<i>Science for all: A reflective essay</i>

Fensham, Peter J.

doi:10.1080/0022027850170407

Cited by 172 publications

(75 citation statements)

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“…Other reasons for science teachers not including EE pedagogies in their classrooms have been identified, such as low environmental and sustainability pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), an overcrowded curriculum, low confidence in taking children out of the classroom, a lack of resources and preparation time, and a lack of personal commitment to sustainability education (Kim & Fortner, 2006;McDonald & Dominguez, 2010;Samuel, 1993). As discussed in Section 2.3.1, Gough (2004) asserts that science education still functions in much the way it had in the 1980s (as described by Fensham, 1985) and before, the characteristics of which pose threats to scientific and ecological literacy, and would appear to contribute to attrition in school science. Given the international support for scientific literacy (Harlen, 2001;Millar, 2008;OECD, 2007) and the argument for holism in environmental education (Barker & Rogers, 2004;Blumstein & Saylan, 2007;Williams, 2008), the question of why education remains more transmissive and reductionist than transformative and holistic deserves consideration.…”

Section: Reductionismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The argument for such a change centers on a perceptual -mismatch between the type of science perceived by society, and the type which is currently perpetuated in schools and by policy makers in science education‖ (Lindsay, 2011, p. 3 While this inquiry adopts a perspective consistent with Vision II, it has been suggested that science education has remained stuck in Vision I (Gough, 2004), seeing little change in the two decades after Fensham (1985) noted these prominent tendencies in school science education:…”

Section: Trends In Science Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A significant risk of such reform efforts in science education is the potential for the alienation of a segment of the student population from science and, consequently, lower scientific literacy among the general population. The list of prominent tendencies in school science education (Fensham, 1985;Gough, 2004) presented in the previous section includes an emphasis on the quantitative, levels of abstraction and the rote recall of facts. Malcolm (2003) describes this as a reductionist version of scientific literacy.…”

Section: Science Education As Pre-professional Trainingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Implicit in SFA is putting the learner at the center (Malcolm, 2003). It seeks to make science education more accessible to groups of learners who may not have previously been engaged in science learning, such as girls and ethnic minorities (Fensham, 1985). SFA recognizes that how science is taught is equally important to what is taught, and encourages teachers to consider: any special characteristics of the subject matter; the backgrounds of the students in their classroom; and, the conditions surrounding the teaching and learning of science (AAAS, 1989; Science for All Expert Group, 2010).…”

Section: Science Education In New Zealandmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Toward Ecological Literacy: A Permaculture Approach to Junior Secondary Science

Lebo¹,

Eames²,

Coll³

et al. 2013

Aust. J. environ. educ.

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Environmental, economic, and social trends suggest the need for more sustainable ways of thinking and patterns of behaviour. Such a shift would require humanity to function at high levels of ecological literacy, which relies on a certain amount of scientific literacy. However, troubling evidence indicates an international pattern of student disengagement with science at the secondary level. Evidence also suggests that it is difficult to integrate environmental or sustainability education at this level, both within New Zealand and elsewhere. This research was aimed at examining the use of a novel approach, using permaculture, in junior secondary science (Years 9 and 10) to enhance students’ ecological and scientific literacy, as well as their attitudes toward studying science in school.Permaculture is an ecological design system based on science and ethics. A permaculture approach to science education involves eco-design thinking, as well as the use of local permaculture properties and practitioners, and the science behind common permaculture practices. The approach is also meant to be relevant and engaging, and to promote systems thinking. This study involved the design and delivery of an intervention based on permaculture principles to one Year 10 science class in New Zealand.Research took the form of a naturalistic, interpretive, mixed methods case study, which included the use of questionnaires, interviews, and observations. Data collection focused on the impacts of a permaculture approach on the teaching and learning of science, on students’ ecological literacy, and on students’ attitudes toward learning science in school. Pre- and post-intervention questionnaires probed students’ opinions on the environment, science, and learning science in school, and tested their sustainable thinking and systems thinking with concept mapping and SOLO Taxonomy exercises. Classroom observations took place over the course of 12 weeks, on average 3 days per week, totalling 31 days. Before and after some classroom visits, I had informal conversations with the teacher, along with three formal interviews before, during and after the intervention. Three focus groups of students were interviewed immediately following the intervention.Findings show that a permaculture approach to junior secondary science can impact positively on students’ understanding of science and sustainability, and may impact on their attitudes toward studying science in school. It also appeared to impact positively on the science teacher'sattitude toward including sustainability in his teaching practice, and on his own sustainability learning. Regarding both students and teachers, a permaculture approach appears to have been effective to cultivate attitudes and trellis learning.The teacher and the students responded favourably to many aspects of the intervention, including the overall focus on the environment, the field trips, and some classroom learning activities. The teacher reported appreciating the way the intervention contextualised science with real world examples. Most students reported appreciating the experiential aspects of the intervention, as well as the relevance that a permaculture approach to science education provided. Findings indicate that advances in ecological and scientific literacy varied among students. Some students appeared to: improve their use of science and sustainability vocabulary; become more aware of select socio-scientific issues; better recognise scientific and ecological limits and possibilities. Some students also showed advances in sustainable thinking and systems thinking. Although many students expressed concern about issues such as pollution, wildlife, and genetic engineering — and prioritised protecting the environment over making money — there appeared to be a disconnect between these feelings and a sense of personal responsibility to act. Most students reported enjoying learning science with a focus on the environment, with one cohort indicating much greater enjoyment of the permaculture approach than their usual level of enjoyment of learning science in school.Trends in environmental degradation, population growth, energy inflation, and economic stagnation — especially pronounced since the beginning of this inquiry in 2008 — indicate that the world of the future will require ecologically literate citizens who can design and create truly sustainable systems for all human endeavors. Cultivating such citizens, and trellising their science and sustainability learning has implications for science education. This thesis identifies an innovative approach for junior secondary science in New Zealand that provides a way towards a more sustainable future.

