Science and Technology

How can science and technology activities in primary education be made engaging and relevant?

This video by Big Think (2011) indicates that there has only been a 4.2% growth in jobs, within science and technology, over the last 20 years and only 1.5% of people within that field have been American born. Although it is focused on America, it does show significance because if a county so big and powerful as America is struggling to find people to enter the science and technology work force, then it may indicate that the rest of the world is also struggling. Even as far back as 1996, Beth Baker indicated that science was suffering an identity crisis, indicating that not many people were entering that particular workforce. Both of these sources indicate that there has been and is a persistent issue regarding science and technology and Makkonen (2012) highlights that government expenditure on the field of science and technology has declined due to the economic crisis. This could serve as a reason as to why fewer people are entering the work force. But how do we engage students in science and technology in order to allow them to consider entering that workforce? Surely, we start at the bottom? This blog post will be focusing on how primary education can engage its students in science and technology whilst making it relevant to their learning and society.

Within the new curriculum reform here in Wales, Science and Technology have become a key area of focus, becoming one of six Areas of Learning and Experience (Donaldson, 2015). The curriculum stresses that children need to be able to gain skills as well as knowledge and with technology becoming such a large part of society (Livingstone, 2012; Wellberry, 2012), an emphasis on science and technology seems largely positive. Highlighting experiences in the title of the learning areas within the curriculum indicates that education is linking to reality and so is able to offer children the necessary skills to be able to apply them to society. The new curriculum indicates that lessons in Science and Technology will entice the curiosity of children in relation to our natural and physical world as well as the universe with the possibility to see what is beyond our current knowledge and imagination through technology (Donaldson, 2015). This indicates that children will be given experiences of science, allowing their interests to flourish, with the ability of technology to enhance the learning by offering new experiences within the classroom. The new curriculum proposes introducing computer science into schools in order for children to gain deeper knowledge of technology in order to allow children access to economic and social advantages later on in life (Donaldson, 2015). Therefore, suggesting that through new approaches in classrooms, we are able to engage students in science and technology, but also make it relevant as it gives them skills that can be applied in later life.

Currently in Wales, schools follow guidance from the Welsh Government (2008) who indicate that over the four years of Key Stage 2, pupils will learn about interdependence of organisms, sustainable earth and how things work. The guidance set out by the Welsh Government, gives very little advice or scope as to the types of things, within these subsections, that should be taught. Teaching these topics seems relatively small over such a large space of time and so indicates that science isn’t maybe an equal subject in comparison to English and Maths. Within the current curriculum, science is devoted as a separate subject (Welsh Government, 2008), indicating its isolation from other subjects within the curriculum. According to the OECD (2014), only 7% of classroom time is dedicated to teaching science in comparison to 43% on reading, writing and literature and mathematics, and therefore highlights, that science is not an equal subject within the current education system. With the new curriculum being slowly phased into schools (Welsh Government, 2017), some of its features are appearing within classrooms currently. For example, whilst on placement, the idea of a cross-curricular approach (Donaldson, 2015), was evident. The children were learning about the topic ‘Fairy Tales’, with a particular focus on the Three Little Pigs. The children made animation videos retelling the story and also engaged in science lessons related the topic. They researched different materials and investigated their different properties, particularly focusing on the waterproof property of different materials in order to see which one would be suitable as a roof for the Three Little Pigs. Whilst the class were engaging in a cross-curricular approach, their time spent conducting these science sessions was very limited, maybe only carrying them out once a week. If we are meant to encourage children to be engaged in science and technology, surely spending more time on these sessions would be appropriate?

As part of my course at university, we took an educational trip Techniquest in Cardiff Bay, in order to gain insight into how to implement science into our pedagogy. Techniquest is a science and technology discovery centre which is aligned to the educational system here in Wales (Techniquest, 2016), which promotes interactivity and fun as a means of achieving educational goals (Dicks, 2013). We engaged in two particular activities: the first being an experiment in which we needed to remove the yolk from an egg and put it back again only using a plastic bottle and the second learning about the environment. We looked at graphs and engaged in an activity in which we re-enacted the addition of fossil fuels to the atmosphere and the effect of greenhouse gases. These simple activities were made fun and enjoyable for adults and so their effect on children could be really beneficial. Dicks (2013) conducted a small-scale study into science discovery centres, following one particular class from a primary school on their visit to a science discovery centre. She found that if the visit is structured and the children are scaffolded, adjusting the amount of support given to students (Keenan et al., 2016), then these educational visits can have a beneficial impact on children’s engagement with science.  Her study was conducted on a one class basis at one science discovery centre; therefore, her results cannot be a generalisation for the whole education system.

The new curriculum suggests combining both science and technology, as it indicates one relies on the other (Donaldson, 2015). If technology is fully amerced within society (Livingstone, 2012; Wellberry, 2012), it suggests that people engage with it and have purpose for using it. Therefore, by combining it with science, a subject with so little time spent on, then it may engage more students with the subject (Blackley et al., 2018). Blackley et al. (2018) highlights that if two or more of the STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), are combined, then it increases engagement for that particular subject from the students.  Hence, reiterating that a cross-curricular approach in classrooms could boost engagement with science and technology.

Overall, it was very hard to find peer-reviewed journals on science within primary education, particularly focusing on engagement. However, through the new curriculum and the few journal articles found, it can be suggested that the use of technology and science discovery centres can make a real impact on children engaging with the topic of science. 

References:

1.    Baker, B. (1996) ‘Science in crisis?’, Bioscience, 46(11), p. 812.

2. Big Think (2011) Our “Quiet Crisis” in Science and Technology. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al8JdCF_3-s (Accessed: 23.03.2019).

3.  Blackley, S., Rahmawati, Y., Fitriani, E., Sheffield, R. and Koul, R. (2018) ‘Using a “Makerspace” Approach to Engage Indonesian Primary Students with STEM’, Issues in Educational Research, 28(1), pp. 18-42.

4. Dicks, B. (2013) ‘Interacting with… what? Exploring children’s social and sensory practises in a science discovery centre’, Ethnography and Education, 8(3), pp. 301-322.

5.  Donaldson, G. (2015) ‘Successful Futures’. Review of Curriculum and Assessment Arrangements in Wales. Available at: http://gov.wales/docs/dcells/publications/150225-successful-futures-en.pdf (Accessed on: 23.03.2019).

6.   Keenan, T., Evans, S. and Crowley, K. (2016) An introduction to Child Development. London: SAGE.

7.     Livingston, S. (2012) Children and the Internet. Cambridge: Polity Press.

8.    Makkonen, T. (2012) ‘Government science and technology budgets in times of crisis’, Research Policy, 42(3), pp. 817-822.

9.     OECD (2014) How much time do primary and lower secondary students spend in the classroom? Available at: http://www.oecd.org/education/skills-beyond-school/EDIF%202014--N22%20(eng).pdf (Accessed: 24.03.2019).

10.   Techniquest (2016) 30^th Anniversary. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=30&v=DhwZftsE5kk (Accessed: 24.03.2019).

11.  Wellberry, C. (2012) ‘A piece of my mind: Our ubiquitous technology’, JAMA, 307(12), pp. 1263-1264.

12.   Welsh Government (2008) Science in the National Curriculum for Wales. Available at: https://learning.gov.wales/docs/learningwales/publications/140624-science-in-the-national-curriculum-en-v2.pdf (Accessed: 24.03.2019).

13.  Welsh Government (2017) New school curriculum: overview. Available at: https://gov.wales/new-school-curriculum-overview (Accessed: 24.03.2019).