Mobilizing scientists and scientific societies to enliven science teaching

Science : Editor-in-chief Bruce Alberts calls for scientists to work with teachers to “research the effect of current curriculum materials and teaching methods on students” and to “develop new, validated, Web-based curricula” for “inspiring, in-depth lessons.” He proposes that scientific societies in biology, chemistry, physics, and Earth and space sciences be “recruited” for the validating. Alberts sees a “superficial, skin-deep approach to science learning,” an approach that resists change and has a “disastrous, long-lasting effect” on students’ attitudes toward science. He charges that overly broad coverage of science subjects “kills student interest and makes genuine comprehension almost impossible.” He criticizes “state-based textbook adoption policies,” high-stakes examinations, and “a scientific community that largely fails to understand teachers’ needs.” Alberts uses an extended example from biology to illustrate how dull memorization undermines students’ chances to see, and to be motivated by, the beauty and fascination in science. “Badly needed,” he declares, “are materials for teachers that guide students to confront a phenomenon such as embryo development and then, working in small groups with skillful coaching, to imagine potential ways to explain it.”