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AUSTRALIAN EDUCATION DIGEST

Science Education Special

18 March 2010

THE AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM: (4 items)
RESEARCH: (3 items)
RESOURCES: (7 items)
CREATIONISM & INTELLIGENT DESIGN: (3 items)
AWARDS & PRIZES: (4 items)
CONFERENCES & EVENTS: (5 items)
ACSSO EMAIL NEWSLETTERS

SCIENCE IN THE AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM

Consultation on the draft Australian Curriculum

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority

The draft Australian Curriculum for English, mathematics, science and history (K-10) will be available for consultation from 1 March 2010 to the end of May 2010. The draft curriculum for these learning areas will be available online through the Australian Curriculum Consultation Portal, and will include content descriptions, achievement standards, content elaborations and some annotated work samples.

The consultation website will be available for everyone to read, review, download or print the draft K-10 curriculum. It will also be the place where individuals and groups can provide feedback and where the online feedback survey can be completed.

The K-10 consultation process and the K-10 part of the website will be open until 23 May 2010.

Work on the senior secondary years curriculum for English, mathematics, science and history is proceeding according to the agreed timeframe. From April 2010 to June 2010, the senior secondary curriculum will be available online for consultation.

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Information Sheet: Science

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority

The following information sheet specifically for science provides information on the key features of the curriculum, the differences and similarities between state/territory curriculums with that of the Australian Curriculum, and what international references have been used to develop the Australian Curriculum.

The draft K–10 Australian Curriculum for science is organised around three interrelated strands–Science understanding, Science inquiry skills, and Science as a human endeavour.

It is designed to:

prepare students to use science for life and active citizenship so that they can function effectively in a scientifically and technologically advanced society
provide a foundation for learning leading to senior secondary science, science and engineering courses at university and technical and vocational education and training.

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Nobel winner Marshall concerns with new science curriculum

Athanae Lucev & Jayne Rickard, West Australian, 8 March 2010

WA Nobel Prize laureate Barry Marshall has expressed concerns about the draft national curriculum for science, saying parts of it are vague, not evidence-based and pave the way for non-scientific elements to be taught in classrooms.

Dr Marshall, who in 2005 was awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine with fellow scientist Robin Warren, said the Science as a Human Endeavour category in the course could allow teachers to teach "all kinds of weird things which are not based on scientific evidence".

"I think that is the thin edge of the wedge," he said. "That human endeavour column is what worries me and it needs to be tightly controlled or scrutinised."

Dr Marshall applauded the adoption of scientific principles and the way the curriculum valued the "exciting and interesting process of discovery and being a scientist". He said it was great that the course would not be focused purely on outcomes.

Read entire article: http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/6900383/nobel-winner-marshall-attacks-new-curriculum/

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Could do better...

Nicky Phillips, Sydney Morning Herald, 8 March 2010

Science educators have expressed disappointment in the new curriculum, calling it "conservative" and "sterile".

The associate professor of education at Monash University, Deborah Corrigan, said the draft "took all the fun out of science". Children generally appeared interested in science, but they did not seem to be interested in science education, she said. "You've got people going to museums and science shows, they participate in science, but they don't study science.

"My understanding was that [the new curriculum] was supposed to be forward-thinking to take us into the 21st century. I certainly don't think it's doing that." She said the curriculum looked a bit like something she would have studied at school.

The executive director of the Australian Council of Deans of Science and member of the science curriculum advisory panel, John Rice, agreed, saying the attempt by the committee to make the curriculum more exciting and engaging in modern science had not succeeded fully. He hoped the consultation process would address some of these issues.

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RESEARCH

Re-imagining Science Education

Engaging students in science for Australia’s future

Russell Tytler, Australian Education Review, Australian Council for Educational Research, 2007

Science education in Australia, as in other post-industrial countries, is in a state of crisis.

The language of crisis is used by government, industry and educators alike to describe the diminishing proportion of students in the post-compulsory years who are undertaking science-related studies, particularly in the physical sciences.

In itself this might not be such an issue, except that this flight from science is occurring in societies that are in increasing need of science and technology-based professionals to carry the nation into a technologically driven future. It is the pipeline into this pool of expertise that seems in danger of drying up.

The concern is thus largely economic, but as this review will point out, the issue is wider than this, and encompasses the need to maintain a citizenry that is literate in and well disposed towards science.

