StateOfScienceTeaching

The status and quality of teaching and learning of science in Australian schools
Denis Goodrum; Mark Hackling; Leonie Rennie 2001 for DETYA

"When students move to high school, many experience disappointment, because the science they are taught is neither relevant nor engaging and does not connect with their interests and experiences. Traditional chalk-and-talk teaching, copying notes, and “cookbook” practical lessons offer little challenge or excitement to students. Disenchantment with science is reflected in the declining numbers of students who take science subjects in the post-compulsory years of schooling". = National Action Plan 2008 – 2012 =

D enis Goodrum; Mark Hackling; Leonie Rennie 2007 for DETYA "There is widespread belief that declining enrolments are due to students’ lack of interest in school science, its perceived difficulty, and their limited understanding of the range of science-related careers and their importance".

"There is a perceived lack of relevance, particularly for secondary students, in much of the current science curriculum as it is implemented in the classroom. Despite changes in curricula over the last decade, and the introduction of a range of initiatives, particularly relating to promoting links with the community, this remains a critical issue in science education ".

"Three common and interrelated themes, transmissive pedagogy, decontextualised content, and the perceived difficulty of school science, seemed to be at the heart of students’ disinterest in science and declining enrolment s."