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Science and Technology Intiatives to Increase Participation and Achievement

Over the past several decades, concern has been growing regarding the decline in participation and achievement in science and technology studies, particularly at the advanced level.

The number of students applying to science and engineering subjects is steadily decreasing, both here and abroad (Butenuth 2004, 8). For example, based on official figures, for applicants to chemistry and civil engineering degree courses in the UK have shown a clear and almost linear decline for the past decade (Butenuth 2004, 8). Should this decline continue, universities will be forced to begin eliminating programmes due to lack of enrolments as early as 2007 (Butenuth 2004).

Concerns regarding the downturn in study of science led the French to name science education a priority for their 2000 European Union presidency. The Department for Education and Employment, in a 1996 report, suggested that whilst by 2006 there will be a twelve percent increase in demand for engineering and science professionals, the employee pool available will be insufficient to meet such demand and those professionals who are available will be not necessarily of the best quality (Osborne, Simon and Collins 2003, 1052).

Butenuth (2004, 8) contends the choice of subjects to study at A-level is crucial for admission to universities for science and engineering degrees, particularly since a minimum of three A-levels are required with two usually coming from maths, physics, and chemistry. However, in England and Wales, for instance, physics has been the subject of a continuing fifteen-year decline in numbers enrolling and passing the A-level (Osborne, Simon and Collins 2003, 1058).

This literature review seeks to examine initiatives used to address this declining participation and achievement in science and technology in the formal education system. As there are literally thousands of different individual initiatives in use here and globally, attention will be focused on broad types of initiatives and their effectiveness, with sample examples from specific initiatives, where appropriate. In addition, many studies focus on increasing participation and achievement in one particular student population group, such as minorities or females.

Whilst issues specific to certain groups must be considered, this literature review seeks to holistically consider how participation and achievement can be fostered and improved for all students. Specific types of initiatives examined include increasing course choice options through reduction in ability grouping, moves towards more experiential and engaged learning practices, and introduction of mentoring or role-model programmes to alter student perceptions of science, scientists and technology.

ELIMINATING ABILTY GROUPING

One type of initiative suggested to encourage achievement and participation of a larger pupil group in science and technology is the elimination of ability grouping or tracking. This type of initiative must be instituted school or system wide, and from the earilest years, as ability grouping within the classroom and in class-based tracks has been shown to both reduce course options for those in lower and middle tracks, create a situation where upper grouped students recieve enriched learning expeirences but middle and particuparly lower grouped pupil do not, and negatively affect both their self-esteem as learners and learning identiities (Heck, Price and Thomas 2004, 321 ).

Ability grouping creates more homogeneous classes, held by supporters to be a more efficient and easier to manage way of teaching, and therefore there are strong supporters for it within the schooling system (Heck, Price and Thomas 2004, 321). Ability grouping is usually determined by scores on standardized placement tests; sometimes past academic performance and observations from teachers are also included in grouping determinations (Hill 2004, 127). This is especially typical in reading and mathematics instruction (Lou, Abrami and Spence 2000, 101).

Wakefield (1997) considered the ability grouping of pupils entering a typical primary programme, where pupil were grouped by the end of their first few weeks of school. Some children came from enriched environments, where they learned numbers, letters, colours, and the like from their families. These pupils were likely to be placed in upper ability groups, whilst pupils from home environments that did not provide such enrichment were likely to be placed in lower ability groups (Wakefield 1997).

The result of this grouping, supposedly on the basis of ability, was that pupils whose parents were able to provide enrichment, typically those from higher social classes, comprised a disproportionate percentage of the upper ability group, whilst minority and children from lower social classes made up most of the lower track (Wakefield 1997).

Such grouping is of particular importance because, over time, pupils in lower ability groups are not provided the instruction in mathematics that would enable them to take advanced science and technology courses. Over time, middle and particularly lower track students are less challenged by curriculum and given fewer opportunities in course selection (Heck, Price and Thomas 2004).

This decreases both participation and achievement in science and technology later in these pupils schooling careers. For example, a student who, due to grouping in primary school, must take algebra later in his or her schooling career will not have time to progress to advanced mathematics such as calculus, even if he or she has the learning potential to succeed in such classes. Mathematics, with its integral relationship to science, operates as the critical 'filter' subject in students' progression through educational levels, in the same way that Latin once operated as a filter subject when the church controlled education (Fox 2001).

