Five Challenges in Science Education

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Five Challenges in Science Education

David D. Thornburg, PhD

Executive Director, Thornburg Center for Space Exploration

[email protected]

.tcse!"#$.org

The launch of Sputni" on %ctober &, #'() triggered m* nascent passion in tin"ering into a full!

fledged desire to become a scientist. +* academic performance as spott* up until that time,

having been identified as mildl* retarded- b* one ell!intentioned counselor in the da*s

before DD as recogni/ed. 0ut, ith Sputni", m* apparent DD vanished as 1 spent hours

thin"ing about hat it ould ta"e and hat it ould be li"e to spend a career exploring ne

frontiers of "noledge. For a fourteen!*ear!old groing up in Chicago, this as a great time

to be alive. 2e had a splendid museum of science and industr*, a planetarium, an a3uarium,and a natural histor* museum. 2e ere surrounded ith resources to support an* interest

that *oung people had in the sciences.

0* 4ovember of that *ear, President Eisenhoer announced that our public educational

s*stem as in severe need of a complete overhaul if e ere ever to produce enough scientists

and engineers to "eep up ith the Soviets. 0* the time 1 started high school, the PSSC science

curriculum as in place, and 1 found the educational climate needed to foster and develop m*

s"ills. 1n some a*s, those ere the golden *ears of education for me.

Toda* e hear a lot about educational reform, but our 3uest for accountabilit* has resulted in

man* cases in the abandonment of 3ualit* educational practices and, in their place, e see

hat appears to some as perpetual testing in the midst of a curriculum devoid of excitement

and the uncertaint* of genuine exploration. 0ut, as President 5enned* once said # , %ur

Creative Commons cop*right, c , b* Thornburg Center for Space Exploration, $66'. Some 7ights 7eserved.

This document can be posted and shared freel* in its entiret*. 4o other rights are granted.

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problems are man!made, therefore the* ma* be solved b* man. nd man can be as big as he

ants. 4o problem of human destin* is be*ond human beings.-

8oo"ing at our current economic challenges, coupled ith the loss of creative scientific and

engineering or" to other nations, it seems overdue to ta"e a hard loo" at some of the

challenges facing science education in the 9S, and to suggest a*s these challenges might be

addressed. s 1ntel:s Craig 0arrett sa*s$ , n*one ... from the 9nited States ho sa*s that the

Chinese or 1ndians are not entrepreneurial, not creative, that the* don:t ant to rival the

9nited States in business startups has not been to 1ndia or China.-

Five of these challenges ill be explored in the rest of this short document. These challenges

are b* no means the onl* ones facing us ; *ou can come up ith man* others ; but the*

provide a good starting point for conversations around this trul* important topic.

The Shortage of Qualified Teachers

%ne of the highlights of the much!maligned 4C80- act is the mandate that each student illhave access to highl* 3ualified teachers. nd *et, in the areas of math and science, such

teachers seem to be in short suppl*. This challenge has become so severe that some districts

are importing 3ualified teachers from other nations ; for example, schools in 2ichita, 5S are

securing <#!0 visas for Filipino teachers ho come for three!*ear assignments =hich can be

extended> ? This experiment has or"ed ell, but it is unclear if it has bought enough time for

the domestic teaching force to add enough 3ualified science teachers to the pool to meet the

needs of merica:s schools.

+uch has been ritten on this topic. For example, the 4P report Rising Above the GatheringStorm & , explores this challenge in depth. The tas" is complex, but the penalt* for inaction is to

have even more teachers or"ing outside their specialties. The folloing table from this

report shos ho big the challenge is

Students Taught by Teachers with No Major or Certification in the Subject Taught, 1999!"""

Discipline Grades 5–8 Grades 9–12

English (AB ?6B

+athematics 'B ?#B

Ph*sical science '?B ?B

0iolog*;life sciences &(BChemistr* #B

Ph*sics )B



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1n a folloup document, Rising Above the Gathering Storm Two #ears $ater$ , the authors state

The strongest influence on the performance of students in a class is hether the* have a

teacher ith a bechelor:s degree in the subect the* teach.-

etting students through college in the sciences and engineering is a challenge that affects the

pool of 3ualified teachers. 1n the area of engineering, for example, it appears that up to (6B of

engineering undergrads in some schools change maors b* the end of their sophomore *ear (.

