the a national view of stem education jay labov national academy of sciences washington, dc...

The A National View of STEM Education

Jay Labov National Academy of Sciences

Washington, DC

[email protected] http://nationalacademies.org

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIESNational Academy of Sciences

National Academy of Engineering Institute of Medicine

National Research Council

2009 STEMCAP Forum

Manhattan Beach, CA

Two Premises:

Premise 1:

Improving STEM Education is Not Rocket Science

Premise 1:

Improving STEM Education is Not Rocket Science

It’s a LOT harder!

“A good hockey player plays where the puck is.

“A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.”

Wayne Gretsky

Premise 2:

We Need to Anticipate and Skate to Where the Puck is Likely to Be:

UNDERSTANDING POLICY MATTERS!!!

Education policy and implementation often do not obey the usual tenets of logic or

rationality

Where is the puck likely to be?

• Convocation on K-8 Education • K-12 National & State Standards• No Child Left Behind• Advanced Placement• 21st Century Skills

– Competencies vs. Courses• Science vs. STEM Education • Accountability• Closing Thoughts

A Convocation to Address Special Issues of K-8 Science Education in CA

April 29-30, 2009, Irvine

• Organizers:– National Academies of

Science & Engineering– California Council on

Science and Technology

• Sponsorship:– Arnold and Mabel

Beckman Foundation– S.D. Bechtel, Jr.

Foundation



Chapters:• The Challenges Facing

California • The National Context • Science Education in

Action • Exemplary Programs• Fostering Sustainable

Programs• Rising to the Challenge


April 29-30, 2009, IrvineSummary of Discussions:

• Many indicators point to severe weaknesses in California’s science education systems at the kindergarten through eighth grade (K-8) levels:

– K-8 students in California spend too little time studying science

– Many of their teachers are not well prepared in the subject

– The support system for science instruction has deteriorated.

– A proliferation of overly detailed standards and poorly conceived assessments has trivialized science education.



• Yet there exists a solid base on which to strengthen K-8 science education in California and across the nation, including:

– A movement toward common national standards and assessments

– New research findings on effective educational practices – Involvement of scientific, business, and philanthropic

organizations in many schools– Growing realization that science education must improve to

support future prosperity.– Linking education in technology, engineering, and mathematics

to science education, thereby creating a truly integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, could have major implications for K-12 education.



The time to act is now, while science and STEM education occupy positions of prominence on state and national agendas.

K-12 Science Standardsand the Convocation on K-8

Science Education

Your Knowledge of California’s K-12 Science Standards

A. I have examined national and California’s standards for my discipline and have used that information in preparing for my work in education.

B. I’ve skimmed either the national or California’s standards.

C. I know that such standards exist but have not looked at them.

D. There are actually standards for K-12 science?

National Research Council 1996 AAAS 1993

Overview of theNational Science

Education Standards• Science Teaching Standards• Professional Development of

Teachers• Assessment• Content Standards

• Infrastructure Standards– Program Standards– System Standards

Comparison of the AAAS Benchmarks Comparison of the AAAS Benchmarks and the National Science Education and the National Science Education

Content StandardsContent Standards

NATIONAL SCIENCE EDUCATION STANDARDS:

Science and Technology Physical/Earth/Space Sciences Life Sciences

Science in Personal/Social Perspectives

History and Nature of Science Unifying Concepts and Processes Science as Inquiry

AAAS BENCHMARKS:AAAS BENCHMARKS: The Nature of ScienceThe Nature of Science The Nature of MathematicsThe Nature of Mathematics The Nature of TechnologyThe Nature of Technology The Physical SettingThe Physical Setting The Living EnvironmentThe Living Environment The Human OrganismThe Human Organism Human SocietyHuman Society The Designed WorldThe Designed World The Mathematical WorldThe Mathematical World Historical PerspectivesHistorical Perspectives Common ThemesCommon Themes Habits of MindHabits of Mind

CHANGING EMPHASES IN SCIENCE CONTENT

LESS EMPHASIS ON:•Knowing scientific facts and information.

•Studying subject matter disciplines (e.g., physics, earth sciences) for their own sake.

•Separating science knowledge and science process.

•Covering many science topics.

•Implementing inquiry as a set of processes.

MORE EMPHASIS ON:•Understanding science processes and developing abilities of inquiry.

