Monitoring effectiveness
22. Science centres claim to play an important role
in society, but have not, to date, convincingly demonstrated that
they achieve their goals.[28]
Cardiff University, in its submission, outlined the current body
of evidence and commented that "[there] are very few studies
of the effect that science [centres] have on students' career
choice". It went on to say that "although science [centres]
have put many programs in place that benefit society, on the whole,
they have not developed the methodology to measure the impact
that they have at a societal level".[29]
23. What evidence there is appears to be positive.
Cardiff University summarised the evidence, which indicates that
extracurricular science activities do encourage students to study
science at school and to pursue careers in science and science
teaching. Other evidence for effectiveness comes from a review
carried out on behalf the of the Wellcome Trust. The review, published
in July 2006, assessed the impact of five Millennium science centres
that Wellcome had funded and found that the centres "provide
considerable resources for their local regions—contributing
to local regeneration, supporting formal education and acting
as regional 'hubs' for science based activities", and that
they "offer a wealth of knowledge and expertise relating
to the wide aspects of public engagement with science and science
education".[30]
Another source of evidence is the reviews of science centres carried
out by the Scottish Government's Inspectorate of Education in
2002 and 2006. The 2006 report outlines the strengths and weaknesses
of each of the Scottish science centres and outlines areas of
best practice across the sector. It is very positive about the
role that science centres play in terms of enthusing young people
and adults about science and in terms of linking with schools
to provide professional development for teachers and outreach
programmes.[31]
24. The Government has recently funded Ecsite-uk,
the body that represents science centres, to conduct a review
of the financial viability of science centres. It is expected
to report its findings by March 2008. The Government's submission
outlines that the scope of the review is to:
a) demonstrate the impact of science centres
and the added-value they deliver;
b) encourage science centres to work more effectively
together, and collaboratively with museums, SETNET, Science Learning
Centres and Science Cities; and
c) maximise science centres' future financial
viability.
25. We endorse the Government's decision to assess
the effectiveness of science centres. However, the choice of Ecsite-uk
to conduct the review is problematic. While we share the Minister
for Science and Innovation's expectation that Ecsite-uk will do
a professional job,[32]
the review will, irrespective of how well researched and presented
it is, run the risk of eliciting a sceptical response from some
quarters due to the obvious competing interests which exist.[33]
We recommend
that Ecsite-uk work with independent researchers to develop methodologies
that ensure that performance indices for science centres are measured
and collected uniformly and rigorously across the UK, to reduce
the risk of bias.
26. Reticence in commissioning research in this area
is understandable. Science centres are just one of a range of
factors that may influence young people to pursue careers in science
and technology. To assess properly the role that science centres
play will require multivariable longitudinal studies, which take
a long time and can be costly. However, difficulty should not
be an excuse for inaction. Both the British Association for the
Advancement of Science and the Royal Society of Edinburgh have
argued that independent research is needed.[34]
We urge the Government to take a lead and commission independent
research to assess what role science centres and other factors
play in encouraging young people to pursue STEM careers and how
effectively science centres influence public discussion and perception
of scientific issues. A number of institutions with interests
in the promotion of STEM subjects and public engagement might
be willing to co-fund such a project and we recommend that the
Government identify and approach likely parties to initiate joint
commissioning of research into science centres.
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