The number of 9S college graduates in ph*sics in #'(, the last full *ear before the launch of

Sputni", as tice the number of graduates in $66&. The need to encourage teachers to or"

in the sciences must cut across all those interested in a future in education. 4o group can be

left out in our 3uest to address this challenge.

oing bac" to m* on experience as a student, 1 as luc"* enough to have science teachers in

high school ho had their primar* degrees in the sciences the* taught and, in some cases, had

or"ed in the field for *ears before becoming educators.

Learning about science as a vibrant huan activit!

Gears ago, in m* presentations, 1 ould as" teachers to tell me the names of scientists. 1n

general, the names the* gave ere of dead hite men. Sometimes +adame Curie:s name

ould appear, and 2atson and Cric" ould be mentioned as living examples of famous

scientists =at the time>. 0ut the idea of science being a vibrant field ith participants of all

genders and heritage as not reflected in most of the ansers 1 received. 1t is as if e taught

students about science ithout the scientistsH

lso, 1 encountered man* people ho "ne something about science, but not about h*an*one ould choose to spend his or her life exploring 3uestions in a field that might not *ield

definitive ansers in their lifetime. 1 even sa this in m* on house hen, shortl* after m*

marriage, m* *ounger step!daughter =ho as in high school at the time> came to brea"fast

and sa a fractal pattern on m* computer screen that as a result of a forecasting model 1 as

doing for a client. The graph as 3uite prett*, and she ondered hat it as. 1 told her it as

a mathematical pattern. She has a strong artistic bent and shared that she never "ne

mathematical expressions could be beautiful. To her math as ust calculations ; not the

exploration of deep ideas.

4o she had studied math in school, but she didn:t reali/e that there ere people hoexplored deep mathematical ideas outside the classroom ; and that some of them did it ust for

funH



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0* treating the sciences as abstract topics devoid of the incitement of human passion, e miss

the chance to engage students in a*s that might get them thin"ing of the sciences as a

possible career path. 1n this regard, 1 as luc"*. +* father as =among other things> a

bacteriologist. <e ould spend hours ith his e*es glued to his microscope, loo"ing at the

pes"* critters he:d found, and experiment ith a*s to "noc" them dead. There as a never!

ending stream of experiments to do, and ne discoveries to be made. 2hile 1 had no interest

in folloing in his footsteps, 1 respected the or" he as doing in his on laborator*, and also

got to meet other scientists ho ere engaged in ama/ing or" in a variet* of fields.

"utting bac# on hands$on science

<ands!on science education seems to be in short suppl* in our schools. The folloing figure

from the 8arence <all of Science $666 stud* of elementar* schools is sobering

This chart shos the number of minutes per ee" spent on science education in 5!( schools in

the San Francisco 0a* rea in the *ear $666. The fact that #B of the students receive no

science instruction at all in the heart of California:s high technolog* enclave should be ta"en as

a serious a"e!up call.

Even in classes here science is being taught, too much of it seems limited to lectures based on

textboo"s. 4o 1 admit to being one of those eird people ho treats math as an

experimental, rather than theoretical, science, and eno* building complex computer models to

explore topics as challenging as anticipating the emergence of ne trends in technolog*. +*

approach comes from tin"ering, and from a solid grounding in lab!based science in highschool and college. 1 am saddened each time 1 al" the exhibit halls of a conference and see

softare that supports computer animation of experiments that should be done ith real

apparatus. Titrating a solution to neutralit* is best done ith a burette, not ith a piece of



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16%

64%

20%

No time

60 minutes

or less

60-180

minutes



softare that simulates the process.

To me the maor benefit of doing actual experiments comes from observing those inevitable

variations in experimental results from those predicted b* theor*. Experiments also allo

students to observe non!intuitive phenomena the* can then stud* in the course of resolving

the gap beteen their intuition and the underl*ing ph*sics or chemistr* of an experiment. 1n

this setting, a ell!e3uipped laborator* can ta"e advantage of versatile probe!are and hand!

held devices to capture real data that can be transferred to a computer for further anal*sis and

inclusion in a report. 1n other ords, students benefit hen the* do science, not ust learn

about science.

