EDUCATION
TV Science Turns Up Some Problems Most elementary school teachers do not have enough science training to handle the courses
have a coordinated science curriculum from kindergarten through junior high school. They also use visiting science teachers or aides and are participating in two experimental science programs: the AAAS fifth and sixth grade science teaching improvement program (C&EN, Dec. 21, 1959, page 88) and a Washington Academy of Science program that uses traveling instructors, in both grade schools and junior highs, to coordinate science and mathematics instruction. Many D.C. teachers have elected not to use "Time for Science." They say the subject matter is often over their heads. It requires too much of their time to prepare for the program. And the TV teacher, instead of the classroom teacher, runs the science curriculum. "Time for Science" is a complete basic course for fifth and sixth graders, now in its second year on the air. Because it had financial support for the 1958-59 school year, the course could be offered to the schools without charge. This year the program does not have financial backing, and school superintendents have agreed to pay $1.00 per pupil in the course to cover the cost of student and teacher manuals.
Last week the Greater Washington (D.C.) Educational Television Association (GWETA) was recovering from a setback: The District of Columbia Board of Education had announced that it would not use the association's "Time for Science" program in its schools after the 1959-60 school year. Its reason: "Time for Science" does not fit into the established curriculum of the D.C. elementary schools. As use of in-school TV grows, the GWETA experience (see below) emphasizes the need for careful advance planning by school districts, educators, and teachers who wish to take advantage of the medium. And this is particular!}' true of elementary science studies. According to the National Science Teachers Association, only a few of the nation's 800,000 grade school teachers have any training or teaching experience in science. And,
next to finances, the Joint Council on Educational Television pinpoints the need to train classroom teachers in the use of TV as the greatest single problem educational television (ETV) faces at this time. Because of these problems, the National Education Association's audiovisual experts believe that supplemental or enrichment science programs are best suited to most schools until ETV is better established. For example, scheduling problems come up as soon as a group tries to work basic courses into its curricula. And scheduling problems will be hard to solve until more schools are in range of educational TV stations or networks and until the stations can use video tape for repeat showings of a lesson. A closer look at the D.C. school board's position illustrates some of the conflicts. District of Columbia public schools
TIME FOR SCIENCE. Mr. T. D. Drummond teaches this elementary science TV course for the Washington, O. C , area. Here he talks on "Builders and Floaters"
STUDENTS STAR. Students in the "Time for Science" course get feature billing on this award-winning TV show when they exhibit their own science projects. Shown here (left to right) are student-built models of a reflecting telescope with working parts, an oil rig, an electric motor, and a steam boiler
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Actually, GWETA says, the D.C. public school students in the TV program represent only a small part of the area total. This year D.C. partic-
ipation dropped from 8000 to 2000 students between the first and second semesters. But some 46,000 students view the program in 14 school districts in Maryland and Virginia and the parochial schools in the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. These schools have assured GWETA they will continue to use "Time for Science." Some of them say they could not have a science curriculum without the TV course. Others work the TV series into their classroom studies or use it as a source of enrichment material. Science TV "Natural." Wherever elementary schools are using ETV, there are science programs. The medium offers a way to get science into many schools at a time when specialized science teachers are not otherwise available. It also provides demonstration and lecture materials most schools could not afford on their own. Many of the elementary science programs now on the air are designed for fifth and sixth graders, a starting point for schools that do not have science curricula. But more are also showing up for the lower grades. Among them: Birmingham, Ala., telecasts "Uncle Wonder," a science show for preschool children. Minneapolis, Minn., offers a grade one program called "Toys are Simple Machines." Oklahoma City, Okla., telecasts science for in-school use by grades one to three. And so do Columbus, Ohio, New Orleans, La., Atlanta, Ga., Durham, N.C., and other cities. The Delaware-Maryland-Virginia ETV network has programmed fourth and fifth grade science for the past five years.
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