Friday, March 9, 2012
Friday, February 3, 2012
The Promise Project: A new hope for Science Education in the Gambia
DIRECTORATE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION
The PROMISE Project: A community approach for a sustainable growth of science education in The Gambia
Programme for the Promotion of Inquiry-based Science and Mathematics Learning in Schools - (PROMISE)
Executive Summary
Science learning is most often viewed by parents, students and their teachers as ubiquitous, uncertain, sustained, perplexing, commonplace, visual, inviting, technological, intriguing, logical, controversial, contradictory, frustrating, rewarding, and unrelenting. There might be an increasing worry that current science courses, high stakes assessment methods, text filled with jargons, tedious assignments, laboratory shortages’, low skilled teachers (in most instances shortage of qualified and highly skilled science teachers) turn science learning into hostile territory – or worse still – an intellectual wasteland. Numerous research findings of the Directorate of Science and Technology Education since 2006 to date suggests that students are unable to find a way into the excitement of science, instead they find numerous paths out of science.
The problems of disinterest and poor performance of science by students have been expounded countless number of times and adequate measures have not been put in place to effectively address these problems. Most often, the question that is asked by policymakers is that – “why students do not do well in science?” In this project we ask a more general question: under what circumstances/conditions do people in the past acquire a commitment to the learning of science? There is therefore a need for science education policy makers to move on to identify the institutional and economic structures that enable a people to commit themselves to the learning of science.
“The success of the educational endeavor in science education is as dependent, if not more, on factors exogenous to the school than it is on internal issues of curricula, time, status, or teacher quality. Such external factors are the availability of reasonable careers for science graduates, state participation, and society’s attitudes to learning science. In particular, the availability of careers depends on the extent to which a particular country has been industrialized. If students [and in some cases their parents] perceive a lack of any long-term or future economic value in learning a discipline, they are ill disposed to provide the effort and commitment necessary to succeed” . There is therefore, an urgent need to revisit science education policies, programmes, priorities and how they are affected/shaped by societal demands, cultural norms and behaviours?
One of the overall objectives of science education should be able to provide citizens with the prerequisite knowledge and skills and capabilities to live effective and productive lives. At national level the availability of reasonable science careers should be able to provide the motivation and impetus for students to build interest in and about science and thus, contribute to the improvement of their performance in schools. There is limited demand for scientific knowledge and capabilities owing to the low industrialization of the country. However, increasing efforts will be required to leverage the image of science, use it to accelerate wealth creation and social wellbeing. One essential approach could include for example, development of appropriate science and technology education policies and programmes, where curricula could focus on those areas of the economy and society with the most potential to contribute to social wellbeing and economic growth. Science education programmes, such as those promoted in “the PROMISE” project will ensure the interplay between science education and society’s demands for socioeconomic growth through the effective deployment of science and technology.
Some Justifications of the PROMISE Project
The Directorate of Science and Technology Education has identified some major obstacles to generating and sustaining student interest in science, and improving their overall performance in science and mathematics exams. These challenges have been blamed inter alia on the low pedagogic knowledge of teachers and a serious lack of laboratories/experiential learning of students. Figure 1 indicates the status of science labs in Gambian schools in 2009 . Several programmes have been designed to reverse this trend and promote a more effective science and technology education for schools in the Gambia. Although there has been no studies or programmes designed to assess the impact and effectiveness of the Directorate’s programmes and policies since 2006, anecdotal evidence suggest that promoting inquiry-based science and mathematics learning has the potential to reverse the trend.
Figure 1: A Doughnut chat indicating the status of science laboratories in 80 UBS/BCS schools in the Gambia in 2009.
Source: DSTE Baseline Survey, December 2009
Additionally, the absence of a coordinated system of the Directorate’s programmes that could enable an effective interaction between science education policy and programme makers, teachers, students, the wider community and other stakeholders meant that programme are designed ad hoc and implemented without the prerequisite tools and mechanisms to assess the success or failures of such programmes. The success of many if not all education programmes will depend on the extent of interaction and commitment between these various stakeholders. Most often, DSTE programmes target a particular group (mostly science and mathematics teachers) ignoring the crucial role(s) that might or could be played by other partners (students and the wider community ) in science education.