•Learning subject matter disciplines in the context of inquiry, technology, science in personal and social perspectives, and history and nature of science.

•Integrating all aspects of science content.

•Studying a few fundamental science concepts.

•Implementing inquiry as instructional strategies, abilities, and ideas to be learned.

4 Strands of Scientific Proficiency

• Know, use and interpret scientific explanations of the natural world.

• Generate and evaluate scientific evidence and explanations.

• Understand the nature and development of scientific knowledge.

• Participate productively in scientific practices and discourse.

National Research Council (2007)

Teacher Education and National Standards

“Not long ago, a college chemistry professor grew angry with the way her daughter’s high school chemistry class was being taught. She made an appointment to meet with the teacher and marched with righteous indignation into the classroom—only to discover that the teacher was one of her former students.”

National Research Council (1998)

Standards for the Professional Development of Teachers of Science

• STANDARD A: The professional development of teachers of science requires learning science content through the perspectives and methods of inquiry …

• STANDARD B: Professional development of teachers of science requires integrating knowledge of science, learning, pedagogy, and students applying that understanding to science teaching…

• STANDARD C: The professional development of teachers of science enables them to build the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to engage in lifelong learning…

• STANDARD D: Pre-service and in-service professional development programs for teachers are coherent and integrated…

Not all standards are the same!

All 50 states have developed standards and curriculum frameworks. While the original intent

may have been to base state standards and frameworks on national standards, many do not

resemble the goals outlined in national standards.

Learn what your state’s curriculum frameworks include with regard to content, pedagogy, and

assessment!

Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

(No Child Left Behind)

No Child Left Behind (2001)

• Stronger Accountability for Results

• Greater Flexibility for States and Communities

• Concentrating Resources on Proven Educational Methods

• Strengthening Teacher Quality

• More Choices for Parents

No Child Left BehindAccountability for Results

• Reading and math tests administered to grades 3 – 8 and a high school grade (2006)

• Science tests administered within grade spans (began in 2007-2008)

• Annual assessments of English proficiency• The same assessments used for all students• Assessments must be aligned with

challenging state standards• All students to be proficient by 2014

– Adequate Yearly Progress

No Child Left BehindA Highly Qualified Teacher in

Every Classroom by 2006

Highly qualified means that a teacher must be fully certified or licensed, have a bachelor’s degree, and show competence in subject knowledge and teaching skills (generally demonstrated by passing a rigorous state test).

Advanced Placement

National Research Council 2002

AP RedesignBiology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Physics (2013-16)

• Science Panels– Big Ideas / Unifying

Themes – Enduring

Understandings– Competencies– Evidence Models

(Formative Assessments)

• Evidence of Learning• The student can use

representations and models to communicate scientific phenomena and solve scientific problems.

• The student can use mathematics appropriately

• The student can engage in scientific questioning

• The student can perform data analysis and evaluation of evidence

• The student can work with scientific explanations and theories

• The student is able to transfer knowledge across various scales, concepts, and representations in and across domains

Big Ideas for AP Biology

Source: College Board, 2009. Understanding the Revised AP Biology Course: Curriculum and Science Practices (presentation). Displayed with permission.

21st Century Skills

“If I take the revenue in January and look again in December of that year, 90% of my December revenue comes from products which were not there in January.”

Craig Barrett, Chairman of Intel

“Rising Above the Gathering Storm” (NAS, NAE, and IOM, 2007)

"The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those

who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn."Alvin Toffler, American Writer and Futurist

20th Century 21st Century

1 – 2 Jobs 10 – 15 Jobs

Critical Thinking Across

Disciplines

Integration of 21st

Century Skills intoSubject Matter

Mastery

Mastery ofOne Field

SubjectMatter

Mastery

Number ofJobs:

JobRequirement:

Teaching Model:

SubjectMatter

Mastery

Integration of 21st

Century Skills intoSubject Matter

Mastery

Assessment Model:

Why 21st Century Skills?Shifting Job Market

Courtesy of Linda Froschauer

AAMC/HHMI Committee Defines Scientific Competencies for Future

Physicians

"Scientific Foundations for Future Physicians" recommends that medical and premedical education evolve from a static listing of courses to a dynamic set of competencies…This … will encourage the development of innovative and interdisciplinary science curricula, maintain scientific rigor, and allow premed students at the undergraduate level the flexibility to pursue a strong liberal arts education.