Students not provided rigorous mathematical challenges early on fall behind, and are unable to participate in advanced mathematics, science, or technology later in their academic careers. Participation, and therefore achievement, in science and technology is then reduced because it prevents some students from obtaining the necessary prerequisites to later take advanced courses (Oakes 1990).

In addition, students in upper groups have been consistently found to benefit from greater richness and diversity in educational experiences and resources, whilst those in lower groups often concentrate on repetition and passive instruction, with little opportunity for either the development of critical thinking or experiential learning skills necessary for success in scientific and technological pursuits (Ansalone and Biafora 2004).

Upper ability groups benefit from additional experiments, more rigorous opportunities, and typically more trained teachers, whilst lower ability groups have few supplemental activities and typically the least trained teachers ( Wakefield 1997, 235). This reduces lower grouped pupils interest and background in science and technology, as well as the precoursers for study in these areas, such as mathematics.

For example, as numerous studies have shown that blacks and other minority children are more likely to be placed in low-ability and remedial classes or special education programmes and less likely to be identified as able learners and placed in enriched or accelerated programmes, many are excluded from future mathematic and scientific study at an early age even though they are more enthusiastic about scientific and technological subjects in primary school (Oakes 1990, 160).

An 'achievement gap' is an index of the difference in an educational indicator (such as an examination pas rate) between two or more groups (Gorard 2000, 391). In addition to patterns of differential attainment by gender, recent concern has also been expressed over differences in examination performance by ethnicity, by social class, and by the 'best' and 'worst' performing schools (Gorard 2000, 391). This type of evidence is marred by controversy over its calculation, and whether assessment methods are accurate (Gorard 2000, 393-395).

Women and minorities are typically underrepresented in the advanced math courses, such as calculus, and in some science courses, such as chemistry and physics (Hanson, Schaub and Baker 1996, 272). Over time, this limits their ability to qualify for advanced math, science, or technology-based programmes at the university level, which in turn influences the number of women in scientific and technological professions (Hanson, Schaub and Baker 1996, 272-274).

Oakes (1990, 155) also found that girls and minorities typically receive less encouragement and have fewer science- and math-related opportunities both in school and out than do white males, but when they do receive encouragement and are exposed to opportunities, they respond in much the same way as white males - with interest and participation. The gap in achievement and participation in advanced courses widens throughout later primary and secondary school, particularly in mathematics, a prerequisite for study in both science and technology, with fewer and fewer minorities achieving educational preparation for later scientific or technological careers (Oakes 1990, 161).

Reduction of ability grouping and de-tracking has been shown to be an effecfiive initiative in increasing studen participation and achievement in all advanced coursework, including science and technology, and has been increasingly implemented over the past fifteen years (Hallinan 2004, 74). Schools that have removed ability grouping from classrooms and ability-based class tracks from the overall school system have found a rise in both student self-efficacy regarding their abilities to achieve in academic pursuits and an increased openness amongst students to participate in a wider variety of course selection (Hallinan 2004, 76).

Although the author makes few references to increased enrollment or achievement in specific courses, Hallinan (2004) notes an increase in participation and achievement in all advanced courses, including science and technology. Unfortunately, due to a perception that eliminating grouping is difficult to administrate, grouping remains common is as many as eighty percent of schools (Hallinan 2004, 74).

A study of students impacted by ability grouping was undertaking at St. Xavier University, where researchers found that students who did poorly in science often also had poor reading skills, making it difficult for them to access the textbook, take accurate and useful notes, or complete homework assignments (Abdo et al 1998). These students had not received adequate instruction in previous schooling, as is typical of those placed in lower ability groupings or who attend impoverished schools.

In general, work in reading comprehension on non-science based texts was not found to make a significant impact on students' ability to access their science book (Abdo et al 1998, 19). Researchers concluded, after a year-long study, that this was in part due to reading strategies specific to scientific writing that is often intuitively grasped by adept readers and taught in upper-level ability groups but not typically presented to below average readers, who tend to concentrate on basic skills (Abdo et al 1998).

Teacher expectations, often tied to ability grouping, can also have a profound impact on student achievement. Neyehoff (2001) describes one study conduced on primary schoo children. Prior to the beginning of the school year, one year of teachers were given the made-up results of a so-called placement assessment, which labeled each student as excellent, average or poor. Teachers were informed these labels were derived from assessment testing as well as information on pupil's classroom behavior, motivation, and overall academic ability.

