Over the past decade, outcries from scientists and educators alike have been on the upswing due to a lackluster science education program in America. One of advocates for the improvement of this system is a theoretical physicist, Professor Helen Quinn. She is a woman worthy of imitation, who displays a consistent commitment to both teaching the new generations of aspiring scientists and publishing a plethora of groundbreaking papers. She is one of the most revered individuals on the planet when it comes to attempting to solve the mystery of antimatter.
This past Tuesday, Oct. 17, members of Stony Brook’s family had the opportunity to hear Professor Quinn’s lecture on the problems in America’s approach to science education. During the discussion, Professor Quinn focused on remodeling the pre-college science education system.
The two main questions that Professor Quinn addressed during her presentation were what forces define and control America’s science education system, and if someone wanted to improve this area of learning both locally and nationally what levers could he or she push?
Quinn answered her first question by stating that four major groups are currently in the driver’s seat running adolescent science education. According to Quinn, this branch of education is dependent upon federal funding and regulations, state laws, school district policies, and individual teachers. Federal organizations, such as the National Science Foundation and state and district boards of education, impose policy, budget, and legal requirements on how schools should conduct their science education programs.
Professor Quinn believes that this division of power places too many restrictions on the schools. As a result, the schools have a difficult time setting up a curriculum that successfully abides by all of the regulations posed by the aforementioned groups, while still enhancing the student’s knowledge of science.
A possible solution is the establishment of a nation-wide science education policy, as opposed to one that varies from state to state and district to district. If each school had a clear and identical layout of which resources are available, and how it should go about educating its students, then the schools would be able to begin teaching the students immediately upon their entrance into grade school.
Another important issue that Quinn mentioned in her lecture was the lack of science education in a majority of elementary school teachers. Since the teachers feel uncomfortable as they are planting and nurturing the seeds of science in the minds of their students, just how healthy do you think these plants are going to be?
However, there is a simple solution to this problem. Professor Quinn feels that by developing district-wide science mentor teaching networks, having a well designed science curriculum that focuses on the core concepts of science, and setting up new teacher workshops on this curriculum could be the solution to educating the teachers about science. In turn, they will now be able to properly explain the basics of science to their students. Thus, by accomplishing this feat, we as a nation will be heading in the right direction toward reaffirming our position as one of the world’s leaders in science.