WORKSHOP 5
Scientific progress and science teaching:
basic knowledge, interdisciplinarity and ethical problems

Introductory video: "Awareness of solar energy and renewable energy" (Cuba)

Synopsis: This video, shot in Cuba, presents an experiment by the Cuban Department of Education in co-operation with CUBASOLAR, an NGO that is active in building awareness of the use of renewable energy. It shows how young Cubans are learning the mindful use of solar energy. It also shows how Cuba has promoted the installation of photovoltaic panels (electrification through solar energy) in most of its rural schools and how this system forges a link between education and practical action.


WORKSHOP 5 DISCUSSION PAPER

Introduction

All States recognize the importance of science in training individuals, but also as a driving force for sustainable development in all its aspects, in particular economic, social and ecological. It is therefore all the more urgent that access not be reserved for a small elite but that everyone, the world over, can reach a sufficient level of “scientific literacy”.

However, is science education, in terms of its content and its learning methods and strategies, designed and implemented in such a way as satisfactorily to meet a range of challenges: speed of change, complexity and interdisciplinarity, ethical and social factors, citizenship issues?

All the studies that have been done on these subjects tend to show that there is a significant gap between the scientific education actually provided and the needs of individuals and societies. Giordan’s conclusions are a good statement of the indictment: “Science teaching as now practised is not producing the results we have a right to expect. Assessments that have been made over the last twenty years and more clearly show this. The knowledge imparted is forgotten in a few weeks. The same difficulties are encountered at university level as in kindergarten. What purpose was served by the intervening years of schooling? Nor is this situation the most serious. It is only the visible symptom of a larger malaise that is engendered by today’s programmes. Science teaching is no longer suited to the society for which it is supposed to be preparing citizens. It burdens the mind with useless detail while keeping students in ignorance of important keys to understanding. It offers no insights into the challenges of the day. It does not introduce students to the ways of reasoning they will need in tomorrow’s world. As a result of this mismatch, most young people give up on science. By failing to answer their questions, by treating subjects in the abstract, it generates boredom and kills interest, as is clearly shown by the fact that fewer and fewer questions are asked as the curriculum progresses. What is worse, scientific and technological education is a great contributor to exclusion. Because of the social role imposed on science teaching, many adolescents and young adults see in it only a way of screening them out.” [Translation.]

Many countries have already undertaken – or are about to undertake – an in-depth reform of scientific and technological education, to resolve such problems as: the inflexibility of science education, the segmentation of content, the lack of applied knowledge, teachers’ limited ability to manage change, inadequate teaching methods, the isolation of science from its environment and unsatisfactory evaluation of science education. The strategies adopted may differ from one country to the next, but the choices facing public authorities seem virtually identical.

A number of common factors or converging points of view appear when it comes to the necessary vision of science education reform. Osborne summarizes them as follows: “Science education should be made up of a ‘triumvirate’ of knowledge and understanding of scientific content, the scientific method and science as a social undertaking (communities’ social practices).” [Translation.]

Problems to be solved

By taking this approach, education systems will be able to confront and resolve a number of problems concerned both with issues peculiar to the scientific disciplines themselves and with horizontal issues.

For the scientific disciplines themselves:

- the scope of disciplines dealt with: Should this be limited to the exact sciences (physical sciences, life sciences, earth sciences) or take in a wider field, including mathematics, information science and the technological disciplines, human sciences and social sciences?

- basic knowledge: What is the basic knowledge required in the main fields in the discipline and the main teaching levels? How ought these to be defined, organized and evaluated?

- the impact of science on contemporary societies: How does the development of science and technology influence the development of our societies? What must one know and be able to do to understand and master this development?

- the acquisition of methods and modes of reasoning: A number of intellectual processes are characteristic of, or necessary to, scientific research. They are required for work on scientific content, but when mastered they can be put to other than scientific uses. Among these processes are, for example: the ability to observe, to compare, to describe, the experimental method, the practice of research (documentary in particular) and criticism of information, and rigour in reasoning. Mastery of all these processes is doubtless desirable, but how can one do without experimental practice and the hypothetico-deductive method?

As regards horizontal issues:

- the question of ethics is particularly relevant to life sciences and biomedicine. But must it not also extend to issues pertaining to the environment, pollution, wastes, and water resource management?

- the question of citizenship: Does the impact of scientific development on societies not bring with it an absolute need to possess a certain store of up-to-date knowledge so that one can understand, relate to and engage in the societal debates directly or indirectly related to these developments?

- the question of access to and use of ICTs: In view of the explosive growth of ICTs and their impact on all aspects of economic, social and cultural life through access to communication networks and information sources that were unimaginable even 10 years ago, are ICTs not already a major issue for the educational process?

Possible solutions

In designing and implementing reforms, a number of questions arise: the curriculum and its construction, educational choices, the teacher, the role of the extracurricular sector.

1. On what should the definition of the curriculum be based?

2. Can we, and should we, continue to do “science teaching” in the traditional sense of the term?

3. “Inquiry into science, the links between scientific knowledge, culture and society, or between knowledge and values, is just as important as knowledge itself. For example, one may inquire into the solutions proposed by technology and their limitations.” How does transgenic maize constitute progress? Or the mobile phone? (Giordan)

4. In that case, does the role of the teacher not undergo considerable change?

5. Finally, we need to think about the role of the extracurricular sector and the educational environment.

The extracurricular sector is a source of wealth that has so far been underused in science education and, in particular, has not been integrated into a coherent, complementary pedagogical undertaking.

The prime example of this, of course, is the media as a whole: the press (periodicals, scholarly and popular non-fiction books) and the audiovisual media (radio, TV, videocassettes, CD-ROMs, multimedia encyclopædias, etc.) or everything that is accessible online (Internet).

Another example: associations, clubs and other groups. Another great source is resource centres such as museums, botanical gardens, terrariums, planetariums, observatories or various science parks such as exist in many countries and, increasingly, offer not just exhibitions to visit and things to see but also interactive knowledge- forming activities.

It may also be asked whether it would not be better for schools to be more open to visits by scientists themselves, not all of whom are aloof, inaccessible know-it-alls — far from it. ?

Finally, societies have hidden stores of traditional knowledge and know-how in a great number of fields (medicine, agronomy, climatology, knowledge of natural perils, psychology, etc.).