Unbeknownst to the teachers, however, the labels had been assigned at random. There was no actual connection between an individual's rating and his or her past performance, test scores, readiness assessments, or anything else (Neyehoff 2001). Research findings revealed that student performance by the year's end overwhelmingly matched the label of academic capability that they were given at the beginning of the year. The study concluded teacher expectations heavily influence pupil achievement. It was clear that during the school year, the students lived up to the high or low expectations of the teachers rather than to their actual potential (Neyehoff 2001).

Ability grouping has also been shown to negatively impact student's opinions of themselves as learners, a component found by researchers to impact both their participation and achievement in science and math study (Abdo et al 1998). At a time when science is playing an ever more important role in our society, pupils' interest in study of science as a subject at school is in steady decline (Phillips, Barrow and Chandrasekhar 2002).

One of the most common variables researchers have studied in relation to career interests in mathematics and science is self-efficacy, or the belief of an individual that he or she can perform a given task (Phillips, Barrow and Chandrasekhar 2002). Complementarily, school connectedness refers to an academic environment in which students believe that adults in the school care about their learning and about them as individuals (Blum 2005).

He reports that studies estimate forty to sixty percent of secondary students are chronically disengaged from school (Blum 2005, 16). High academic standards and expectations, strong teacher support, positive adult and student relationships, successful friendships, opportunities to participate in extra-curricular activities, and physical and emotional safety are all factors contributing to such connectedness (Blum 2005). One way to increase a feeling of connectedness amongst students, according to Blum (2005), is to eliminate tracking or ability grouping. He cites several detracking programmes shown to be successful in increasing connectedness, and therefore increasing student success (Blum 2005).

For generations, large groups of children have been doomed to less than stellar scholastic records due to popular prejudices and preconceived notions concerning their race, ethnicity, or gender... countless individual kids have never been allowed to develop their capacities fully because of conscious or unconscious beliefs and attitudes their teachers acquired as the result of experiences with older siblings, comments written in their official records, or off-hand remarks made by colleagues (Neyehoff 2001, 8). Pupils begin to believe the opinions held by their teachers and peers, which influences their educaitonal performance and aspirations. In the long-term, effects of ability grouping establish an unequal environment for students which prevents many from ever reaching their full learning or academic potential in all subjects, including science and technology (Mavi and Sharpe 2000, 166).

An representative intiative in using elimination of abilty grouping to improve participation and achievement in science and technology, as well as other advanced subjects, was undertaken in New York State, USA. The South Side School Sytem, in Rockville Centre, New York, eliminated both class-based trakcing and in-class ability grouping, particularly focusing on secondary school students. Their intention was to improve academic performance for students at all achievement levels and to better school climate (Anon 2004).

After elmination of abilty grouping, the percentage of students passing the New York Regents exam, an assessment required for all students to successfully complete a high school diploma, climbed from 78% to 92% (Anon 2004). In addition, pupils earning the more demanding Regents diploma, similar to A-level status, climbed from 72% in 1997 to 95% in 2004. Notable gains were also dramatic in the percentages of minority and lower class students taking and passing advanced math and science courses courses (Anon 2004).

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING AND CONTEXT

Numerous researchers have also examined the way in which science and technology are taught in the classroom. In general, students taught by passive learning strategies have been found to be less engaged, retain less information, and have lower understanding of course material (Barab, Barnett and Squire 2002, 532). Learning methods are changing from those focused on an acquisition-based model, where the student is a receptacle to be filled by the expert teacher, to a participation-based model, where the student is considered an active participant in creating his or her own learning.

Students no longer expect to simply absorb information from their instructors, but to experience and develop concepts and knowledge for themselves (Barab, Barnett and Squire 2002, p. 533). More than simply being enrolled, what students actually experience in their science and mathematics classrooms, from the earliest grades through senior high school, will influence what they learn and whether they continue along the pre-college mathematics and science pipeline (Oakes 1990, 189).

In addition to being bored by passive learning environments, students are typically encouraged to memorize a great deal of content, but are not provided opportunities to apply this knowledge in real-world situations. Students become predisposed to want to memorize a correct answer to a situation and parrot it back to the instructor to pass the examination, only to forget what they memorized soon after (Haywood, McMullen and Wygal 2004, p. 88). When facts and concepts are removed from a relevant, contextual situation, students are typically only motivated to learn material for the test and a good grade, and do not develop a bank of knowledge or understanding to build upon in later or more advanced courses (Barab et al 2001, p. 52).