1n addition to hanging out ith m* father, 1 as

motivated to explore hands!on activities outside the

classroom. 2hen 1 as a "id, the Science Service

produced and distributed Things of Science ) ; a

monthl* "it of hands!on activities that as mailed tothousands of home subscribers. This product

started in the #'&6:s. +* subscription started at

Christmas in #'(), a fe months after the launch of

Sputni". +* first slide rule as delivered b* them

the folloing *ear in one of the computation units.

Each blue box, featuring a different topic, as

eagerl* aaited ; it contained artifacts, and a

manual of experiments to do ith the enclosed

items. 1 remember one month getting a box of fossilshells, getting a bendable plastic hinge another time,

and a ide variet* of other things to explore. Each

box as eagerl* aaitedH

Tragicall*, "its of this sort have gone the a* of the old chemistr* sets. t least one can still

purchase Erector Sets ; but man* of the other hands!on "its of m* childhood have

disappeared and, along ith them, the chance for man* "ids to explore science topics ith

their hands and brain.

Science as process of in%uir! and real pro&ects1t seems to me that too much science instruction is based on imparting a bod* of "noledge to

the students and then having them appl* this "noledge to some pre!defined problems

=complete ith ansers in the teacher:s edition of the textH> The process of having students



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explore ne 3uestions on their on falls outside most State standards, and thus gets left out of

the curriculum. 1 thin" this is a mista"e. 1:d rather see students use a foundational "noledge

of a field as a springboard to as"ing =and ansering> their on 3uestions. To start ith, this is

hat real scientists do ; the* spend their lives ansering 3uestions that the* as" of

themselves. This move to a more student!directed approach is not trivial for teachers to ma"e.

To start ith, there is still a need for basic "noledge to be shared. The challenge comes in

finding the place for teachers to stop lecturing and the open the class up to student designed

proects based on 3uestions the* as" themselves. To assist in this process, there is a rubric

students can appl* to their on 3uestions to evaluate if the* are orth spending time on to

anser. =This rubric can be found in the in3uir* handout on the Facult* page at .tcse!

"#$.org>.

2hat "inds of 3uestions are orth* of student in3uir*I 2ell, let:s ta"e an example 2e "no

that e onl* see one side of the +oon from Earth ; our +oon rotates on its axis at the same

rate it revolves around the Earth. 2h* is thatI

7ather than providing a canned anser, students ill learn far more if the* research this

3uestion themselves. %f course, this is an example of a 3uestion that has a "non anser.

more complex 3uestion is based on the folloing to images

The image on the left is the face of the +oon seen from Earth. That on the right is the far

side- of the +oon. There are stri"ing differences in these to images ; most notabl* thevirtual absence of mares on the far side. <o did these differences come aboutI

1t turns out that this is still an open 3uestion. 2hile a teenager ma* not come up ith a

definitive anser, this proect provides a great deal of opportunit* for research, and is sure to



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result in students learning far more about the +oon than the* ould in an* textboo"!driven

course.

maor challenge in transforming science studies into the in3uir*!driven proect!based

learning domain is staff development. %ur experience has shon that support needs to be

provided on a regular basis until the teachers and the students become comfortable ith the

shift in methodolog*. The reards, hoever, are ama/ing. 4ot onl* do students go be*ond

the material provided in their textboo"s, the* also develop an appreciation for the "ind of

or" done b* real scientists ; perhaps leading more of them into the field.

The importance of this shift is reflected in a stud* done at %hio State 9niversit*A in hich

students in China and the 9S ere tested on science facts.- The Chinese students

outperformed the 9S students. 0ut hen both groups of students ere tested on scientific

reasoning, both groups failed. 1n other ords, the "noledge of textboo" delivered science

facts does nothing to develop the capacit* for scientific reasoning.

"onnecting science to other sub&ects

1nnovative educators have ala*s made connections beteen science and other topics. Some

science fiction provides a good starting point. 2hether it involves reaching bac" to Jules

Kerne, or exploring more contemporar* authors li"e the =late> Philip 5. Dic", or 4eal

Stephenson, science fiction has ala*s triggered some great what if%- moments in our minds.

