By
Dr.T.T.SRINIVASAN
FORMERLY HEAD, ELECTRONICS & PHYSICS DEPARTMENTS, M.E.S.COLLEGE
DIRECTOR, M.E.S.SCIENCE CENTER
Is it not possible to attract students in future to science courses at all? What are the drawbacks? How to overcome these problems? This article tries to throw some light on these problems.
Science courses typically not only fail to produce a citizenry literate in science issues and processes, but also fail to meet the work force needed to the community. In particular, most courses do not successfully give students the communication and teamwork skills that are desired by employers.
Today, virtually every job requires more than a basic level of science and technological competence. In the past, it was expected that workers know basic mathematics operations and understand the measurement system. Now the expectations and the job skills are higher, including computer operation and in some cases, highly specialized information technology functions. As such, there is an urgent need to make drastic change in science curricula to attract students to pursue science studies. Otherwise our Nation will have to take risk in coming generations of students and citizens who will not know how to think critically and make decisions based on technical and scientific information. This will seriously affect the availability of teachers needed for schools, colleges, and research laboratories and institutions for higher learning and high quality research laboratories in industries.
In this regard improving science education from pre-school through high school as well as to educate the public about the importance of science education should be given top priority.
At the beginning of their college careers, few undergraduates truly know what would make them happy as far as a career is concerned, and very few can even comprehend what careers are there in their fields unless they have had experience with older friends or parents in different areas. Like so many other young people the best and the smartest become engineers and doctors
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Students who have the skills to become competent employees and contributing citizens must continuously and diligently nurture in order to provide them the opportunity to contribute and prosper in the technology-based world of tomorrow.
Competent students having skills in science studies are to be encouraged by offering attractive liberal scholarships and arranging for subsidized loan facilities. The new courses which are attractive and interesting are to be designed which will help students to take up lucrative science oriented jobs.
We must educate all students to much higher levels in science, mathematics, and technology for developing a consensus around standards and core learning in science and mathematics, training a highly qualified teaching workforce, and sharing science with the public. A student whose teachers have the knowledge and skills needed to teach mathematics and science effectively in pre-college grades is more likely to be able to close the achievement gaps that he or she experiences and will be prepared as an individual for success in work and life. The number of competent science and mathematics teachers at the middle and high school levels is very less, science education for pre-service teachers at our schools appears to be less rigorous compared to other subjects, and elementary teachers do not feel qualified teaching science.
College graduates entering the teaching profession tend to have somewhat lower than average academic skills as evidenced by their lower rates of participation in rigorous academic courses in high school, lower achievement tests and lower entrance exams scores than students in other majors.
The process of acquiring knowledge and understanding is complex and subject to much debate among science educators and science education researchers. We know that students are most effective in acquiring science knowledge when they use a range of cognitive processes, including posing questions, using knowledge and scientific principles for solving problems, and conveying understanding of complex issues to others. Effective learning goes beyond the memorization of facts.
Scientists and academicians should join together to change the perspectives of science students who join the college. Otherwise, the propensity of science to lose first-rate students to medicine and engineering will continue. Scientists know that the field of science to be vibrant, dynamic, and alive, with many important applications to understanding both the natural world and technology. Unfortunately, this view is not often translated into the classroom. The extent of this gap is a measure of the need for renovation and revitalization of our science courses.
We know that high-quality professional development for classroom teachers is one of the key factors in improving students’ academic performance. Without adequate support and professional development, teachers will not change their classroom practices and, as a result, students will not meet required standards.
The lack of professional development articulates directly into the classroom. With the advances in science and technology, we cannot expect teachers to understand and then teach students about the scientific breakthroughs when they have not themselves have a solid scientific foundation. Obviously this lack of professional development has a direct bearing on the content knowledge of our teachers and on their classroom teaching.
The Professional Development Programs should be customized to meet the specific needs of schools and colleges. The workshops ranging from 1-day introductory sessions to a multi-year series should be arranged.
