Science Education Awareness
When students aged 13-17 were asked what their favorite subject was in a series of surveys taken in 2003, “science” was the second most frequent answer. However, only three years before in 2000, another study taken by the National Assessment of Educational Progress found that 82% of high school seniors were not proficient in science. It seems that students enjoy science, but evidently, they clearly are lacking in scientific knowledge. What is keeping students from understanding science, and how can these students improve their scientific literacy?
Professor Kate Susman, a biology teacher at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, writes articles on her opinions and thoughts about science in education in a blog called “Teaching Tales.” Professor Susman has taught science for over twenty years. During that time, she has encountered many high level students who find science as something to avoid. She believes that science may appear overwhelming to students due to its complicated nature and ever changing theories. Susman thinks that the answer is letting curiosity take lead of science and supplying method to the curiosity rather than continuing to teach science in a simplified, non interesting way that many schools have done in recent years. She describes science as “an extreme sport for the brain,” and insists that the way it is taught should take that into account.
The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) was established in Arlington, Virginia in 1944, and since then, has worked to “rekindle a national sense of urgency and action” in students, parents, and teachers alike in the importance of science education. The NSTA is the largest organization that focuses on the importance of science education in not only the youth of our country, but the entire world. The NSTA has taken many steps towards creating a scientifically literate world, such as holding annual conferences around the United States, focusing on both trending science education topics and important issues that have been around for just as long as the association itself. As well, the association offers workshops and presentations for science teachers and advisors. In addition to conferences, the NSTA also holds recognition programs, which highlight good practices in science and improvements that can easily be made, and publishes science journals for different levels of scientific learning. The National Science Teachers Association is not alone in its quest to improve science education, but through its work, it is by far the most successful.
Students, especially in high school, appear to like science. However, as Professor Kate Susman from Vassar has noticed, they are drawn away when they see how thorough science can be. But organizations like The National Science Teachers Association are coming to the rescue to solve this problem. The NSTA presents science to students, as well as teachers and parents, as something curious and exciting, but in a teachable way that will keep everyone interested. Science plays a major role in the modern world, and in the hopes of teachers and the NSTA alike, soon the world will be a scientifically literate place.
Works Cited
Susman, Kate. "The Importance of Science in Our Education." Web log post.Teaching Tales. Wordpress, 4 June 2015. Web. 10 Feb. 2016.
http://pages.vassar.edu/teachingtales/
Beacom, David. "National Science Teachers Association." National Science Teachers Association. NSTA, 2016. Web. 20 Feb. 2016.
https://www.nsta.org/about/overview.aspx