‘Global’ Geoscience Education A selected look at the global status of geoscience education Glenn Vallender Teacher of biology and science at Ashburton College. Doctoral student at Curtin University’s Science and Maths Education Centre, Perth, WA Contact: ge.vallender @ xtra.co.nz 25 June 2004 WHAT ABOUT IGEO? “Promoting Geoscience Education Worldwide” • Started in 1993, IGEO is now affiliated to the IUGS. There is no membership fee for IGEO. Do you want to join? • Conferences have been in : Southampton 1993 Hilo 1997 Sydney 2000 Calgary 2003 Bayreuth 2006 There are conference proceedings available for each of the four conferences. Does your library have copies? • IGEO has a new website hosted by Keele University, UK. http://www.esci.keele.ac.uk/igeo/links.htm INTERNATIONAL GEOSCIENCE EDUCATION ORGANISATION: Survey 2002 Does your country have a defined National Earth Science educational standard? Country Yes No Response Summary Argentina Y No details provided Australia Y No details provided Bangladesh Y No specific ES curricula but mostly part of geography Brazil N No specific ES curricula but part of natural sciences and geography Canada N Education is a provincial responsibility Indonesia N Has national standards in ‘geographical science’ Israel Y But not phrased in a ‘standards form’. Specific to El. Jr.High & High school Korea Y For all elementary and secondary schools Mozambique N ES syllabus not included in curricula at any level. Geography dominates. New Zealand Y As part of the national science curriculum years 1-13 Norway Y For grades 1, 5 and 8 Philippines Y As part of the Science learning Competencies South Africa N 1996 revisions never implemented. 2000 revisions placed ES in geography Taiwan (ROC) Y Specifically ES standards for grades 9 and 10. UK/Wales Y Limited 7% ES 11-16 year olds. Phys geography a key element USA Y Nat Sci Standards adopted in 1996 but not compulsory What barriers are there in Establishing Earth Science Standards? Response Summary Country Argentina Australia Bangladesh Brazil Canada Indonesia Lack of trained and qualified teachers. Lack of resources. Insufficient time. Lack of trained and qualified teachers. Little money for upgrading qualifications. Lack of money. Lack of trained and qualified teachers. Low status and lack of Earth Science in curricula. Poor standard of students entering Univ. Lack of training. Little institutional support in junior and secondary schools. Overcrowded curricula. Lack of trained teachers. Lack of money. Lack of resources. Israel Reluctance of teachers to make changes. Japan Lack of money. Lack of resources. Systemic changes needed. ES now elective and integrated. Korea Fear that the number of students (schools) offering ES will decrease. Mozambique Lack of trained and qualified teachers. Out of date syllabus. Lack of money and resources New Zealand Lack of trained and qualified teachers, resources. Low historical status of ES in curriculum. Norway Lack of qualified teachers. Philippines Lack of trained and qualified teachers. Out of date resources. South Africa Lack of trained and qualifed teachers, resources and money. UK/Wales USA Lack of trained and qualified teachers. Poor resources. Negative teacher attitudes. No response What changes do you expect to see in the next three years: Selected Responses Country Response Summary Argentina Finance minister will change twice but with less money each time Australia None Bangladesh Convince Ed ministry to introduce ES curricula into pre-college and college Brazil Review of ES in the curricula Canada Increased awareness in the profession that we are facing a crisis Israel Gain more ES teachers Korea As ES subjects become elective, enrolments in ES will decline (same for Japan) South Africa ES is now in the geography area where 1 in 10 teachers have no science background UK/Wales Improvements in teacher education, textbooks, syllabi and assessment New Zealand What do you think and why? What Are The Main Conclusions? • More data is needed from Africa, Central Europe and West Asian countries. But this is difficult to obtain. • About 70% of countries have a national Earth Science standard • Historical influence of geography and low status given to the Earth Sciences within most national (and state) curricula. • Lack of awareness of the importance of the Earth Sciences. • Lack of ES trained and qualified teachers. • Lack of teaching resources, funding and inservice training. • Teaching needs to be innovative, enthusiastic, motivational and pedagogically sound. A Perspective View: USA v’s NZ www. agiweb.org/education/statesurveys www. minedu.govt.nz/statistics USA (2000) NZ (2003) K-12 enrolment 46.9 million 761,755 (K-13) Y9 -12 enrolment 13.1 million 260,000? (y10-13) K-12 Teachers 2.9 million ~46,000(14,000 at HS) Average size HS 752 38% state sec >1000 No. HS graduates 2.5 million 26,636 HS ESci Teachers 13% 7% (Lee & Vallender) HS Bio Teachers 48% 50%? In a recent survey of Ontario, there are 80,000 students at year 13 but only 1674 or 2% study Earth and Space Science (CGN). UK Case Study (King, 2003) Proportion of UK National Science Curriculum Statements Devoted to Each Subject Area 2% 3% 4% 4% 4% 3% 30% 5% Biology 2% 3% Chemistry 36% 29% Physics Space Science 31% 30% 29% Earth Science Environment 32% 21% Key stage 3 (age 11-14) 32% Key stage 4 (age 15-17) UK Teacher Attitudes to Teaching ES (after Lydon & King, 2003) UK Teacher Confidence in Teaching Earth Science 45 39 40 36 Percentage 35 30 52% lack confidence and nearly 60% said they did not enjoy teaching ES 25 20 15 13.4 11.4 10 5 0.5 0 1 2 3 4 5 Likert Scale UK Teacher Enjoyment in Teaching Earth Science 45 41 40 34 Percentage 35 Likert Scale 5 is high 30 25 20 16 N = 202 teachers 15 8 10 5 1 0 1 2 3 LIke rt Scale 4 5 Some NZ Teacher Attitudes to Teaching ES Response Rate Teacher attitudes to teaching Earth Science, 1997 60 46 Percentage 50 40 Year 9 30 25 20 Year 10 Year 11 20 5 10 3 y9 n = 47 y10 n = 60 y11 n = 61 y12 n = 16 y13 n = 15 Note: Year 11 is NCEA level 1 (age 15) 0 1 2 3 4 5 Attitude Scale (5 is high) Attitude scale 1 ‘hate it’ Percentage Teacher attitudes to teaching Earth Science, 1997 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 62 2 ‘disinterested’ 67 3 ‘interested’ Year 12 0 0 1 13 13 6 2 19 20 Attitude scale 4 4 ‘enthusiastic’ 5 ‘Very enthusiastic’ 0 3 Year 13 5 [Vallender, (1997) Royal Society Report] Average number of hours teaching Earth Science in the UK (Lydon and King, 2003) National Science Curriculum Earth science teaching 10.0 8.7 Number of hours 9.0 8.0 Overall av’g = 5.1 = 2 weeks? 7.0 5.3 6.0 5.0 4.0 4.5 3.6 3.2 3.0 2.0 1.0 0.0 Y7 Y8 Y9 Y10 Y11 Year Group Note: UK year 10 = NZ year 11 ES Teaching Time for Some NZ schools Teaching Time for Earth Science Number of schools 10 8 Year 9 6 Year 10 Year 11 4 Year 12 2 Year 13 0 0 <9 10 15 20 25 >30 Time (hours) N = 18 schools (Vallender, 1997) Earth Science in Japan: another case study (Goto and Shimono (2003), in Geoscied IV proceedings) A New course of study for ES introduced in 2002. Schools offer ES as an elective. Decrease in Science hours means less ES. Low numbers (about 10%) study ES because of lack of trained and qualified ES teachers and low status of ES within the curriculum. ES has compulsory fieldwork and this is a barrier for many teachers. Earth Systems Education (ESE) is now offered as an integrated science programme, but uptake is slow. Key for ES education is effective, relevant and prescribed teacher training programmes. A DEPOSITIONAL CHALLENGE You get one shot at this challenge • Draw a plan view of the set up and sketch the pattern of the sand you would expect to see after the water has been stirred and circulated. • Explain and discuss your pattern. Assessment: Non achieve = no picture Achieve = A correct picture drawn Merit = Correct picture plus explanation Excellence = Correct picture plus a discussion and evaluation of given picture A Bit About Conceptual Change Conceptual change is about how people learn and change the way they perceive the world. It is an underpinning paradigm in educational research. The seminal work of Posner et al in 1982 (and argued about ever since), identified four key factors in the process of shifting conceptions and these can be applied to the way we think about curriculum issues, assessment issues and management issues. These four factors are: 1. Dissatisfaction with existing conceptions 2. New conception must make some sense (be intelligible) 3. New conception must seem like it could be true (be plausible) 4. New conception must have a future (be fruitful) Is Earth Science as a subject at a conceptual change point? Questions That This Forum Might Like To Consider 1. How should Earth Science as a subject be defined? 2. What are the core contents and contexts of ES? 3. How important is ES to science literacy? 4. How important is ES to a national curriculum? 5. What are the resources needed to teach ES effectively? 6. What are the relationships of ES to geography, environmentalism, Sc.,Tech and Soc, Phys, Chem & Biol? 7. How can subject associations and the Geoscience community develop and promote ES in schools? 8. What is a sustainable, and realistic future for ES within a standards based curriculum framework? Some Useful Websites The IGEO website (still under construction) http://www.esci.keele.ac.uk/igeo/links.htm Earth Science Education unit (ESEU) for teachers at Keele Univ. UK http://www.earthscienceeducation.com/ The Earth Science Teachers Association in UK http://www.esta-uk.org/ The American National Association of Geology Teachers http://www.nagt.org/jge.html The current journal of the American Geological Institute http://www.geotimes.org/current/ The Joint Earth Science Education Initiative http://www.chemsoc.org/networks/learnnet/jesei/index2.htm