Science Education for the 21st Century

For years, Americans have been hearing how U.S. students lag behind students in other countries when it comes to science education. So, what does science education look like in the United States and what should school districts do to position students to succeed in the 21st century?

Traditional Science Education

Many school districts in the United States have traditionally begun since education in kindergarten and continued it through high school. That remains true today. Although some school districts now require students to take three or four years of high school science whereas they only required two or three years in the past.

Elementary school science education often centers on earth science, the environment, geology and animals. As students get older courses in biology, astronomy, physics and chemistry are added to the curriculum. Students are often required to participate in both biology and chemistry labs in order to get a high school diploma. This requires them to make hypotheses, test those hypotheses through experimentation and write lab reports.

Some schools encourage the study of science through extracurricular activities or projects. For some schools, things such as the science fair are very popular and students are often very excited about their participation. A science fair is an opportunity for students to explore the scientific method through their own research on projects that interest them. They then get to present their project at a school wide fair. Some schools present awards to students who demonstrate a good use of a scientific method or who are thorough in the scope of their project. Sometimes, schools send students on to state wide, national and international science fair competitions. However, even if a student doesnt win a prize, it is a useful way to get students excited about science and interested in applying what theyve learned.

Other extracurricular activities that involve science include high school extracurricular groups. Some high schools have pre-med groups where students who want to go into the medical profession get together and pursue projects such as volunteering in the hospital or listening to a lecture presented by a medical student. Another possible activity is a robotics club where students work together to build a robot and problem solve.

21st Century Science Education

21st century science classes still teach the same fundamental concepts and have the same kind of extracurricular opportunities. However, school districts that are producing the best possible science students are doing something that many traditional science classes lacked. Specifically, they are focusing on teaching students to think like scientists and less on memorization of specific facts.

Further, many science courses now focus less on teacher dominated lectures and rely more on hands on interactive learning for all ages. Of course, traditional science classes also relied on biology dissections and chemistry experiments. However, the instruction was still predominately a teacher lecture model.

Todays science classes use more sources of technology and more teacher assessments to ensure that students are learning. For example, the U.S. Department of Education has made mention of personal electronic response systems that teachers can have students use effectively in science classes. These systems are inexpensive and allow a teacher to ask a multiple choice question which each student in the class then answers silently using his or her personal device. The teacher can see how individual students are doing and can see exactly how many people in the class are ready to move on and how many are still confused about a particular concept. It forces the students who do not like to participate in class to participate and thereby provides valuable feedback for the teacher.

While in the past it was possible to spend a few hours memorizing facts to cram for an exam, it is becoming harder to do that as teachers begin to expect critical reasoning skills to play a part in the science curriculum.

Americans want to compete in the 21st century global economy. More and more that competition is relying on scientific advancements. So, in order to compete effectively and to keep valuable high paying jobs on American soil, it is essential that elementary, middle and high schools adapt their science curriculum so that students have a sound science education upon which to build a potential career in the sciences.