EDUCATION
AAAS Offers Guidelines To Combat Scientific Illiteracy Problem "Science for All Americans" describes long-term efforts for national educational reforms; panel suggests changes of focus in teaching science Ward Worthy, C&EN Chicago
"Science for All Americans/' a book that recommends ways for the U.S. to achieve national scientific literacy, has received generally favorable reviews since its publication late last month (C&EN, Feb. 27, page 4). However, many prominent scientists and educators—including, indeed, the authors of the book themselves—point out that it will take much more than a book to reach that lofty goal. It will take major reforms in the structure of the U.S. educational system. And doing that will require a large-scale collaborative effort stretching over many years. Still, one has to begin. "Science for All Americans" marks the culmination of the first phase of Project 2061. The project, spearheaded by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and directed by AAAS chief education officer F. James Rutherford, is billed as a long-term, three-phase effort. That the effort will be long-term is hinted at by the title. The project began in 1985, the year that comet Halley last appeared in Earth's vicinity. "That coincidence prompted the name," AAAS says, "for it was realized that the children who would live to see the return of the comet in 2061, a human lifetime from now, would soon be starting their school years." The now-completed Phase I of Project 2061 focused on defining the 22
March 13, 1989 C&EN
substance of scientific literacy, AAAS says. In Phase II, already under way, teams of scientists and educators will develop new curriculum models. Others will draw up "blueprints for reform" for teacher education, teaching materials and technologies, testing, school organization, educational policy, and educational research. Phase II is expected to take three or four years. Rutherford notes that school systems in Texas, California, Wisconsin, and Georgia have already signed up to take part in Phase II. Funds for Phase I—about $1.5 million—were provided by the Carnegie Corp. of N e w York, the Mellon Foundation, and AAAS itself. Phase II is currently funded at almost $4.5 million. About two thirds of that will come from the National Science Foundation and (in the form of computers and software) from IBM. The rest will come from
Rutherford: four states in Phase II
the Carnegie Corp. and from participating states. Phase III is, understandably, a little vague right now. It will be "a widespread collaborative effort, lasting a decade or longer, in which many groups active in educational reform will use the resources of Phases I and II to move the nation toward scientific literacy," AAAS says. Phase I was not concerned with implementation. Its mission was formidable enough, however: to define scientific literacy and to recommend ways to improve it in the U.S. Toward that end, AAAS appointed a National Council on Science & Technology Education, a body of 26 distinguished scientists, technologists, and educators. The council is cochaired by William O. Baker, retired chairman of AT&T Bell Laboratories, and Margaret L. A. MacVicar, professor of physical science and dean for undergraduate education
Baker: AAAS council cochair
at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "Science for All Americans," written by Project 2061 staff, incorporates the advice of that body. It also relies on input from five "panel reports" covering major scientific disciplines. The content was reviewed at many stages by more than 200 experts in various fields. "It was no mean feat to get the scientific community to agree on what's essential to know," MacVicar comments. The council's recommendations deal with many topics already common in school curricula. Examples include the structure of matter, the basic functions of cells, prevention of disease, communication technology, and the uses of numbers. However, the council approached these topics in nontraditional ways. In one departure from current practice, the council says that science teaching should focus on the connections among rather than the boundaries between the academic scientific disciplines. "Transformations of energy, for example, occur in physical, biological, and technological systems, and evolutionary change appears in stars, organisms, and societies," the report notes. The council also recommends that science teaching emphasize ideas and thinking rather than specialized vocabularies and memorized procedures. "Schools do not need to be asked to teach more and more,"
the report says, "but to teach less, so it can be taught better." In the council's approach, sets of ideas are chosen to "make some satisfying sense at a simple level" and also to "provide a lasting foundation for learning more." Details are treated as a means to enhance student understanding, not as ends in themselves. "The council believes, for example, that basic scientific literacy implies knowing that the chief function of living cells is assembling protein molecules according to instructions coded in DNA molecules," AAAS says, "but that it does not imply knowing such terms as 'ribosome' or 'deoxyribonucleic acid.' " The report also recommends including topics not now common in schools. Examples include the nature of the scientific enterprise and the ways science, mathematics, and technology relate to one another and to the social system. It also calls for some knowledge of important episodes in the history of science and technology, and of the major conceptual themes that run through most scientific thinking. In general, the report says, all students should leave school with an awareness of what the scientific endeavor is and how it relates to their culture and their lives. They should see the scientific endeavor in the light of cultural and intellec-
tual history. They should be familiar with some of the "powerful ideas that cut across the landscape of science, mathematics, and technology." They should have developed scientific habits of mind, including but not limited to skills in computation, manipulation, observation, and communication. Moreover, students should have acquired "scientific views of the world," including not only science but also mathematics and technology. These "views," more than any other part of the report, reflect the council's consensus as to what constitutes the essential concepts and principles of science. In a nonscientific C&EN survey of people concerned with science and science education, most had reservations about particular items on the list or wished for more emphasis on pet topics, but few had any violent quarrel with the list as a whole or with its underlying premise. There also have been remarks to the effect that the report was good as far as it went, but that it didn't go far enough. However, as Carnegie Corp. of New York president David A. Hamburg points out, it's only a report. "This is not a national curriculum," he says. "It covers only outcome goals, not how to achieve them. It is not a textbook. It is a resource document for those