Prensky (2000, 58) calls today's students member of the game generation, who grew up using computers or watching quickly changing television programming such as MTV, and are used to being active participants in their own learning experience. As such, they quickly disengage and stop participating when placed in the role of passive observers (Prensky 2000, p. 55). The focus of many science classrooms and textbooks, that of telling students content and facts rather than providing them opportunities for discussing and thinking through situations, only further bores and disengages them (Prensky 2000, p. 145).

A strong feature of the literature is the apparent contradiction between students' attitudes towards science in general and their attitudes towards school science - many surveys show repeatedly that students' attitudes towards science itself are positive (Osborne, Simon and Collins 2003, 1060). Such findings strongly call teaching methods and classroom environment into consideration.

Schools and teachers are increasingly recognising that active, hands-on learning is also called experiential learning, is a more effective way to go about instruction in science, mathematics, and technology, in addition to other areas of study (Anselmi and Frankel 2004, p. 169). Haywood, McMullen and Wygal (2004, 90) summarize research in educational psychology regarding this shift from instruction to learning and conclude, students learn and retain more of what they learn when they actively participate in problems rather than just listening to lectures.

Experiential learning also encourages pupils to practice a higher order of learning by personalizing content and relationships (Anselmi and Frankel 2004, 169). Students are able base their developing understandings and discoveries within their previous experiences, allowing them to actively construct ideas and relationships in their own mind (Prensky 2000, 162).

Initiatives to move science and technology instruction towards a more experiential methodology are plentiful. In one representative example of such an initiative, Phillips, Barrow and Chandrasekhar (2002) document two-month science enrichment project targeted at secondary school girls. The girls participated in a wide variety of experiments and collaborative hands-on learning activities. Their results show a significant increase in self-efficacy in science amongst participants (Phillips, Barrow and Chandrasekhar 2002).

Participants interest in science as a career either increased or decreased dramatically in pre-programme and post-programme assessment (Phillips, Barrow and Chandrasekhar 2002). This was interpreted as a refining and better understanding of whether or not the participants had real interest in science, an important component of future achievement in the area. Authentic science requires that students pursue their activities under the constraint that they make their actins and products accountable to themselves, their peers and their teachers; that is, classrooms are organized as knowledge-producing communities in which rhetorical dimensions similar to those in science are enacted (McGinn and Roth 1999).

In addition, experiential learning also provides an emphasis on social situation of meaning and relationships in understanding that may enable a wider variety of pupils, particularly those from diverse cultural backgrounds, to succeed in scientific study. Researchers in learning learning theory and practice report a shift from cognitive theories that emphasize individual thinkers and their isolated minds to theories that more fully acknowledge the role of the physical and social context in determining what is known (Barab, Barnett and Squire 2002, 494).

Students must have a life background or context for the science and technology they are learning, and this context is socially derived (Gee 2004, 180). Thinking and learning are therefore "attuned to and normed by the social groups to which we belong or seek to belong" (Gee 2004, 180). Lave and Wenger (1991, 31) developed a related theory of experiential participation in learning in which the individual student develops an identity within a community of practice.

Community members are motivated to participate in learning activities that are meaningful to the community as a whole and assist in positioning the learner more centrally within the community (Barab and Duffy 2000, 26). In this construct, the opinion of the community as to what is appropriate and inappropriate, desirable and not desirable, becomes increasingly important.

A number of explanations have been proposed, for example, to address the disinterest of older girls in certain subjects of study such as computer science, mathematics and science. Researchers have concluded factors such a the societal views of what is an appropriate female career, the lack of female role models, gender bias in the classroom, and gender stereotyping in computer software all turn girls against pursuing scientific and technological subject areas (Magoun, Eaton and Owens 2002, 2). These all involve acceptable ideas of scientists and women in society. Magoun, Eaton and Owens (2002, 2) quote Linda Sanford, General Manager of IBM Global Industries, if girls were taught at an early age that engineering and computer science are more about problem solving than about freckles and Coke-bottle glasses, we'd see a greater number of girls and women interested in technology.

PERCEPTIONS OF SCIENCE, SCIENTISTS AND TECHNOLOGY; ADDRESSING THESE THROUGH MENTORING AND ROLE MODELS

In relation to science, it has been recorded that pupils' images of the scientist have a significant impact on their likelihood to value science and technology, study advanced science subjects, and pursue scientific careers (Butenuth 2004, 9). The opinion and social positioning of the scientist is remarkably consistent, even over a number of different countries. Scientists are typically stereotyped by pupils as white, male, wearing a lab coat and often eyeglasses, and surrounded by scientific apparatus (Finson and Beaver 1995, 197).