It might be useful to recollect that the main purposes of science education are to equip and prepare citizens for a life and living in a world more or less dominated by science and technology. This in itself is ubiquitous and requires a further breakdown into a more simplistic language. For example, distinctions should be made between what constitutes science and technology literacy for all students and what should constitute science and technology education for aspirants of advanced careers in science? Can the same science curriculum respond to both needs? These and similar topics are a matter of serious consideration in another project.
However, putting right the manner in which disciplines such as science and mathematics are taught in schools is no more important than putting right the content of what is taught under these disciplines. In other words, solving the problems of teacher availability/quality, laboratory resources, pedagogic practices, students’ disinterest in science and mathematics will not yield fruition if what is taught in these subjects remain alienated, foreign, irrelevant, too complicated and impracticable. The Promise Project identifies and tries to bridge these gaps and loopholes. Thus, creating a more meaningful, sustainable, socially and economically relevant science and technology education for all.
The DSTE 2009 Survey also indicates that a greater percentage of teachers are actually implementing the improvisation techniques introduced to them earlier in the same year. This indicates that inquiry lessons stand a greater possibility of being effective since almost all materials required for the implementation of an inquiry lessons can be obtained from and are based on on-going activities within communities. The chart below indicates the extent of improvisation of science materials during science lessons in schools in December 2009.
Source: DSTE Baseline Survey, December 2009
In the same baseline survey, teachers provided their opinions on the relationship between the science curriculum taught in schools and the GABECE exams prepared and conducted by WAEC. The opinions of these teachers indicate a considerable level of mismatch (33%) between what is taught and what is actually examined? This therefore provides some justification to provide a forum in which all stakeholders (science teachers, curriculum developers, WAEC Personnel) to identify these differences, and bring about a harmonization of the taught curriculum and the examined curriculum. The chart below indicates the opinions provided by science teachers on the relationship between science curriculum and GABECE Science Exams in the DSTE Baseline Survey in December 2009.
Source: DSTE Baseline Survey, December 2009
The PROMISE Project: A community approach for a sustainable growth of science education in The Gambia
Programme for the Promotion of Inquiry-based Science and Mathematics Learning in Schools - (PROMISE)
Executive Summary
Science learning is most often viewed by parents, students and their teachers as ubiquitous, uncertain, sustained, perplexing, commonplace, visual, inviting, technological, intriguing, logical, controversial, contradictory, frustrating, rewarding, and unrelenting. There might be an increasing worry that current science courses, high stakes assessment methods, text filled with jargons, tedious assignments, laboratory shortages’, low skilled teachers (in most instances shortage of qualified and highly skilled science teachers) turn science learning into hostile territory – or worse still – an intellectual wasteland. Numerous research findings of the Directorate of Science and Technology Education since 2006 to date suggests that students are unable to find a way into the excitement of science, instead they find numerous paths out of science.
The problems of disinterest and poor performance of science by students have been expounded countless number of times and adequate measures have not been put in place to effectively address these problems. Most often, the question that is asked by policymakers is that – “why students do not do well in science?” In this project we ask a more general question: under what circumstances/conditions do people in the past acquire a commitment to the learning of science? There is therefore a need for science education policy makers to move on to identify the institutional and economic structures that enable a people to commit themselves to the learning of science.
“The success of the educational endeavor in science education is as dependent, if not more, on factors exogenous to the school than it is on internal issues of curricula, time, status, or teacher quality. Such external factors are the availability of reasonable careers for science graduates, state participation, and society’s attitudes to learning science. In particular, the availability of careers depends on the extent to which a particular country has been industrialized. If students [and in some cases their parents] perceive a lack of any long-term or future economic value in learning a discipline, they are ill disposed to provide the effort and commitment necessary to succeed” . There is therefore, an urgent need to revisit science education policies, programmes, priorities and how they are affected/shaped by societal demands, cultural norms and behaviours?
