Technology Use Improves Science Education
Science
education reform continues to occupy education policy makers, and for good
reason. According to the National Center for Education Statistics’
(NCES) Nation’s Report Card 2000, there have been no significant changes
in science achievement among students in grades 4 and 8 since 1996. Meanwhile,
science performance among high school seniors has actually declined over
the past five years.
One bright spot in the NCES’ assessment focused on the importance of technology in science education. Computer use in the classroom was found to have a positive effect on science achievement at all grade levels. This finding raises intriguing questions for educators to consider. What kind of technology use best supports science education? How can teachers learn to introduce technology effectively into science education? What kind of instructional strategies are there for using technology to improve science education, and how might these strategies change as students mature?
Hezel Associates works with an array of clients concerned with improving science education at all grade levels. While our clients take different approaches and target students at different grade levels, they share a common dedication to capturing and maintaining students’ interest in science-related topics. One of our long-standing clients, the Satellite Educational Resources Consortium (SERC), infuses technology into middle school science curricula. Through a series of multimedia-based Electronic Field Trips, SERC allows middle school students to critically examine issues such as the environmental impact of human settlement on the Black Canyon of Gunnison (CO) National Park. Various online activities permit students to compare the Black Canyon’s particular set of circumstances with those facing canyons around the world (as well as on the moon). SERC’s electronic field trip series integrates broadcast and web-based technology, but at the heart of the initiative is a dedication to making middle school science curricula come alive. SERC’s electronic field trips are tied explicitly to national science content standards – for SERC productions, the content always drives the use of technology. During the 2000-2001 school year, SERC estimated that five million students had access to its electronic field trips through schools, public broadcasters, and local cable companies. Another series featuring topics in biomes is due to air in March, 2002.
Another of our clients, Project Lead The Way (PLTW), responds to the large, national need to develop science and engineering professionals by encouraging students to pursue engineering and engineering technology higher education programs. PLTW is designed to engage eighth through twelfth grade students in engineering disciplines by offering them compelling, pre-engineering courses. Hezel Associates has worked with PLTW to assess how participation in the program influences students’ later choices in education.
We are also engaged in improving science education through our work with the Agency for Instructional Television, which recently received funding from the National Science Foundation to produce a video-based series for high school students. The series focuses on genetics, a topic that has great relevance to students given the recent popular attention to the race to map the human genome. But how can a subject as abstract as genetics engage high school students’ very concrete interests? AIT hit upon an approach to discussing genetics that most biology texts ignore – including the social, political, and ethical dimensions that give meaning to the exploration of DNA.
Through projects like SERC, PLTW, and AIT, the nation's students are receiving essential science programs. We at Hezel Associates are proud to know that, by evaluating the projects, we play a role in the continued improvement of science education in America.
The full report of the National Assessment of Education Progress science assessment can be found at http://nces.ed.gov/index.html.