Top marks for new approach to school science
Posted on 5 September 2005
The success of the innovative Twenty First Century Science curriculum is highlighted in a presentation by Professor Robin Millar and Jenifer Burden, of the University of York Science Education Group (UYSEG), at the BA Festival of Science 2005 in Dublin on 7 September.
All GCSE science courses in England and Wales have been revised in line with the model pioneered by Twenty First Century Science. These will replace Double Award GCSE Science from September 2006. UYSEG has played a leading role in this development.
The central aim of Twenty First Century Science is to provide a more flexible science curriculum that takes account of the widely differing aptitudes, interests and aspirations of 14 to 16-year-old students.
It aims to enhance students' scientific literacy, and to provide a stronger basis for progress to more advanced study in science.
In Twenty First Century Science, all students take a single Science GCSE as part of their core curriculum. This focuses on the science we meet in everyday life. The course helps students to deal intelligently with the sorts of information they encounter outside school.
The science is taught through popular themes such as genetics, radiation and life, health and food matters.
Most students also take a second GCSE in Additional Science. This is available in two versions, one with a 'pure science' flavour, exploring scientific concepts in more depth, and the other with an applied science emphasis, to develop practical competence through problem solving. UYSEG has developed the Twenty First Century Science suite of GCSE courses in partnership with the Nuffield Curriculum Centre and the awarding body OCR.
A pilot scheme in 78 schools has resulted in GCSE success for large numbers of students, and produced strongly positive feedback.
Long term we hope that there will be an improvement in GCSE grades and in the number of students studying sciences at Advanced level
Hugh Williets, Head of Science, Settle College
Hugh Williets, Head of Science at Settle College in North Yorkshire, is delighted with his students' response to the course: "Not one student in the last 18 months has asked me 'Why do I need to know this?' Long term we hope that there will be an improvement in GCSE grades and in the number of students studying sciences at Advanced level."
Dr Louise Newman, Head of Science at Sawston Village College, near Cambridge, echoes this view: "We are very much fans of the course. It has done exactly what it is designed to do - to encourage children to feel that science is more relevant to them.'
Speaking for the course development team, Professor Millar said: "The core-plus-options model enables us to offer a more stimulating and satisfying science curriculum to all students - both those who want to study science further and those who do not."
Jenifer Burden added that: "Innovations in education are successful when they provide teachers with the tools they need to build students' skills. Twenty First Century Science demonstrates the commitment of pilot teachers to providing a better experience of science for their students. Their professional feedback was a key contribution to the revision of the courses for the national launch in 2006."
Roland Jackson, Chief Executive of the British Association of the Advancement of Science (BA), and member of the Twenty First Century Science advisory committee chaired by Sir John Krebs, said: "I welcome the introduction of this course since it explicitly makes the links to citizenship and society. It enables students to understand science in its wider context, and then to pursue specialisation if they so wish."
A large scale evaluation of the Twenty First Century Science pilot is in progress. UYSEG and the Nuffield Curriculum Centre are working with OCR and Oxford University Press to provide support for schools preparing to teach Twenty First Century Science from September 2006.
Notes to editors:
- The first cohort of Twenty First Century Science students received their GCSE grades on August 25th 2005. The results for a cohort of over 6000 students show 58.4% A*-C for GCSE Science, 79.6% A*-C for GCSE Additional Science, and 33.8% A*-C for GCSE Additional Applied Science. To put this in context, in 2005 the UK national average for Double Award Science was 57.2% A*-C, and Double Award Applied Science it was 32.4%.
- Grants totalling more than £1.1m over a 5-year period from the Nuffield Foundation, Salters' Institute and Wellcome Trust have covered the costs of developing all the teaching materials, including both paper-based and e-learning elements, as well as providing training for teachers in pilot centres and evaluating the outcomes and impact.
- Twenty First Century Science aims to put into practice some of the principles laid out in the 'Beyond 2000' report which was the outcome of a seminar series looking at the future of the school science curriculum, supported by the Nuffield Foundation from 1996-1998. This set the agenda for subsequent initiatives in school science education.
- The University of York Science Education Group (UYSEG) is a collaboration between the Department of Educational Studies and the science departments of the University. Membership of the group includes academic staff, teachers on full or part time appointments or secondments, students studying for higher degrees in science education and visiting academics from many parts of the world.