March 16, 2004 Slide 1 Science Summit Talking Points Archived Information….… The Science Summit Talking Points Q&A Robert Tinker The Concord Consortium

March 16, 2004 Slide 2 Science Summit Talking Points Lewis Thomas Says It is the very strangeness of nature that makes science engrossing, that keeps bright people at it, and that ought to be at the center of science teaching. I believe that the worst thing that has happened to science education is that the great fun has gone out of it...Very few see science as the high adventure it really is, the wildest of all explorations ever taken by human beings, the chance to catch close views of things never seen before, the shrewdest maneuver for discovering how the world works.

March 16, 2004 Slide 3 Science Summit Talking Points 1. Too Much Stuff, Too Little Guidance At all grade levels we try to teach too many disconnected concepts. There are over 1,000 science benchmarks! The standards provide little guidance to educators about which are more important.

March 16, 2004 Slide 4 Science Summit Talking Points 2. Less May Be More Science education relies too little on student investigations of real and simulated systems. And too much on memorization and formal methods. The use of labs is declining alarmingly. The excessive number of standards, the culture of standardized tests, and the encyclopedic texts all push teachers to "cover" large numbers of topics superficially. Students need more time to explore fewer core topics in depth.

March 16, 2004 Slide 5 Science Summit Talking Points 3. Science Education Must Stay Current Science education is far behind the current state of science and losing ground. We need to create a system that can fundamentally change instructional practice much faster in response to science advances. This cannot be done by scattershot "materials projects", "activity packages", and exciting websites. Substantial, well-tested, thoughtful, scalable, technology-rich curricula are needed.

March 16, 2004 Slide 6 Science Summit Talking Points 4. Revise the Standards Science content standards need to be re-thought. They are a decade old. The new standards should be –based on a few (10-12) core content areas –incorporate recent science, math, and engineering advances –make far better use of technology

March 16, 2004 Slide 7 Science Summit Talking Points 5. More Professional Development Far too few qualified teachers are teaching science. Massive teacher professional development efforts are needed as well as strong incentives for schools to hire available well- qualified teachers. Opportunities for advanced science is severely limited in urban and rural schools.

March 16, 2004 Slide 8 Science Summit Talking Points 6. Use Computers and Networking Better use of Information and Computer Technologies (ICT) could address many of these problems – online delivery of new materials with built-in guidance and assessments –better and more sophisticated simulations –more use of probeware for real-time data acquisition – online courses for teachers and students.

March 16, 2004 Slide 9 Science Summit Talking Points What’s Online for Teachers? “What new online tools are available for teacher professional development and improved content knowledge in science?” Online courses –NTEN, Jason, Many U’s Video Case Studies Video Paper Builder Customizable Materials Self-study materials

March 16, 2004 Slide 10 Science Summit Talking Points What’s New for Students? “What tools are available to help teach science in K-12 classrooms?” Probeware Real-time data acquisition Instant display On handhelds

March 16, 2004 Slide 11 Science Summit Talking Points What’s New for Students? “What tools are available to help teach science in K-12 classrooms?” Interactive Models Explore like a lab Scaffolding Embedded Assessment

March 16, 2004 Slide 12 Science Summit Talking Points What’s New for Students? “What tools are available to help teach science in K-12 classrooms?” Online Materials Resources Modules Courses Virtual High School

March 16, 2004 Slide 13 Science Summit Talking Points ICT Use and Barriers “How widespread are such online tools, and what are the barriers to broader use?” Widespread? –Online resources are incredible –Many “meta” sites like Blue Web’n –Much less integrated into substantial curricula –School use of technology is less than reported

March 16, 2004 Slide 14 Science Summit Talking Points ICT Use and Barriers “How widespread are such online tools, and what are the barriers to broader use?” Barriers –Most online resources are superficial and lack significant interactivity –Sophisticated software faces technical barriers –Cost of software--should be open source –Lack of support for innovation –Lack of support for software development

March 16, 2004 Slide 15 Science Summit Talking Points TPD Research Needed “What tools and online opportunities exist for professional development that need further study as potential models for upgrading teacher content knowledge?” Integrated video case studies, software tools, and curricula. Automated collection of student data from tools and online resources. Teacher customization of curricula as a TPD strategy.

March 16, 2004 Slide 16 Science Summit Talking Points Future Directions “Where do you see these tools evolving in the future?” Online, teacher-modified curricula using interactive models and tools Focus on core science concepts “Tamed” professional software and resources Customization of online materials as TPD Specialized online courses for teachers

March 16, 2004 Slide 17 Science Summit Talking Points Students can learn more science better, faster, & deeper Technology is essential

March 16, 2004 Slide 18 Science Summit Talking Points Core Science Topics Evolution –Cosmic –Earth –Biological Interactions –Dynamics and thermodynamics –Electricity and magnetism –Interacting atoms –Waves –Properties of materials Organisms –Reproduction and genetics –Biochemistry of systems Intelligent Behavior –Computers and robots –Learning

March 16, 2004 Slide 19 Science Summit Talking Points About the Core Concepts Interrelated. A spiral approach is needed. All involve emergent properties All are too complex for formal derivations All are accessible with probeware and modeling