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Science Education - research group

Monash University

Science Education, locally, nationally and internationally is facing a decline in participation despite a growing need for a scientifically literate population and workforce. While the aim of many science curricula around the world have scientific literacy as their major aim, there appears to be little effort to take this seriously by curriculum developers, teachers, students and more importantly political decision-makers.

Our guiding question is: “Why should students study science?” Given that approximately 90% of the population currently do not fit the traditional knowledge and skills base required for a traditional base of science education, some significant research needs to be undertaken about science learning that:

is relevant to students and encourages their participation;
seriously meets the aims of what it means to be scientifically literate; and,
addresses the needs of students in developing their notions of “self-identity” and the role science plays in this development.

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Research study shows students like science - but not in final years

Justine Ferrari, the Australian, 1 March 2010

THE most common explanation for the decline of science in schools is that students think science is boring and irrelevant. But a new study of student attitudes challenges this assumption, with almost half the students surveyed saying science is fun, and one-third looking forward to science classes.

The report by the science education research centre at the University of New England found 44 per cent of Year 10 students consider science is one of the most interesting school subjects, with a third nominating it their favourite subject.

But when it comes to choosing subjects for the final years of school, students shun science.

The associate director of science education at the SiMERR National Centre at UNE, Terry Lyons, said students now had many more subjects to choose from than a decade ago, and were often tempted to pick less challenging subjects.

The situation has been exacerbated by universities, which have dropped science subjects such as biology, chemistry and physics as a prerequisite for science courses...

Read entire article: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/students-like-science-but-not-in-final-years/story-e6frg6nf-1225835358752

Download the report: http://www.une.edu.au/simerr/pages/projects/131choosingscience.pdf

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RESOURCES

STELR

The STELR Project is a national secondary school science education initiative of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE).

This is an association of professional men and women who are elected as Fellows of the Academy on the basis of their achievement in the application of science, technology and engineering to Australian life.

STELR is the acronym for ‘Science and Technology Education Leveraging Relevance’.

The STELR Project was developed to address the decreasing number of students choosing to further their studies in the enabling sciences and mathematics. It achieves this by focusing on one of the key issues of our time, an issue that most students are very concerned about - that of global warming and climate change – and showing them that science and mathematics are crucial to solving this issue.

The STELR project also aims to:

Improve the level of science literacy and understanding in the community;
Raise awareness of opportunities in technology-related careers;
Prepare students to engage with science ideas and be knowledgeable about the way science and scientists work;
Increase the number of students choosing science and engineering careers to address the shortage of science and engineering graduates; and
Improve the quality of science classroom teaching practice.

Read more at http://www.asta.edu.au/

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Science for Schools

CSIRO

CSIRO supports primary and high school science education nationwide.

Today’s school students will be the scientists, policy-makers and voters of tomorrow. So they need a strong grounding in science to be able to participate.

CSIRO's school programs operate around Australia. We offer relevant examples to primary and high school students about the value and relevance of science to industry, communities and society.

In this way, the programs:

alert school students, their families and teachers of science to the contribution of scientific research by CSIRO and other organisations to our community
encourage students to pursue careers in science, engineering and technology
engage, enthuse and educate students, teachers and the community about science and its applications.

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Science Education Review

Primary and high school teachers, as well as university educators, are busy people. With all your professional duties, limited budget for subscriptions, and perhaps even your location, you probably find it impossible to keep up with the latest developments in science education.

The Science Education Review (SER) (ISSN 1446-6120) provides the answer: a no-nonsense, fast-reading, comprehensive review of cutting-edge and beyond thinking in science education, plus much more. SER is published, in English, as quarterly issues. While the content of the journal focusses on primary and high school education, much is also readily transferrable to the university setting.

This relatively new journal contains a summary of carefully selected research and other articles from around the world. While some summaries are compiled by the Editor, others are contributed by the authors of the original articles. There are ideas that may surprise you and, for convenience, the content is available in a choice of formats: SER On-Line (both PDF files and ready-to-use, MS Word documents) and printed copies (unbound).

Also included are original, peer-reviewed feature and contributed articles (including position, opinion, theoretical, and review papers, reflections on practice, and empirical research reports), science demonstrations, student experiments, activities for eliciting students’ alternative conceptions, critical incidents, science stories, answers to teachers’ questions, learning/teaching strategies, science poetry, assessment tasks, other useful classroom resources and links, interviews with leading science educators, a Reader's Forum, interesting facts, quotes, humour, and more.