MacVicar: hard to agree on essentials
Walgren: outstanding contribution
Boehlert: action, not handwringing March 13, 1989 C&EN
23
Education
Toward a more comprehensible and more interesting world Not all students need detailed knowledge of the scientific disciplines, "Science for All Americans" observes. But, it adds, all students will find the world to be "more comprehensible and more interesting" if they "develop a set of cogent views of the world as illuminated by the concepts and principles of science." Here, much condensed, is the panel's list of the concepts and principles which that set of views should encompass: • The general features of Earth— location, motion, origin, and resources. The dynamics that shape and reshape its surface. The ways that living organisms affect its surface and atmosphere, and vice versa. • The basic concepts of matter, energy, force, and motion. Their use as models to explain natural phenomena. • The living environment. The contrast between the diversity of organisms and the similarity in their cells. The interdependence of species. The flow of matter and energy through the cycles of life. • The concept of biological evolution as a central organizing principle for all of biology. Its confirmation by extensive geological and molecular evidence. How it can explain the diversity and similarity of life forms. • The human organism as a biological, social, and technological species. Its similarity to other organisms. Its unique capacity for learning. The strong biological similarity among all humans in contrast to their large cultural differences. • The human life cycle. The factors that contribute to the birth of a healthy child, to the fullest develop-
interested in new opportunities in science education/' Rep. Doug Walgren (D.-Pa.), head of the House Subcommittee on Science, Research & Technology, praises the AAAS effort as an "outstanding contribution in helping to close the science education g a p / ' He backs legislation to create a national science scholarship program, administered by NSF, to provide four-year, $5000 annual scholarships for outstanding science, math, or engineering students. 24
March 13, 1989 C&EN
ment of human potential, and to improved life expectancy. • The complex system of cells and organs that form the human body. How the body works to derive energy from foods, to protect itself from harm, and to reproduce itself. • Physical and mental health as functions of biological, physiological, psychological, social, economic, cultural, and environmental factors, including the effects of food, exercise, drugs', and air and water quality. • Medical technologies, including mechanical, chemical, electronic, biological, and genetic materials and techniques. How they enhance the functioning of the human body. Their use to detect, diagnose, monitor, and treat disease. The ethical and economic issues raised by their use. • Aspects of human social dynamics, including the consequences of cultural settings, the nature and effects of class distinctions, the variations among groups in what is considered right and wrong, the social effects of group affiliation, and how technology shapes social behavior. • Political and economic organizations. The intertwining of political and economic viewpoints. The ways that political and economic systems differ in theory. The frequent mixing of capitalistic and socialistic systems in practice. • The human population, including its size, density, and distribution. Technical factors that have led to its rapid increase and dominance. Its effect on other species and the environment. Its future with regard to resources and their use.
And according to the subcommittee's r a n k i n g Republican, Rep. Sherwood L. Boehlert of New York, "The AAAS report shows that the answer to our education ills is action, not handwringing." Boehlert has also proposed a program, one creating federal scholarships for top science, math, and engineering majors who would agree to teach two years in the public schools for each year of federal aid received. A number of public figures, taking note of the parade of studies
• Social change and conflict. Factors that stimulate or retard change. The significance of social trade-offs. Causes of conflict. Mechanisms for resolving conflict. How governments direct and moderate change. The growing interdependence of world social and economic systems. • The nature of technologies. Agriculture, including the contrast between agricultural revolutions in ancient times and in the 20th century. The effects of modern biological and chemical techniques on agricultural productivity. The acquisition, processing, and use of materials and energy. The industrial revolution of the 19th century and the current revolution in manufacturing based on the use of computers. Information processing and communications. The impact of computers and electronic communications on contemporary society. • The mathematics of symbols and symbolic relationships. The kinds, properties, and uses of numbers and shapes. Graphic and algebraic ways to express relationships. Coordinate systems as a means of relating numbers to geometry and geography. • Probability. The uncertainties that limit knowledge. Ways to estimate and express probabilities. The use of probability methods to predict results when large numbers are involved. • Data analysis, with an emphasis on numerical and graphic ways to summarize data. Correlations and their limitations. The difficulties of sampling. • Reasoning. Deductive logic and its limitations. The uses and dangers of generalizing from a limited number of experiences. Reasoning by analogy.
indicating that U.S. students perform poorly in science and math, compared with their counterparts in foreign countries, have expressed hopes that Project 2061 will remedy that situation. But quick fixes are not to be expected, according to project director Rutherford. ' O u r goal is not to look good in international competitions that stress rote learning," Rutherford warns. "In the short term, we may look even worse than now. But in the long term, we'll do better." D
