Terry Lyons

Different Countries, Same Science Classes: Students' Experiences of School Science in Their Own Words.

This paper reviews the remarkably similar experiences of school science reported by high school students in Sweden, England, and Australia. It compares student narratives from interpretive studies by Lindahl, by Osborne and Collins, and by Lyons, identifying core themes relating to critical contemporary issues in science education. These themes revolve around the transmissive pedagogy, decontextualized content, and unnecessary difficulty of school science commonly reported by students in the studies. Their collective experiences are used as a framework for examining student conceptions of, and attitudes to, school science more generally, drawing on an extensive range of international literature. The paper argues that the experiences of students in the three studies provide important insights into the widespread declines in interest and enrolments in high school and university science courses.

Project risk management in the Queensland engineering construction industry: a survey

This paper provides the results of a survey of senior management involved in the Queensland engineering construction industry, concerning the usage of risk management techniques. These are described in comparison with four earlier surveys conducted around the world and indicate that: the use of risk management is moderate to high, with very little differences between the types, sizes and risk tolerance of the organisations, and experience and risk tolerance of the individual respondents; risk management usage in the execution and planning stages of the project life cycle is higher than in the conceptual or termination phases; risk identification and risk assessment are the most often used risk management elements ahead of risk response and risk documentation; brainstorming is the most common risk identification technique used; qualitative methods of risk assessment are used most frequently; risk reduction is the most frequently used risk response method, with the use of contingencies and contractual transfer preferred over insurance; and project teams are the most frequent group used for risk analysis, ahead of in-house specialists and consultants.

Participation in science and technology: young people’s achievement‐related choices in late‐modern societies

Young people’s participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is a matter of international concern. Studies and careers that require physical sciences and advanced mathematics are most affected by the problem and women in particular are under‐represented in many STEM fields. This article views international research about young people’s relationships to, and participation in, STEM subjects and careers through the lens of an expectancy‐value model of achievement‐related choices. In addition it draws on sociological theories of late‐modernity and identity, which situate decision‐making in a cultural context. The article examines how these frameworks are useful in explaining the decisions of young people – and young women in particular – about participating in STEM and proposes possible strategies for removing barriers to participation.

Understanding Declining Science Participation in Australia: A Systemic Perspective

In this chapter we describe the substantial declines in student participation in senior high school physics, chemistry and biology classes in Australia over the last two decades. We outline some of the explanations commonly offered to account for these declines, elaborating on two contrasting positions: first, that they are due to today’s students holding less positive attitudes towards science classes and careers than their predecessors, and second, that the declines are related to policy and structural changes at the upper secondary and tertiary education levels which have affected the relative status of subjects and the dynamics of choice. We describe how the Choosing Science study investigated the extent to which the two hypotheses were supported by empirical evidence, and discuss our findings in the light of a third result from the study concerning the role of self-identity in subject choice. We conclude that the declines in high school science enrolments are most likely related to changes in school and university curriculum options and that within this expanded curriculum marketplace, identity becomes a very important reference point in students’ decisions about whether to take science in the final years of high school.