In a typical study of thirty-five children, only three female scientists were depicted and these were drawn by females (Bowtell 1996, 11). Consequently, students who are unable to see themselves within this narrow concept of a scientist, or who face negative peer or family pressure regarding success in science and technology, are less likely to participate or succeed in study of these areas (). Butenuth (2004, 9) condluded that students need a better understanding of what scientists and those studying science at an advanced level actually do.

A number of influences contribute to pupils perceptions of science, scientists, and technology. Several research studies have indicated that students, as well as the general public, rely heavily on television, magazines, and similar media reports in developing their understandings of science and science issues (Dalgety and Coll 2004, 61). As a consequence, societal attitudes and opinions tend to conform to media representations"however inaccurate and ill-informed such portrayals may be (Dalgety and Coll 2004, 61).

Parental support has been identified as being one of the most influential factors on student science behaviour during elementary and middle schools, but the extent to which students respond to parental attitudes declines once they reach secondary school (Dalgety and Coll 2004, 60). At this point, peer opinion and past experiences with science and science learning become much more influential (Dalgety and Coll 2004, 59).

At the tertiary level, and to some extent at the secondary level, students choose a peer group that reinforces their own background and interests...students with a background in science are likely to form peer relationships with students who also have a science background and as students' relationships with their peers develop and become stronger, the student attitude towards science becomes similar to that of their peer group. (Dalgety and Coll 2004, 60). This reinforces the position that enriched scientific and technological learning is fundamentally important at the primarly level.

Students image of scientists and attitude towards science were found by a number of researchers to directly correlate with their likelihood to pursue scientific careers (Woods 2002). Many studies conclude one reason girls and minorities turn away from scientific and technological study and careers is the perception that scientists are white and male, for example (Bowtell 1996). Girls ages nine to fourteen were found to both abandon the study of science and technolgoy as welll as the possibility of pursuing careers in these areas during their secondary years (Steinke 1998).

Similarly, a study of pupils' images of scientists concluded their academic plans and career expectations directly match their perceptions of scientists, and of their competence in science and technology (Bowtell 1996). Girls are more likely to be influenced by negative social perceptions of scientists and technologial workers than boys, and minorities are also more likely to be influenced by these perceptions with respect to science than Caucasians (Bowtell 1996). Finson and Beaver (1995) contend that both girls and minorities suffer from too few role models in science and technology, which in turn directly affect their perceptions of scientists and technological workers and their images of themselves insuch fields.

A substantial majority of pupils of all ages are reported to indicate scientists are weird or different, even if they are postivie about science and scientists overall, viewing those in these fields as socially unfit (Jarvis and Pell 2002, 48). Most pupils were found to be more likely to positively identify with careers considered socially acceptable or promoting social acceptance from their peers and in their communities (Bowtell 1996).

Lackie (2003, 3) conducted an experiment on pupils' perceptions of scientists and the ability of positive role models to change such perceptions. Lackie discussed science and scientsist with a group of nine to eleven year-olds of mixed races. Through pretesting and pre-experiminent discusssions, she elicited their descriptions of scientists, the stereotypical image of a strange white male with weird hair . Pretesting and discussions had, at this point, indicated less than five percent of the pupils considered a career in science.

She then showed the group photos of attractive men and women of various races, and described the type of work they do. Posttesting and discussion revealed that nearly two-thirds of the group now indicated they might want to consider science as a potential career option (Lackie 2003, 3).

Although most such perception-changing intiatives involve field trips to scientific or technological companies, or bringing in scientists to the schools, St. Crispin's School in Workingham developed a particularly unique and effective initiative, called Science Buddies. In this programme, Year Elevens pair with Year Sevens to help them carry out experiments and investigations once a week during Wednesday lunchtime (Dfes 2005). Whilst organisers originally encounted some resistance from students, over time they were able to establish that this was likely tobe a fun and rewarding activity for all Year Elevens and Year Sevens, and not something exclusively reserved for mad-keen science students (Dfes 2005).

Typical activities include investigations, experiments, and science or technology-centred games, with one project undertaken in coordination with Reading University even requiring pupil teams to build their own robots, capable of moving a sweet (Dfes 2005). Organisers report not only improvement in science achievement and participation in both Year Sevens and Year Elevens participating, but also recordable improvements in enthusiasm for science and technology and in pupils' communication skills (Dfes 2005).

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