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Lab Notes

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Lab Notes has science lesson plans, activities, videos and many more useful resources for teachers.

The Surfing Scientist
Ruben Meerman - aka the Surfing Scientist - provides great lesson plans, conundrums, teacher demonstrations and loads of fun science tricks.
http://www.abc.net.au/science/surfingscientist/

the experiMENTALS
Bernie Hobbs and Ruben Meerman are 'the experiMENTALS' - dedicated to making science entertaining as well as educational in this online video series.
http://www.abc.net.au/science/experimentals/

Ace day jobs
This online video series showcases young people in a variety of interesting careers.
http://www.abc.net.au/acedayjobs/

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Science Education WWW Links

The University of Sydney

This site contains links to internet sites for trainee and practicing secondary school Science teachers. It has been developed as a resource for students in undergraduate and postgraduate teacher education courses in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Sydney.

It forms part of the resources collection for the Science Curriculum Units of Study in the Master of Teaching/Bachelor of Teaching and the Bachelor of Education/Bachelor of Science degrees in pre-service teacher education at the university.

The links have been grouped as follows:

a collection of recently discovered websites of interest to science teachers
an archive of science education websites categorised under various subject headings (e.g. science disciplines, curriculum issues, teaching activities & resources, organisations etc)
a collection of general internet search engines and directories including science and education specific search engines
a collection of on-line references (dictionaries, encyclopaedias, journals, magazines and ezines etc) for science and technology including current news in science
a selection of general education sites

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CREATIONISM & INTELLIGENT DESIGN

Christian schools angry over ban on teaching creationism

Malcolm Brown, Sydney Morning Herald, 3 March 2010

Australian Christian schools will campaign against what they see as the thin end of the wedge - a decision by the South Australian Non-Government Schools Registration Board to effectively ban the teaching of creationism.

Under policies published in December, the board said it required "teaching of science as an empirical discipline, focusing on inquiry, hypothesis, investigation, experimentation, observation and evidential analysis".

The board said it "does not accept as satisfactory a science curriculum in a non-government school which is based on, espouses or reflects the literal interpretation of a religious text in its treatment of either creationism or intelligent design".

The chief executive of Christian Schools Australia, Stephen O'Doherty, said the board statement was too strident, removing the right to teach "biblical perspectives" as part of science.

Read entire article: http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/christian-schools-angry-over-ban-on-teaching-creationism-20100302-pgjb.html

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God, Science & Sanity

Q&A, ABC TV, 8 March 2010

TONY JONES: Good evening, and welcome to Q&A. Answering your questions tonight: the Federal Minister for Agriculture, Tony Burke; mental health expert and Australian of the Year Patrick McGorry; Rabbi Jacqui Ninio of Sydney's Progressive Emanuel Synagogue; the author of The God Delusion and the Greatest Show On Earth, evolutionary biologist and outspoken atheist Richard Dawkins; Family First senator Steven Fielding; and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition Julie Bishop. Please welcome our panel.

RENEE BRASIER: Professor Dawkins, you are clearly against the teaching of creationism in the context of the science classroom, but do you think there is any value in teaching religion studies in schools?

TONY JONES: I won't start with you, if that's okay. I might go to Tony Burke first of all for an answer to that and I'll come back to you.

TONY BURKE: I think on the teaching of religious studies there is a significant role there for parents as to whether or not they want that to be one of the things that's taught to their children. I agree with the comment that religious teaching does not belong in the science room. I do agree with that but I also think, that there's significant issues for parents.

JULIE BISHOP: But, no, I believe that intelligent design is not something that would be taught in a science class. I mean science, as far as I'm concerned, is the search for the natural causes of universe and that's what science should be about. We don't have intelligent design classes as such in Australia, as far as I'm aware in the curriculum, but I think that it should be open to parents and open to schools to choose to offer religious instruction if that's what the schools and the parents wish to have.

DAVID IN VICTORIA: Do you believe intelligent design should be part of the science curriculum, taught alongside evolution or do you believe it is non-scientific and should be relegated to the rubbish bin?

STEVE FIELDING: Look, I actually think that kids are pretty smart and I actually think that there's room, potentially, to be actually taught both and allow the kids to work it out. You know, I mean, I think they're pretty smart. Not in the science room. I said before Tony. So in the science room, I've told you before, and I'll say it again, religion and science should be separated. I don't think there's room for that and that's why I'm saying is that, you know, if you really - if parents are concerned then maybe the schools should teach both, but not in the science class, if you know what I mean.