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Section: Reductionismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Trends In Science Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Science Education As Pre-professional Trainingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Science Education In New Zealandmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Toward Ecological Literacy: A Permaculture Approach to Junior Secondary Science

Lebo¹,

Eames²,

Coll³

et al. 2013

Aust. J. environ. educ.

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“…Today, the original aim of the STS movement has become associated with many other specific labels, including science and technology (S&T) for all (Fensham, 1985), scientific and technological literacy Bybee, 1997;Norris & Phillips, 2003;Shamos, 1995), public understanding of S&T (Cross & Fensham, 2000;Jenkins, 1999;Solomon & Thomas, 1999), S&T for citizenship (Acevedo, 2004;Kolstø, 2001aKolstø, , 2001bRoth & Désautels, 2004), argument, critical reasoning, and decision making on social topics related to S&T Sadler, 2004), understanding of the nature of S&T (Lederman, 1992;McComas, 1998), S&T education for the daily life in techno-scientific societies (Cajas, 1999;Roth & Lee, 2004), and humanistic S&T (Aikenhead, 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An analysis of complex multiple‐choice science–technology–society items: Methodological development and preliminary results

2006

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ABSTRACT:The scarce attention to the assessment and evaluation in science education research has been especially harmful for teaching science -technology -society (STS) issues, due to the dialectical, tentative, value-laden, and polemic nature of most STS topics. This paper tackles the methodological difficulties of the instruments that monitor views related to STS topics and rationalizes a quantitative methodology and an analysis technique to improve the utility of an empirically developed multiple-choice item pool, the Questionnaire of VÁZQUEZ-ALONSO ET AL.Opinions on STS. This methodology embraces an item-scaling psychometrics based on the judgments by a panel of experts, a multiple response model, a scoring system, and the data analysis. The methodology finally produces normalized attitudinal indices that represent the respondent's reasoned beliefs toward STS statements, the respondent's position on an item that comprises several statements, or the respondent's position on an entire STS topic that encompasses a set of items. Some preliminary results show the methodology's ability to evaluate the STS attitudes in a qualitative and quantitative way and for statistical hypothesis testing. Lastly, some applications for teacher training and STS curriculum development in science classrooms are discussed.

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Why teach science? Setting rational goals for science education

Longbottom¹,

Butler

1999

Sci. Ed.

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Science for all: A reflective essay

Cited by 172 publications

References 0 publications

Toward Ecological Literacy: A Permaculture Approach to Junior Secondary Science

Toward Ecological Literacy: A Permaculture Approach to Junior Secondary Science

An analysis of complex multiple‐choice science–technology–society items: Methodological development and preliminary results

Why teach science? Setting rational goals for science education

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