Expanding be*ond science fiction, the fine arts provide alternate patha*s to thin"ing about

science ; and man* scientific phenomena are estheticall* pleasing b* themselvesH

Toda*, for some ver* solid reasons, e are hearing more and more about the need for STE+s"ills =Science, Technolog*, Engineering and +ath.> 9nfortunatel*, much of the or" in this

area treats these four topics as stovepipes, functioning independentl* from each other. 1 thin"

this is a mista"e. s 5ristina Johnson from Johns <op"ins 9niversit* has said$ , Toda* the

problems are more complex than the* ere in the #'(6:s, and more global. The*:ll re3uire a

ne educated or"force, one that is more open, collaborative, and cross!disciplinar*.-

Students should be provided opportunities for cross!disciplinar* or" before graduating from

high school.

<ere:s the challenge

2hile math, science and =some> technolog* are taught as separate subects in school, the poer

of treating the STE+ subects in an integrated fashion strengthens the understanding of each

of them. This is essential because technolog* and engineering are more li"el* to be found in



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career academies than in purel* academic high schools. The benefit of this approach is that,

hen students see =and understand> the interconnectedness of these four fields, the* ma* find

themselves more motivated to explore the individual subects in deeper a*s than the* do

no.

Consider the folloing chart

t a high level, it is useful to thin" of science as the stud* of the found,- and engineering is

the stud* of the made.- Scientists concern themselves ith the advancement of "noledge inthe realm of natural phenomena. Even the most abstract theoretical scientists are concerned =at

their core> ith the explanation of natural phenomena that might be observed under the

proper conditions. Engineers, on the other hand, use scientific "noledge for another

purpose the design and fabrication of obects for the advancement of man"ind. 2hether it is

the design of a ne telescope, or crafting a more flexible space suit, engineers generall* have a

specific goal in mind hen the* start their proects a goal that relates to having something

fabricated =rather than discovered as naturall* occurring>.

t the core, science involves the scientific method,- a process of h*pothesis formulation and

verification that is taught to students at multiple grade levels. Engineering, on the other hand,

has at its core the more flexible notions of creativit* and innovation ; attributes that are harder

to 3uantif* and teach, but that are essential in the engineering domain nonetheless. The

creative process can be nurtured, but it ta"es a special effort and classroom climate to



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stimulate creativit*. This does not mean that the scientific method is not of value to engineers,

nor that scientists can not benefit from creative insights. 8in"s of this sort are legendar* in both

fields. 1t is ust that, at the core of these fields, each of these ideas has a strong role to pla*.

Science benefits from engineering, and engineering applies science ; the to are lin"ed. 1n

fact, the lin"ages beteen these topics and the remaining STE+ areas =technolog* and

mathematics> are d*namic, highl* interconnected, and constantl* evolving over time.

+ath s"ills are essential for both scientists and engineers. 0* the same to"en, advances in

science and engineering can stimulate the development of ne mathematical techni3ues. For

example, 4eton:s contributions to ph*sics and the calculus are tightl* lin"ed. Calculus

provided the computational frameor" through hich the las of motion could be 3uantified

and applied. This has ala*s been the case. eometr*, for example, literall* derives from

measure the earth.- 2hile there are branches of mathematics that have *et to find application

in science and engineering, this does not mean that applications ill not be found at some time

in the future.

To ta"e a recent example, the foundations for chaos and fractal theor* ere laid at the end of

the #'th centur* hen Peano shoed it as possible to build a space!filling curve ' =a tas" that

as previousl* thought to be impossible.> <is thoughts ere resurrected over a half!centur*

later as a conse3uence of the active development of chaos and complexit* theor*. These

branches of mathematics ere helped along b* the invention of the digital computer, and have

since found application in science and engineering, as ell as fields as disparate as economics.

9nfortunatel*, man* students don:t see a strong connection beteen mathematics and theother three STE+ topics until the* ta"e advanced math classes in college. For man* students,

this is too late ; ithout the re3uisite math courses under their belts in middle and high

school, college!bound students are bloc"ed from stud*ing STE+ subects, thus contributing to

the shortage of people in these fields.

