workplace, with the abilities and the can-do attitude that are needed to be competitive in the global economy.Even more important, they will also be more rational human beings – people who are able to make wise judgments for their family, their community, and their nation.

13. The disaster that followed the 1996 Standards • With little expertise and much politics, the states went on to produce their own standards for science education, often paying little attention to the National Science Education Standards • Tremendous time is now wasted by curriculum developers attempting to make their textbooks and other materials match the needs of multiple states. • The diversity of standards prevents any national effort to make high quality assessments. • The nail in the coffin has been No Child Left Behind rules and high stakes testing.

14. How can the US recover? A scholarly 2007 update of the National Science Education Standards, emphasizing what has been learned from research in the subsequent decade

15. Popular version, interpreting Taking Science to School for States, School Districts and Teachers

16. These important reports claim that students who are proficient in science should be expected to: 1. Know, use, and interpret scientific explanations of the natural world. 2. Generate and evaluate scientific evidence and explanations. 3. Understand the nature and development of scientific knowledge. 4. Participate productively in scientific practices and discourse. Each of the above four strands of science education are judged to be of equal importance!

17. Note that strands 2 and 4 can ONLY be taught through active inquiry 1. Know, use, and interpret scientific explanations of the natural world. 2. Generate and evaluate scientific evidence and explanations. 3. Understand the nature and development of scientific knowledge. 4. Participate productively in scientific practices and discourse.

18. Some advantages of meeting this challenge 1. Retaining the curiosity and energy for learning that young children bring to kindergarten, throughout all their years of schooling. 2. Giving many more children a chance to excel at something in the classroom (critical for their motivation). 3. Creating a nation of “can-do” problem solvers. 4. Insulating the next generation from scams, TV rant, and talk radio!

19. Some good news • This definition of science education precisely fits the needs for workforce skills that have been widely expressed by US business and industry

20. 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 problems—including problems that involve the use of scientific and technical knowledge—that 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, 2002

21. The bad news • Most science education is not like the science education that we have been talking about!

22. What do we usually do in science class? 1. Know use, and interpret scientific explanations of the natural world. 2. Generate and evaluate scientific evidence and explanations. 3. Understand the nature and development of scientific knowledge. 4. Participate productively in scientific practices and discourse.

23. Science education as “mentioning” From a 7th grade life sciences textbook: “Running through the cell is a network of flat channels called the endoplasmic reticulum. This organelle manufacturers, stores and transports materials.”

24. Supported by trivial tests From the Chapter Self-Test: “Write a sentence that uses the term endoplasmic reticulum correctly”.

25. We are losing many potential scientists because: Real science is exciting, and completely different from the tests and textbooks!

26. An important challenge of the “No Child Left Behind” Act • It is much easier to test for science words than for science understanding and abilities • Bad tests are forcing a trivialization of science education and drive most students, including many potential scientists, away from science • The critical criterion for a good test: One that motivates good teaching and learning!

27. The forward-looking framework for the PISA science exam (OECD) PISA’s assessment of students’ scientific knowledge and skills is rooted in the concept of scientific literacy, defined as the extent to which an individual: Possesses scientific knowledge and uses that knowledge to identify questions, acquire new knowledge, explain scientific phenomena and draw evidence-based conclusions about science-related issues. Understands the characteristic features of science as a form of human knowledge and enquiry. Shows awareness of how science and technology shape our material, intellectual and cultural environments. Engages in science-related issues and with the ideas of science, as a reflective citizen.

28. The frightening truth “In the 2006 Program for International Student Assessment that measured the applied learning and problem-solving skills of 15-year-olds in 30 industrialized countries, the U.S. ranked 25th out of the 30 in math and 24th in science. That put our average youth on par with those from Portugal and the Slovak Republic, rather than with students in countries that are more relevant competitors for service-sector and high-value jobs, like Canada, the Netherlands, Korea, and Australia.” Tom Friedman, NY Times

29. Finally, new widespread recognition that the current, chaotic system does not work!

30. DRAFT “Framework” to be released next week at www.nas.edu/BOSE

31. Other opportunities for change: • Major investments promised in high quality math and science assessments. • Major new AP course redesigns in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics released year in response to 2002 report from the National Academies. Emphasis on inquiry. • The idealism of many young Americans, including many scientists.

