APPENDIX 30
Memorandum submitted by the BA (British
Association for the Advancement of Science)
THE ROLE
OF THE
BA
1. The BA (British Association for the Advancement
of Science) exists to promote better public awareness and appreciation
of science. It is the only such organisation that is truly nation-wide,
with a comprehensive multi-disciplinary[59]
base and with an open membership that is wholly dedicated to this
end. The BA was founded in 1831, is incorporated by Royal Charter
and is a registered charity.
2. The BA fulfils its mission by:
— organising exemplary programmes and
activities locally, regionally and nationally; and
— providing a focal point for the community
of those who communicate science particularly in non-formal settings.
3. Through these means, the BA seeks to
contribute to science education in its broadest sense by:
— fostering open, informed, public
discussion of the economic, environmental, ethical and social
opportunities and issues raised by advances in and applications
of science;
— providing opportunities for people
to participate in scientific activities and to experience the
excitement and practical uses of science in a wide variety of
contexts; and
— encouraging growth in the number
and quality of activities concerned with the public communication
of science and science-related issues throughout the UK, and increasing
their overall impact.
THE BA AND
SCIENCE EDUCATION
4. The BA has an active programme for young
people. This programme complements and enriches the mainstream
school and college curriculum. In the 14 to 19 age range the programme
includes the CREST award scheme, the VISIONS programme of events
and on-line debates together with BA Science Communicators which
are summarised in the annex.[60]
5. In addition to these enrichment activities,
the BA has a long-standing interest in education generally and
science education in particular. The BA's Education Section is
one of 16 specialist groups that provide input to the BA, especially
to the programme of the BA Festival of Science but also to consultation
responses such as this one. At various stages in its history the
BA has commissioned significant reports on aspects of education.
For example, following Sir Claus Moser's 1991 Presidential Address,
the BA established the National Commission on Education, with
funding from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. The Commission's report[61]
made recommendations across wide areas of education; many have
subsequently become reality.
RECOMMENDATIONS
6. The BA believes that young people in
the 14 to 19 age range should have the opportunity to take part
in enrichment schemes of the kind offered by the BA and by other
organisations. These types of activities can benefit both those
with a general interest in science and those who have ambitions
to take up scientific careers. They can capture the imagination
and motivate young people.
7. Currently the inflexibility and content-overload
of the formal curriculum, the relatively narrow range of personal
qualities rewarded by the qualifications framework , the pressures
on pupils to pass examinations and on teachers to "deliver"
results according to very specific performance targets inhibits
the uptake of valuable opportunities presented by the BA and other
organisations and tends to restrict these opportunities to young
people in the more favoured schools and colleges.
8. The possibility of a more flexible curriculum
over the 14 to 19 age range with less emphasis on formal certification
at the age of 16 would make it easier for schools and colleges
to offer young people both their entitlement in terms of formal
qualifications but also enrichment of the kind that we know to
be of great value. We recommend that accreditation of student
performance at the age at which students leave school should be
designed to give recognition not only to qualifications gained
as a result of taught courses but also to awards and achievements
arising from enrichment activities.
9. More generally, the goals of science
education for all students from 14 to 19 should be:
— the development of understanding
of widely applicable concepts;
— the ability to identify the relevance
of these concepts, and to apply them, to real life situations
and significant issues which impact on all citizens;
— an understanding of how scientific
knowledge is built up and of its strengths and limitations;
— an ability to read critically, discuss
and communicate about scientific explanations, predictions and
claims.
We welcome recent moves by government and its
agencies towards this view.
10. The implications of accepting these
goals for the content of science education are that the general
concepts chosen for development should be those which have relevance
to major issues, relating for example to[62]:
— health, disease and nutrition;
— maintenance and sustainable use of
species;
— interdependence of physical and biological
systems;
— pollution of various kinds;
— production and loss of soil;
— weather and climate; biotechnology;
— use of materials and waste disposal;
— use and conservation of energy;
11. The implications for teaching are that:
— starting points should be the situations
in which the concepts to be developed are to be applied, so that
relevance is established from the start;
— students should know that what they
are studying is important and why it is important;
— methods of study should include some
practical work to give the experience of testing predictions or
answering questions through scientific inquiry. This practical
work must be purposeful, with computer technology used to increase
efficiency, accuracy and to reduce the tedium of repeated measurements,
with data fully analysed and discussed in relation to the validity
and reliability of the evidence gained, and used in addressing
the question under investigation. Such practical activity will
go a long way to achieving the goals if treated in this way. If
well planned and fully exploited it does not need to be a frequent
feature of science education, but should be a regular one and
should include opportunities for students to plan and undertake
an investigation of their own questions. Emphasis should also
be laid on using secondary data to test and develop ideas, and
particularly the critical use of data from the world wide web.
The New Opportunities Fund ICT training initiative for teachers
will address some of these issues but we believe that more needs
to be done.
12. The implications for assessment are
that a large element of the assessment of science at this stage
should be student self-assessment, contributing to both formative
and summative purposes of assessment. To achieve this, teachers
need to make explicit the goals and the standards of performance
expected, and to provide help for students in developing self-assessment
skills. Students should be involved formatively in deciding how
to improved their learning. For summative assessment, some form
of profile or portfolio of work should be created to be summarised
and graded in relation to explicit criteria. This process should
involve students as well as teachers. If formal assessment is
required, external problems, set in a real-life context and requiring
extended responses from the students should be used.
13. In general science education at 14 to
19 should:
— be characterised by teaching methods
and materials that recognise cultural diversity and reflect strategies
that have been shown to be effective in meeting the needs of traditionally
under-represented groups;
— show science as being provisional
and non-dogmatic, open to inquiry and revision;
— utilise problem-solving approaches
wherever possible;
— promote thinking and reasoning and
make obvious scientific values;
— develop rational decision-making
skills applicable to issues of personal/public concern
February 2002
59 The BA embraces the natural and social sciences,
engineering, mathematics and medicine. Back
60
Not printed. Back
61
Learning to Succeed, Heinemann 1993, ISBN 0 434 00035
3. Back
62
Taken from the PISA framework for scientific literacy, OECD 1999. Back
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