The relationship ith technolog* is similar. For example, the <ubble Space Telescope =<ST> is

a technolog* that has advanced our scientific understanding of the cosmos greatl*. This

telescope as the result of a huge engineering effort that relied heavil* on science, and is

providing ne insights that not onl* advance science, but have had an impact on the

engineering of neer, more poerful, telescopes. 1n fact, the <ubble nes coverage in $66$represented &&B of all stories emerging from programs of the 4S %ffice of Space Science #6.



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The bul" of these stories related to scientific discoveries made ith the <ST technolog* ;

discoveries made possible b* the tremendous applications of mathematics, and engineering

re3uired to design, build and maintain this telescope.

problem ith traditional curricula that treat the STE+ topics as separable and, in fact,

separate subects is that poerful connections among the topics are eas* to miss. 1nformation

on curricular connections are sometimes seen as supplemental, rather than l*ing at the core of

the overall enterprise.

This brief paper set out to identif* five challenges facing 5!#$ science education toda*. s *ou

loo" at these challenges, and identif* more of *our on, 1 hope *ou ill thin" about a*s to

address them in *our on schools.

'eferences(

#. Luote Details John F. 5enned* %ur problems are man!made,... ! The Luotations Page. at

MhttpNN.3uotationspage.comN3uoteN?$(.htmlO

$. 7ising bove the athering Storm To Gears 8ater ccelerating Progress Toard a

0righter Economic Future. Summar* of a Convocation. at

MhttpNN.nap.eduNcatalog.phpIrecordidQ#$(?)O

?. Filipino teacher experiment a success R 2ichita 4es ! 5ansas 4es R 5ansas.com. at

MhttpNN."ansas.comNnesNstor*N'$(&?.htmlO

&. 7ising bove the athering Storm Energi/ing and Emplo*ing merica for a 0righter

Economic Future. at MhttpNN.nap.eduNcatalog.phpIrecordidQ##&?O

(. STE+.pdf. at MhttpNN.purdue.eduNstrategicplanNhitepapersNSTE+.pdfO

. 8<S R 7E R 0a* rea Stud*. at



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MhttpNN.larencehallofscience.orgNreaNba*areastud*NO

). 7ediscovering Things of Science. at MhttpNNecg.mit.eduNgeorgeNtosNunitsO

A. Stud* 8earning Science Facts Doesn:t 0oost Science 7easoning. at

MhttpNNresearchnes.osu.eduNarchiveNscireason.htmO

'. Space!filling curve ! 2i"ipedia, the free enc*clopedia. at

MhttpNNen.i"ipedia.orgNi"iNSpace!fillingcurveO

#6. The <ubble!J2ST Transition Polic* S*nopsis Papers per *ear R Space7ef ! Space 4es

as it <appens. at MhttpNN.spaceref.comNnesNviesr.htmlIpidQ''#6O

)bout the author

David is the Founder and Director of lobal %perations for the Thornburg Center. <e is an

aard!inning futurist, author and consultant hose clients range across the public and

private sector throughout the planet. <is ra/or!sharp focus on the fast!paced orld of modern

computing and communication media, proect!based learning, $#st centur* s"ills, and open

source softare has placed him in constant demand as a "e*note spea"er and or"shop leaderfor schools, foundations, and governments.

s a child of the %ctober S"*, David as strongl* influenced b* the earl* or" in space

exploration, and as the beneficiar* of changes in the 9S educational s*stem that promoted

and developed interest in STE+ =science, technolog*, engineering, and math> s"ills. <e no is

engaged in helping a ne generation of students and their teachers infuse these s"ills through

the mechanism of in3uir*!driven proect!based learning. =For details, visit .tcse!"#$.org.>

<is educational philosoph* is based on the idea that students learn best hen the* areconstructors of their on "noledge. <e also believes that students ho are taught in a*s

that honor their learning st*les and dominant intelligences retain the native engagement ith

learning ith hich the* entered school. central theme of his or" is that e must prepare

students for their future, not for our past.

David splits his time beteen the 9nited States and 0ra/il. <is or" in 0ra/il also is focused

on education, and he is currentl* part of a team redesigning curricular practice for some

schools in and near 7ecife, his home cit*.



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