Memorandum 91
Submission from the Spacelink Learning
Foundation
STATEMENT OF
NEED
The UK is facing ever-increasing competition
in the global economy and the Government recognises the need for
UK companies to be staffed with innovative and technologically
aware people.
There is an urgent need to ensure a flow of
well-motivated high quality young people going from schools and
university into Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths careers
and to prepare young people for the technological world in which
they live.
DECLINE
There has been a drastic decline in the output
of graduates from UK Universities in core STEM subjects. Declining
student demand for STEM subjects at undergraduate level has played
a pivotal role in the demise of a number of University STEM Departments,
for example Chemistry at Exeter, King's and Queen Mary College,
London.
This shortage of STEM graduates is likely to
lead to unwelcome consequences for the competitiveness of UK companies
and the living standards of the UK population relative to that
in competitor countries.
THE SPACELINK
LEARNING FOUNDATION
The key educational objective of SLF is to make
STEM subjects more attractive to students aged 13-18 years in
schools.
SLF is a not-for-profit British company limited
by guarantee, not having a share capital and Registered in England
and Wales as a Charity (No 1080879). It was established in 2000
because of its experience, based on earlier research and trials,
that the use of space-related data and artefacts assists in the
teaching of STEM subjects in schools in a number of ways:
Through improving the motivation
of students and their enjoyment of learning.
Through providing a better understanding
of the subject matter.
Through involving students with modern
operational systems.
This is a new educational concept which we call
"Learning through Space".
Much of the problem arises from a perception
amongst pupils that scientific subjects are not only difficult
but also boring. Few have any ideas about what possible careers
are open to scientists and how exciting science can be.
SLF plans to tackle these problems by pursuing
the following educational objectives:
To use space and its associated technologies
to motivate students aged between 13-18 years to study STEM and
related subjects within the National Curriculum.
To assist in the teaching and learning
of these subjects by making the teaching materials more exciting
and relevant to the modern world.
To provide teachers with a comprehensive
support service. Delivered via the internet, it will contain all
the materials they need to meet their curricular and examination
requirements and provide worthwhile after-school activities.
To build flexibility into the service
so that it can readily accommodate any future changes in the curriculum.
THE PLAN
SLF's plan is to develop a comprehensive Spacelink
Service. This on-line web-based service will be available potentially
to teachers and students in all schools, initially in the UK.
The Service will comprise the following modules within a new range
of stimulating and exciting resources and support services:
Interactive curriculum-related Learning
Resources to support the classroom teaching of STEM and related
subjects, initially for the National Curriculum for England. The
Learning Resources will use space-based materials and data from
existing live satellites to make them more exciting and relevant
to students. They will allow a coordinated approach to the teaching
of STEM subjects, demonstrating the links between them.
Support services that will enable
teachers to make the most effective use of the Learning Resources,
including on-line teacher development, in-service training and
operational support.
A web-based delivery system.
Possible access to educational payloads
on live satellites to bring teachers and students into direct
contact with high-technology systems.
Club programmes and activities for
out of school hours to enhance and enrich classroom work.
The Helen Sharman Programme named
in honour of the former UK astronaut and a Spacelink Patron. This
will provide the latest news about space and its developments
to attract, widen and deepen the interest in Spacelink amongst
teachers and students.
SUBSCRIPTIONS
SLF's Business Plan is to deliver the Service
to up to 2,200 subscribing schools in the UK within eight years
of beginning the Development Programme.
The subscription charges for the Service have
deliberately been set to be affordable to schools and will start
at only £50 pa for 10 Learning Resources plus the supporting
elements shown above. This will rise to £200 pa for 75 Learning
Resources and £260 pa if data is provided from educational
payloads in space. SLF plans that the Service will become self-financing
through income from subscriptions, sales and advertising once
the costs of development have been met.
COMMISSIONING PROCESS
The Spacelink Service will be developed as a
number of modules but commissioned in three major phases.
Each module will be fully tested and validated
before moving forward. Each major phase will comprise three components
which will be implemented in parallel, viz:
Developing/commissioning modules
of the Service.
A Market Development Programme.
