Ruth Jarman

An international study of young people's drawings of what is inside themselves

What do young people know of what is inside them and how does this knowledge depend on their culture? Inthis study a cross-sectional approach was used involving a total of 586 pupils from 11 different countries.Young people, aged either seven years or 15 years, were given a blank piece of A4-sized paper and asked todraw what they thought was inside themselves. The resultant drawings were analysed using a seven pointscale where the criterion was anatomical accuracy. However, we also tentatively suggest other ways in whichsuch drawings may be analysed, drawing on approaches used in the disciplines of visual design and visualculture.

Critical Reading of Science-Based News Reports: Establishing a Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes Framework.

A recognised aim of science education is to promote critical engagement with science in the media. Evidence would suggest that this is challenging for both teachers and pupils and that science education does not yet adequately prepare young people for this task. Furthermore, in the absence of clear guidance as to what this means and how this may be achieved it is difficult for teachers to develop approaches and resources that address the matter and that systematically promote such critical engagement within their teaching programmes. Twenty‐six individuals with recognised expertise or interest in science in the media, drawn from a range of disciplines and areas of practice, constituted a specialist panel in this study. The question this research sought to answer was “what are the elements of knowledge, skill, and attitude which underpin critical reading of science‐based news reports?” During in‐depth individual interviews the panel were asked to explore what they considered to be essential elements of knowledge, skills, and attitude which people need to enable them to respond critically to news reports with a science component. Analysis of the data revealed 14 fundamental elements which together contribute to an individual’s capacity to engage critically with science‐based news. These are classified in five categories “knowledge of science”, “knowledge of writing and language”, “knowledge about news, newspapers and journalism”, “skills”, and “attitudes”. Illustrative profiles of each category along with indicators of critical engagement are presented. The implications for curriculum planning and pedagogy are considered.

Encouraging and equipping students to engage critically with science in the news: what can we learn from the literature?

Many educational reforms have as one of their key goals the promotion of scientific literacy and they encourage engagement with science in the news as one aspect of this. The research indicates teachers using the news do so for a variety of reasons, sometimes with tangential links to the promotion of scientific literacy. Demonstrating the relevance of science to the world beyond the classroom or making links to socio-scientific issues and promoting discussion on ethical dilemmas are all seen as potential reasons for engaging with science–related news. However, media related issues are often not addressed. Increasingly the need for a more comprehensive approach, including, for example, teaching about media awareness in the context of science reporting, is highlighted. The steady growth of literature describing the use of science-related news along with research studies charting students’ responses to science news media has stimulated discussion and study of pedagogical issues and prompted this review. Key literature relevant to students’ engagement with science-related news reports has been contextualised and reviewed to identify core issues for teachers, teacher educators and curriculum planners. These are listed under the headings of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment, the implications are considered and directions for further research suggested.

Student teachers’ use of analogies in science instruction

As part of their general guidance on explaining science principles to pupils, student teachers are often exhorted to employ analogies. In this study, 55 science students enrolled on a pre‐service Postgraduate Certificate of Education programme were surveyed to ascertain the extent of their analogy use while on school assignment. Information was also obtained on the origin, nature, presentation and perceived effectiveness of these analogies. It was found that, for the most part, students devised their own analogies or they adapted ideas from other teachers or textbooks. In this process, great care was taken to select contexts which would appeal to the pupils and relate to their everyday lives. On the other hand, the student teachers tended to view analogies as relatively unproblematic and they overlooked many important issues associated with their use.

From rhetoric to reality: advancing literacy by cross-curricular means

Cross-curricularity, literacy and critical literacy are currently promoted as components of a curriculum appropriate for the twenty-first century. The first two, in particular, are prescribed elements of classroom experience in Northern Ireland, which is the immediate context of this article, but also more widely in the UK. Teachers are implementing cross-curricular and interdisciplinary initiatives, but rhetorical imperatives can translate into superficial realities. The reasons for this are explored, as are the reasons why interdisciplinary studies, literacy across the curriculum and critical literacy are deemed to be of significance for education at the present time. The ‘Making Science: Making News’ project is described, in which Key Stage 3 science and English classes worked together, with input from a research scientist and a journalist, to produce articles on space science which were published in local newspapers. The outcomes of the project are discussed from the perspectives of both teachers and learners. It is argued that this project is an example of genuine interdisciplinary activity; that it went beyond literacy skills to a deeper development of scientific discourse; and that, through its media connection, there was potential for building an ongoing awareness in pupils of critical literacy and scientific literacy.