One of the overall objectives of science education should be able to provide citizens with the prerequisite knowledge and skills and capabilities to live effective and productive lives. At national level the availability of reasonable science careers should be able to provide the motivation and impetus for students to build interest in and about science and thus, contribute to the improvement of their performance in schools. There is limited demand for scientific knowledge and capabilities owing to the low industrialization of the country. However, increasing efforts will be required to leverage the image of science, use it to accelerate wealth creation and social wellbeing. One essential approach could include for example, development of appropriate science and technology education policies and programmes, where curricula could focus on those areas of the economy and society with the most potential to contribute to social wellbeing and economic growth. Science education programmes, such as those promoted in “the PROMISE” project will ensure the interplay between science education and society’s demands for socioeconomic growth through the effective deployment of science and technology.
Some Justifications of the PROMISE Project
The Directorate of Science and Technology Education has identified some major obstacles to generating and sustaining student interest in science, and improving their overall performance in science and mathematics exams. These challenges have been blamed inter alia on the low pedagogic knowledge of teachers and a serious lack of laboratories/experiential learning of students. Figure 1 indicates the status of science labs in Gambian schools in 2009 . Several programmes have been designed to reverse this trend and promote a more effective science and technology education for schools in the Gambia. Although there has been no studies or programmes designed to assess the impact and effectiveness of the Directorate’s programmes and policies since 2006, anecdotal evidence suggest that promoting inquiry-based science and mathematics learning has the potential to reverse the trend.
Figure 1: A Doughnut chat indicating the status of science laboratories in 80 UBS/BCS schools in the Gambia in 2009.
Source: DSTE Baseline Survey, December 2009
Additionally, the absence of a coordinated system of the Directorate’s programmes that could enable an effective interaction between science education policy and programme makers, teachers, students, the wider community and other stakeholders meant that programme are designed ad hoc and implemented without the prerequisite tools and mechanisms to assess the success or failures of such programmes. The success of many if not all education programmes will depend on the extent of interaction and commitment between these various stakeholders. Most often, DSTE programmes target a particular group (mostly science and mathematics teachers) ignoring the crucial role(s) that might or could be played by other partners (students and the wider community ) in science education.
It might be useful to recollect that the main purposes of science education are to equip and prepare citizens for a life and living in a world more or less dominated by science and technology. This in itself is ubiquitous and requires a further breakdown into a more simplistic language. For example, distinctions should be made between what constitutes science and technology literacy for all students and what should constitute science and technology education for aspirants of advanced careers in science? Can the same science curriculum respond to both needs? These and similar topics are a matter of serious consideration in another project.
However, putting right the manner in which disciplines such as science and mathematics are taught in schools is no more important than putting right the content of what is taught under these disciplines. In other words, solving the problems of teacher availability/quality, laboratory resources, pedagogic practices, students’ disinterest in science and mathematics will not yield fruition if what is taught in these subjects remain alienated, foreign, irrelevant, too complicated and impracticable. The Promise Project identifies and tries to bridge these gaps and loopholes. Thus, creating a more meaningful, sustainable, socially and economically relevant science and technology education for all.
The DSTE 2009 Survey also indicates that a greater percentage of teachers are actually implementing the improvisation techniques introduced to them earlier in the same year. This indicates that inquiry lessons stand a greater possibility of being effective since almost all materials required for the implementation of an inquiry lessons can be obtained from and are based on on-going activities within communities. The chart below indicates the extent of improvisation of science materials during science lessons in schools in December 2009.
Source: DSTE Baseline Survey, December 2009
In the same baseline survey, teachers provided their opinions on the relationship between the science curriculum taught in schools and the GABECE exams prepared and conducted by WAEC. The opinions of these teachers indicate a considerable level of mismatch (33%) between what is taught and what is actually examined? This therefore provides some justification to provide a forum in which all stakeholders (science teachers, curriculum developers, WAEC Personnel) to identify these differences, and bring about a harmonization of the taught curriculum and the examined curriculum. The chart below indicates the opinions provided by science teachers on the relationship between science curriculum and GABECE Science Exams in the DSTE Baseline Survey in December 2009.
Source: DSTE Baseline Survey, December 2009
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