RICHARD DAWKINS: ... do we think that religion should be taught in schools not in science classes? Of course it should not be taught in science class, but it certainly should be taught. Religion is a very important part of our culture ... It is the basis for a lot of western literature and for that reason it's very important to teach it. You can't understand European history without being steeped in religion, because so many of the wars were about it. There's another very good reason for teaching religion, comparative religion, which is that children will then learn that there are lots of different religions and they're all incompatible and they can't all be right ...

Watch or download the video or read the transcript at: http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/txt/s2831712.htm

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Creationism ban a test of faith for religious schools

Lauren Zwaans, The Advertiser, March 15, 2010

The Association of Independent Schools is seeking legal advice on the banning of creationism or intelligent design in the science curriculum.

State association executive director Gary Le Duff said the ban, imposed late last year by the Non-Government Schools Registration Board's guidelines, had been met with disapproval among faith-based schools.

"There was very strong support for concerns about the excessive intrusion of government regulatory bodies into matters relating to the underpinning faith or educational philosophy of schools," he said.

Mr Le Duff said an incident where a poster on creationism had been removed at an SA school had "galvanised schools across the spectrum because it was seen as intrusive".

He said he was seeking legal advice about the board's power to restrict schools.

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AWARDS & PRIZES

Australian Museum Eureka Science Prizes 2010

Entries closing 7 May 2010

The Eureka Prizes reward great Australian science. Our program encourages young science enthusiasts and film makers, and acknowledges those that inspire them in the classroom.

How do we do this? Through the University of Sydney Sleek Geeks Science Eureka Prizes (open to primary and secondary students) and the University of Technology, Sydney Eureka Prize for Science Teaching (open to secondary teachers).

Haven’t started working on your entries? Don’t worry as there is plenty of time and we have some great resources that will help you implement the program into your classroom. Download our teacher resources which include lesson plans, teacher notes, judges’ hints and tips and much more.

Read about teacher resources at: http://eureka.australianmuseum.net.au/teacher

Read frequently asked questions at: http://eureka.australianmuseum.net.au/about/faqs]

Read how to enter at: http://eureka.australianmuseum.net.au/enter

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Prime Minister's Prizes for Science

Entries closing 21 May

The Prime Minister's Prizes for Science are a national tribute to excellent and dedicated work in Australian science and science teaching. Each comprises a cash component, a medallion and a lapel pin of the nature of those worn by recipients of Australian Honours such as the AO.

The major Prize, the Prime Minister's Prize for Science, is one of the nation’s most highly-regarded awards and the premier national award for scientific achievement. It is awarded for an outstanding specific achievement or series of related achievements in any area of science advancing human welfare or benefiting society.

The Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year and the Science Minister's Prize for Life Scientist of the Year are awarded to scientists to recognise and reward outstanding early-career research and to demonstrate to the public, and to school students and science undergraduates in particular, that outstanding early-career achievement in science is not only possible but can be of world-class importance.

The Prime Minister's Prizes for Excellence in Science Teaching in Primary and Secondary Schools were introduced in 2002, to honour our inspirational science teachers. Many of today’s most prominent Australian scientists have credited their teachers with generating the interest and enthusiasm for science that they have carried with them throughout their subsequent careers.

Nominate online at: https://grants.innovation.gov.au/SciencePrize/Pages/NominateOnline.aspx

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Australian National Chemistry Quiz

22 July

The Quiz is a unique chemical education activity. It provides a major focus for secondary school students on the relevance of chemistry in an exciting and stimulating way.

Much of the success of the Quiz rests with the teachers who promote and run the Quiz in their schools and the coordinators who help organise the Quiz in their countries.

The Quiz is run in four divisions; Junior Years 7-8, Junior Years 9-10, Senior Year 11 and Senior Year 12.

It consists of 30 multiple choice questions and will need a time slot of 70-80 minutes. The actual Quiz runs for approximately one hour. The Quiz will be supervised within the school by the teacher.

Read more at http://www.ancq.com/

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Rio Tinto Big Science Competition

Registrations closing 31 July 2010

There are two parts to Rio Tinto Big Science, the Big Science Competition and Big Science Online. We aim to enthuse students and encourage them to study science and consider science-based careers.