The science teaching can be improved at all levels by incorporating new teaching methods using collaborative work, active learning strategies, computers, science applications etc
Educators need effective strategies and instructional materials which will reach this Nation's growing English Language Learners population in order to provide opportunities for all students to develop their mathematical and scientific skills to the limits of their abilities. Regardless of academic ability, language skills and socio-economic status all students will become full citizens of our increasingly technology- based world.
The growth of the national economy is driven by continuous technological innovation. If this trend is to continue, we have to educate the students well to produce a talented and versatile workforce. For example, the recent surge in the technology industry has created a demand for more workers with information technology and engineering skills. Yet such a demand is hard to meet because workers lack the proper education and skills that are needed.
Evaluation of innovative techniques is a difficult but important task. Faculty must be encouraged to clearly articulate course goals in terms of expected mastery of content, methods, and outcomes and to develop appropriate, innovative assessment methods to measure student learning. Assessment is critical to demonstrate whether student learning has been improved and course goals have been achieved.
Role of students
Students must sincerely, honestly and effectively work towards the goals devised by teachers
» To get scientific training effectively to work, a student must have the knowledge, the quantitative, communication, manual and critical-thinking skills, and the attitudes and inclinations necessary for effective problem-solving.
» To develop intuitive feelings, a student must be able to link quantitative competence and estimation skills with learning about the real world.
» To use scientific knowledge productively, a student must have the ability to communicate clearly, convincingly, and accurately.
Teacher salaries to be competitive
Despite the rise in student’s enrollments and the chronic teacher shortages faced by many schools and colleges, teacher’s salary levels have barely budged, complicating the efforts to attract and retain qualified science and mathematics teachers. To make science and mathematics teaching more competitive with other career opportunities, resources must be provided to compensate teachers of mathematics, science and technology comparably to similarly trained professionals in other economic sectors. More than one third of all new teachers leave the profession within 3 years and one half leave within 5 years, often due to poor working conditions and low salaries
The government must make compensation for science and mathematics teaching competitive with other science, technology, engineering and mathematics career opportunities if we have to recruit and retain the best teachers in science and mathematics.
Role of Faculty
Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment
» Reiterate the importance of classroom, laboratory, and field activities that encourage active inquiry, and illuminate social issues and the connections between scientific and nonscientific disciplines.
» Decrease the emphasis on fact-focused, lecture-style courses. Emphasize in-depth understanding of a few fundamental elements in the disciplines and the development of critical-thinking skills.
» Incorporate advances in learning theory to promote genuine inquiry, critical thinking, proficiency in written and oral communication, and life-long learning skills into courses at all levels.
» Evaluate student performance in ways that recognize and accommodate academic, cultural, and learning-style diversity. Maintain an ongoing dialogue with students to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching practices.
» Critically evaluate the goals, strategies, and success of teaching practices by taking advantage, where appropriate, of expertise from others within and external science departments who are experienced in innovative teaching techniques
» Use technology simulations for students to actually demonstrate understanding of experimental design so that assessments are not just recall of information.
» Develop more expertise among teachers and administrators on how to use student assessments to inform and improve teaching and learning. If there is no learning then there is no teaching. Hence teaching and learning must be an on-going activity that will help faculty at all levels to be better teachers.
» Work with funding agencies and foundations to establish programs to assist departments undertaking substantial innovations and to promote broad-based dissemination of curricula and pedagogical practices, particularly at the introductory level.
» There is widespread demoralization among science faculty members themselves.They are teaching as they were taught; yet the students don't seem to be learning. A lack of students desiring to study sciences clearly reflect on the teaching strategies of teachers. If faculty don’t do something adequately to educate graduate students, then they will go on to be the same kinds of teachers as their teachers are, and they will have no clue and this cycle perpetuates.
» Provide support for teaching, so that teachers dissertation committees and advisers know that their teaching duties should be taken seriously. Regular meetings should be held at least once a week for teachers to know about their progress.
Using Technology
1. Use of computers to complement, supplement, and extend, rather than replicate, activities that are available to students in field and laboratory exercises.
2. Providing students with computer exercises involving both modeling and the analysis of large spatial and temporal data sets.