Science learning through scouting: an understudied context for informal science education

Worldwide, voluntary youth organizations such as the Scouts and Guides attract a large following. As part of their programme they provide science experiences for children and young people. From a research perspective, however, this context for informal science education has gone largely unexamined. This study explores the field, focusing on the Cub Scouts that cater, in the UK, for children aged between 8 and 10.5 years. The investigation involved an e‐mail survey, in‐depth interviews with 10 leaders, short interviews with 10 Cub Scouts and an unscripted role‐play performed by the children. Documented is a distinctive and engaging out‐of‐school science provision for participants. The research revealed this learning experience to have features that, in terms of a continuum spanning formal to informal, lay more toward the informal than anticipated in respect of curriculum and assessment, although not pedagogy. The children’s responses, affective and cognitive, suggest a fruitful area for further study.

Fine in Theory: A Study of Primary-Secondary Continuity in Science, Prior and Subsequent to the Introduction of the Northern Ireland Curriculum.

Summary With the National Curriculum and the Northern Ireland Curriculum, the expectation came of improved continuity between primary and secondary education. The paper presents the findings of a six‐year longitudinal study designed to investigate secondary teachers’ perspectives and practices in respect of primary‐secondary continuity in science, both prior and subsequent to the introduction of the Northern Ireland Curriculum. There was evidence of some, but not substantial, change. Though most teachers recognized an increase in the science knowledge and skill of their incoming pupils, and a number had attempted to establish some contact with associated primary schools in respect of science, only a few had taken any account of childrens earlier experiences in the planning and preparation of their secondary science programmes. Some of the underlying difficulties are discussed and issues which could inform the improvement of continuity and progression are considered.

‘A planet of confusion and debate’: children's and young people's response to the news coverage of Pluto's loss of planetary status

Despite calls that the school science curriculum should develop among students an ability to understand and respond critically to science‐related media reports, very little research has been directed toward an important matter relevant to that aim, namely, how children and young people, untutored, react to science in the news. This study sought, in the context of media coverage of the debate surrounding the planetary status of Pluto, to explore this issue. A questionnaire, completed by 350 students aged between eight and 18, showed just over half of the children and young people were able to write relevantly about the subject though it was the gist not the detail of the story they recounted. There was evidence, nonetheless, that this media‐acquired information functioned as active rather than passive knowledge. Students demonstrated relatively few misconceptions and those presented were predominately pre‐existing rather than media‐derived. As with the wider public, many of the children and young people held strong opinions on Plutos loss of planethood. Such responses diminished with age, however, with older students expressing a degree of indifference. The paper concludes with a discussion of some implications of the research findings for science instruction.

Science is a green‐field site: a study of primary science/secondary science continuity in Northern Ireland

Summary The Government, in proposing a National Curriculum for England and Wales, claimed that it would enhance curricular continuity between primary schools and secondary schools. Similar claims were made in respect of the Northern Ireland Curriculum. This paper reports the findings of the first phase of a study to investigate the extent to which a centrally prescribed programme does, in reality, result in an expansion of science teachers’ planning for continuity across the primary/secondary interface. Just prior to the introduction of the Northern Ireland Curriculum, a survey of heads of science departments in secondary schools was conducted to explore their perspectives and practices in relation to primary/secondary continuity. This showed that very few took any significant account of their pupils’ primary science experiences. Even those departments that had links with local primary schools in respect of science rarely gave any consideration to primary science when planning and presenting their first‐y...

Promoting science literacy via science journalism: Issues and challenges

Science journalism is the source of much of the science an individual will encounter beyond formal education. Science-based media reports, which might have been associated with informal education, are increasingly becoming incorporated into formal school contexts. Unlike science textbooks, the science reported in the news is often tentative and sometimes contested. It can involve difficult socio-scientific issues. Descriptors of ‘science literacy’ generally include reading and responding critically to media reports of science. The challenge of using science-based news effectively encourages teachers to reassess their knowledge and pedagogical practices.