The Big Science Competition tests students' critical thinking and problem-solving skills as well their science knowledge. The Competition is a one-hour paper containing 30 multiple-choice questions.

New this year: test questions are written by the Australian Council for Educational Research, Australia’s leading organisation for educational research.

All participating students are given a certificate to recognise their achievement in the Competition, and top-scoring students are invited to a National Presentation Ceremony.

Find out more: http://www.aso.edu.au/bigscience/competition

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CONFERENCES & EVENTS

CONASTA 59

Australian Science Teachers Association (ASTA) Annual Conference

4 – 7 July 2010: University of Technology, Sydney NSW

CONASTA 59 will provide a strong professional learning and development opportunity including

Lab teach program
Primary program
Workshops and excursions
Access and interaction with UTS scientists and cutting-edge labs
Fantastic networking opportunities

Details and registration: http://guest.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Summary.aspx?e=1a4004e5-1cf4-4df0-931f-94d23111a400

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National Science Week

14–22 August 2010

Things are starting to happen in preparation for National Science Week 2010.

At the end of last year a large number of individuals and organisations from across every State and Territory submitted applications for grants to assist in running events celebrating this year’s National Science Week. The grants round has now closed and we expect that the Minister’s office will release the names of the successful recipients within the next few weeks.

For those of you looking for inspiration, this year is the International Year of Biodiversity and this may provide an interesting topic for you to consider in planning your events.

Work towards locating international tour guests is progressing well, and we will be approaching a selection of fascinating potential guests next month. Keep watching for more information!

We look forward to hearing about the exciting ideas you come up with to make this year the most successful to date. Find out more – and sign up for newsletters and information: http://www.scienceweek.gov.au/Pages/index.aspx

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“Leading Change – Living for One Planet”: 16th Biennial Conference

National Australian Association for Environmental Education

27-30 September 2010, Australian National University, Canberra ACT

The Association aims to deliver a conference that:

Meets the needs of education for sustainability practitioners
Brings together the education, environment and business sectors to support a green skilled workforce
Encourages youth (15 -25) to come together and develop an agreed vision for a sustainable future
Showcases organisations and individuals that demonstrate leadership in reducing their footprint at work, home and play
Provides direction for the second half of the UN Decade for Education for Sustainable Development - where do we want to be in 2014?
Is of low environmental impact

Five key themes have been identified that will provide broad coverage of environmental education and its economic, political and social importance to communities. We urge you to submit an abstract as soon as possible and look forward to meeting you in 2010.

For details visit: https://www.conferenceco.com.au/aaee

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Science Summer School

January 2011

The Science Summer School is an accelerated science course for 72 secondary-school students invited on the basis of their performance in the National Qualifying Exams. It runs for two weeks in January at Monash University.

The School is an opportunity for talented students to work with others passionate about science. The work is intense and covers the equivalent of first year studies in biology, chemistry or physics. It's a great head start to further studies (and careers) in science.

The first step is to register for the National Qualifying Exams. In October ASI will contact schools to invite students to attend the Summer School. All invited students are given assignments and tutorials by correspondence in the weeks before the Summer School.
There is a fee to attend the Science Summer School and the cost to students in 2009 was $1,500. This helps pay for the training program, meals, accommodation and transport in Melbourne. The support of sponsors keeps our fees as low as possible.

Australia's three teams in the Science Olympiads are chosen from the students who attend the Science Summer School. They will be selected on how well they did at the School, and on their performance in the Final Selection Exam held in March.

Full details: http://www.aso.edu.au/summerschool/

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Science Olympiads

The Science Olympiads are international competitions for secondary-school science students, where teams from 80 countries battle it out for gold, silver and bronze medals.

Each year Australian Science Innovations (ASI) selects and trains three teams to compete at the Science Olympiads. The Biology and Chemistry teams have four members; the Physics team has five. Competing in the Science Olympiads is a huge head start in launching a possible career in science.

The Science Olympiads are held in July in a different country each year. Competing countries take turns to host the event. Olympians are treated as VIPs and meet senior ministers and heads of state as well as experiencing the culture of the host country.

The competition is based on both theory and laboratory work, and our teams are trained at residential camps at Monash University in Melbourne. Most of the team members are in Grade 11, although some may be younger.

Find out more: http://www.aso.edu.au/olympiads/

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