3. Use of information technology to enhance communication among students and between students and faculty.
Role of management
1. Encourage the faculty to integrate and incorporate writing, quantitative reasoning, communication, and teamwork skills in science and across the curriculum. Provide access to information technology for all faculty members, staff, and students. Encourage the use of computers, laboratory instrumentation, and information technology within science curricula.
2. Support team teaching as a way to train new faculty in innovative teaching techniques.
3. To attract and retain pre-college science and mathematics teachers, resources must be provided to compensate teachers of mathematics, science and technology comparably to similarly trained professionals in other economic sectors.
4. Provide quality, sustained professional development experiences for all science and mathematics teachers that will increase and deeper content knowledge, promote a variety of pedagogical approaches and develop questioning strategies, which will advance higher order thinking of all their students.
5. Invest in research on teaching and learning that will better inform development of science and mathematics curricula.
6. Review teacher education programs focusing on the extent to which prospective teachers are grounded in academic content in the subjects they will teach.
7. Engage students at an early age in the career opportunities in science and mathematics. Expand incentives for students who study science and mathematics.
8. Provide guidance counselors the necessary training and information about science careers, both at school and college level. These counselors can play an important role in shaping students' choice of courses, finding the right college, taking admissions tests, filing applications and finding financial aid, in order that they will be prepared better to pursue these careers
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Role of Public
The public should be educated to know the importance of pre-college science and mathematics teachers in the context of quality of life, economic prosperity, and national security.
The public should ensure that school administrators, and other "gate-keepers" of science and mathematics education, value skills and knowledge in mathematics, science and technology for those who intend to make careers in these fields but also because they are vital to the Nation's overall workforce and society in a global economy.
Counseling Program
The general purpose of the counseling Program is to educate students in the areas of developmental guidance, and related educational services. Students develop the professional understanding, knowledge, attitude, and skills needed to assist individuals and groups in a multicultural, democratic society to achieve their maximum level of independence and functioning.The counseling Program faculty meet regularly to discuss the progress of students in the program. The following elements should be reviewed: academic progress; counseling skills acquisition and development; personality traits or personal issues that may be interfering with progress in the program; legal and ethical issues.
All students should have access to supportive, excellent undergraduate education in science and should learn these subjects by direct experience with the methods and processes of inquiry.
Conclusion
The study of science education and the science education research literature reveals that the science community has at hand most of the tools needed to revitalize undergraduate science education: to have all students taking science improve their conceptual understanding of science, enhance their critical thinking, problem-solving, and experimental skills, and increase their enthusiasm for science and for learning. I believe that such a revitalized curriculum will be attractive to a wider range and larger number of students.
Science finds itself at a critical juncture. Science research is flourishing, vibrant, and alive, but the availability of governmental, private-sector, and institutional funding for research is changing dramatically. The academic and basic research job market in science is in bad shape.
We should have clear vision for effective action for innovation and revitalization in undergraduate science education. This area occupies a central position in science: it not only has the responsibility of educating the next generation of research scientists, but also contributes in an effective way to the science education of all students which is a major responsibility that the science profession cannot escape
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There are a multitude of ways in which this responsibility can be fulfilled, and no single process can speak cogently to all of the needs of all colleges and schools. Nevertheless, we do have at hand tested means for substantial improvements in many areas, and a developing research base for further innovations. We need now better ways of keeping the profession informed on a continuing basis of developments and successful experiments in the field, and of encouraging and supporting the continuing professional growth of all who teach science. The achievement of the goal of continuous improvement is not an easy task. It will depend on the efforts and cooperation of many persons in many different communities, and on the availability of resources, both human and financial, to initiate and continue the development process.
The questions that now need to be answered are the old ones: If not us, who? If not now, when?
Dr. T.T. SRINIVASAN,
FORMERLY HEAD, ELECTRONICS AND PHYSICS DEPARTMENTS, M.E.S. COLLEGE, DIRECTOR, M.E.S. SCIENCE CENTER AND NOTED VIOLIN VIDWAN
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