32. We need to make a science out of science education!

33. Education is as important as health, but we treat the two completely differently For example, without demanding evidence for effectiveness, or commissioning an objective study of the consequences, the California State School Board recently voted to mandate that every eighth grader in the state take Algebra 1. There have been many past decisions of this kind, including suppressing the use of phonics for teaching reading in 1987, lasting nearly a decade before the mistake was recognized. The equivalent of “medical malpractice” is flagrant in education, with tragic consequences for both teachers and students. Why is it tolerated across the United States?

34. Instead of flying blind, we need to use knowledge of what increases student learning -- based on scientifically obtained evidence -- to create a continuously improving education system at all levels.

35. This will require a much more focused and effective system of education research! • Much of the new research must be focused on the classroom, incorporating our best teachers and building on what they already know. • Otherwise our nation’s schools will continue to be driven by one simple “magic bullet” solution after another, as each new leader seeks a quick fix.

36. The Academies first attempt to harvest what we know. Published 2000

37. The National Academies’ recipe for effective education research: SERP published 2003

38. The major question posed to the SERP committee: Why has research supported innovation and continuous improvement in medicine, agriculture, and transportation, but not in education --and what can we do about it?

39. The SERP answer Education is missing the equivalent of the teaching hospital in medicine, that is: Field Sites: places where researchers, teachers and designers work in practice settings to: • Observe, explain, document, replicate and evaluate practice as a source of new knowledge. • Define problems and test solutions in context. • Train new researchers and practitioners for “use-inspired” research and development.

40. Design team meeting San Francisco

41. www.serpinstitute.org

42. There is also the critical issue of teacher empowerment • Some 30 years ago, US industry learned from the Japanese that building a better automobile requires listening to workers on the assembly line – ground truth is essential for wise decision making! • Education is one of the few parts of our society that has failed to exploit this fact.

43. What keeps me up at night • Our best science teachers need to have much more influence on the education system; current trends will drive these talented people into more lucrative and respected careers. • This influence is needed at every level: from school districts, to States, to the Federal Government. • How can we institutionalize such an influence, as needed to create a continuously improving education system?

44. A national Teacher Advisory Council Every State also needs one!

45. Teacher Advisory Council Recommendation for State Associate Councils • State Councils are needed to provide a new voice for teachers at the state level, where most education policies are made. • State Council members will receive support from the National Teacher Advisory Council via electronic networking and opportunities for input and participation in studies.

46. A California Teacher Advisory Council (CTAC) has been established • Sponsored by the California Council on Science and Technology (CCST), a state version of the National Academies • Making connections to legislators and education leaders in Sacramento • Connections to the CEOs of major technical companies in California through the CCST

47. To remove a major barrier to progress, science education at the college level must change

48. Facultiesof Arts &Sciences Textbook Publishers State and National Exams Colleges of Education Students Teachers State Boards, School Districts Parents SchoolAdministrators Politicians Unions

49. Summer workshop for teams of Biology 1 teachers at University of Wisconsin (Jo Handelsman and Bill Wood, co-organizers))

50. A message for professors In my opinion, the primary aim of any undergraduate introductory science course—whether in biology, chemistry, physics, or earth sciences—should be to enable students to appreciate and participate in science as a special way of knowing about the world. Our goal as teachers and educators should be to expose our students to the discovery process and to excite them about challenges at the frontiers of knowledge. We should try to make students understand why it is crucial that any scientific result be confirmed by other scientists, and why a scientist can never be sure that he or she has the final answer about anything.