AAMC and HHMIJune, 2009

Science vs. STEM Education

• To be inclusive, the NSF adopted the term “Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology” (SMET) to describe their education programs



• Someone decided that SMET sounded too much like “SMUT”



• Someone decided that SMET sounds too much like “SMUT”

• SMET STEM

ssessment

ssessmentccountability

THE MONTILLATION AND USES OF TRAXOLINE

It is very important to learn about traxoline. Traxoline is a new form of zionter. It is montilled in Ceristanna. The Ceristannians found that they could gristerlate large amounts of fervon and then bracter it to quasel traxoline. This new, more efficient bracterillation process has the potential to make traxoline one of the most useful products within the molecular family of lukizes snezlaus.


QUIZ:

1. What is traxoline?

2. Where is it montilled?

3. How is traxoline quaseled?

4. Why is traxoline important?


It is very important to learn about traxoline. Traxoline is a new form of zionter. It is montilled in Ceristanna. The Ceristannians found that they could gristerlate large amounts of fervon and then bracter it to quasel traxoline. This new, more efficient bracterillation process has the potential to make traxoline one of the most useful products within the molecular family of lukizes snezlaus.

QUIZ:

1. What is traxoline?

2. Where is it montilled?

3. How is traxoline quaseled?

4. Why is traxoline important?

Accountability in Higher Education:Statements from former U.S. Education Secretary Spellings

(September 22, 2006)

"Believe it or not, we can't answer the most critical and basic questions about student performance and learning at colleges and that's unacceptable," … "Information will not only help with decision-making—it will also hold schools accountable for quality. We want to work with Congress, states and institutions to build a system that is more useful and widely available to every student.

“Right now, accreditation is the system we use to put a stamp of approval on higher education quality. It's largely focused on inputs, more on how many books are in a college library, than whether students can actually understand them. Institutions are asked "Are you measuring student learning?" And they check yes or no. That must change. Whether students are learning is not a yes or no question ... It's how? How much? And to what effect?”

http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/2006/09/09262006.html

Other Pressures for Accountability:

• Disciplinary Organizations, e.g.– Accreditation Board for Engineering and

Technology (ABET)– American Chemical Society

• Regional Accreditation Agencies

• Teacher Education Accreditation Organizations (NCATE)

Instead of beginning (and, all too often, ending) with test scores, we should begin by considering the kinds of minds that we

want to cultivate in our education system. My own reflections suggest that in the future, we need to cultivate five kinds of minds if we want to be successful as a nation and, more important, as a world. Those minds include:

Howard Gardner, “Beyond the Herd Mentality: The Minds That We Truly Need in the Future.”Ed Week, 9/14/05, http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2005/09/14/03gardner.h25.html

Some Closing Thoughts

• A disciplined mind that can think well and appropriately in the major disciplines;

• A synthesizing mindthat can sift through a large amount of information, decide what is important, and put it together in ways that make sense for oneself and for others;

• A creative mind that can raise new questions, come up with novel solutions, think outside the box;

• A respectful mind that honors the differences among individuals and groups, and tries to understand them and work productively with them; and

• An ethical mind that thinks, beyond selfish interests, about the kind of worker one aspires to be, and the kind of citizen that one should be.

Howard Gardner, “Beyond the Herd Mentality: The Minds That We Truly Need in the Future.”Ed Week, 9/14/05, http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2005/09/14/03gardner.h25.html

Disclaimer• “This workforce solution was funded by a grant awarded under the

Workforce Innovation in Regional Development (WIRED) as implemented by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration. The solution was created by the grantee and does not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Labor. The Department of Labor makes no guarantees, warranties, or assurances of any kind, express or implied, with respect to such information, including any information on linked sites and including, but not limited to, accuracy of the information or its completeness, timeliness, usefulness, adequacy, continued availability, or ownership. This solution is copyrighted by the institution that created it. Internal use by an organization and/or personal use by an individual for non-commercial purposes is permissible. All other uses require the prior authorization of the copyright owner.”

the a national view of stem education jay labov national academy of sciences washington, dc...

Documents

education policy

science instruction

science standardsi

integrated science

science standardsand

mathematics stem education

national agendas

special issues