Provision of the Service to schools
and other users.
INAUGURATION PHASE
(YEARS ONE
TO THREE)
The Inauguration Phase will cover
a period of 27 months.
At this stage, SLF would have a "Basic
Service" which would familiarise teachers and students with
the use of space materials in the curriculum teaching of STEM
subjects.
The Total Estimated Cost of the Inauguration
Phase is £1.7 million over the 27-month period.
FIRST ENHANCEMENT
PHASE (YEARS
TWO TO
SIX)
SLF plans to begin the First Enhancement Phase
after one year of the Inauguration Phase to provide maximum continuity
to the programme and to minimise the total elapsed time.
At the conclusion of the First Enhancement Phase,
SLF would have a fully-operational on-line service for UK schools
and possibly some English-speaking schools overseas using the
same curriculum.
The total estimated cost of the First Enhancement
Phase is £8.7 million over a 52-month period, which could
be reduced to £5 million if no educational payloads were
developed and launched.
THE SECOND
ENHANCEMENT PHASE
(YEAR 6 AND
BEYOND)
In the Second Enhancement Phase, SLF's priority
would be to maintain the continuity of the Service developed during
the Inauguration and First Enhancement Phases. At this time, the
Service would be self-financing, providing that the target numbers
of schools had become subscribers.
THE BENEFITS
OF THE
SPACELINK SERVICE
The following important and lasting benefits
would result from a successful fundraising initiative and the
development and implementation of the Spacelink Service:
STEM and related subjects should become at least
as attractive as other subjects post GCSE. This will help to stem
the downward spiral in the number of students taking science subjects
at A-level. For similar reasons, the Service would also enrich
the work of those Specialist Schools with STEM subjects in their
specialisms.
If Spacelink is successful in its objective
of encouraging 2,200 schools to subscribe to the Service by the
end of the First Enhancement Phase, we estimate that at least
100,000 students per year in the UK, of all ability levels, would
have access to improved STEM education in curriculum subjects,
plus all the extra-curricular features outlined above.
Students' ability to relate their studies to
the real world around them will be enhanced. This is a well-established
route to improving student motivation and enjoyment of learning.
There will be benefit both to the students themselves and to society
in general if fewer students become disaffected and disillusioned
with school and learning.
The Service will also be available to other
potential users, such as those engaged in life-long learning and
hobby groups. These groups will benefit from a more fulfilling
study/learning experience.
Because of its specially-developed training
and support services for teachers and the opportunities for Continuing
Professional Development (CPD), the Service will reduce the burden
on teachers and help in the recruitment and retention of teachers
of STEM subjects. It is probable that the Spacelink Service will
engender widespread international interest during the First Enhancement
Phase and lead many countries to wish to participate in a collaborative
initiative. This is likely to increase the number of options for
the further development of the Spacelink Service and allow for
lower fees for UK schools.
THE CAMPAIGN
Because of the urgent need to tackle the problems
of the teaching of STEM subjects in schools, highlighted above,
SLF obtained limited funding to allow a start to be made on the
Inauguration Phase in February 2006. The Centre for Science Education
at Sheffield Hallam University was engaged to develop typical
space-based Learning Resources and then trial them in five schools
in Sheffield, Derbyshire and Leicester. Feedback from the teachers
and students involved was very positive: teachers liked the fact
that they could "use the lessons right off the shelf";
students found the lessons fun to do and interesting. This demonstrates
that the Spacelink vision can become a reality for typical students
in the UK. Whilst these results are extremely encouraging, what
has been created so far is insufficient in volume to form the
basis of a service which could be offered to all schools in the
UK. Thus it will not alleviate the problems identified, far less
improve the competitiveness of the nation.
SLF is planning a fundraising campaign to raise
the funds required to sustain the project until it becomes self
financing. A strategic plan for fundraising will be prepared based
on a full understanding of the whole donor constituency and of
the range of fundraising methodologies which are available. During
the campaign a number of approaches will be made to Trusts, Companies
and Individuals, who will be asked to support the campaign that
will help us to launch and establish this important educational
resource for the nation.
February 2007
|