Project+Conclusions


 * Project EUR-EMSET Conclusions **

**A starting point: Discussion with primary school students (10/11 years) on maths and science (September 2010)**

Henry loves maths – it’s his favourite subject. In particular ‘word problems’ – real life situations to be resolved using maths. He loves the fact that there are 9 different units, as well as shapes, you can bend into different challenges.’ He is also very interested in meteorology. He likes ‘lots of different types of science eg human body, how things work, animal habitats, which mean different branches of learning.’ However, the only thing he dislikes about science is ‘the complexity of it.’ So he knows that his knowledge has limits – and that there is so much more to discover.

Jo is much less keen on maths, on the whole, though he does like ‘drawing shapes, measuring and times tables.’ So quite a lot, in fact. He dislikes ‘dividing – and doing what we’ve done before (a lot).’ In science, he enjoys ‘finding out about things I didn’t know before’ – but doesn’t like ‘that people who don’t understand get lost and left behind in a group.’ Jo prefers languages, history and the arts – but he’s open-minded on maths and science, ready to learn if his interest is engaged.

Maddy says, ‘Maths we have every day and science we have maybe once or twice a week, so that’s probably why I’m more enthusiastic about maths.’ She feels more knowledgeable and therefore more involved.

Lottie enjoys project work, where she can decide on what she wants to study and get really involved. ‘I did my project on the oil spill in the Mexican Gulf. That was really interesting, finding out all about what was happening and the reasons for it.’ She also mentions with enthusiasm a residential visit to the Wilderness Centre, ‘where we learned all about how various rocks are formed.’

Henry agreed that the residential was excellent. We all worked as a team, on the Night Walk – the people in front would call out, ‘Stinging nettles, watch out’ – and that sort of stuff. It was great! Also, the people at the Wilderness ask your teacher what topic you’re doing and then they base the activities around that, which is really good.

Maddy emphasises again the importance of learning out of school, in the real world. ‘On the French trip, it was great to learn about their culture and the way they live.’

**The views expressed by these four very articulate and thoughtful young people in many ways encapsulate what we have been seeking to achieve in Project EUR-EMSET:**


 * **Maths and science need to be both related to the real world – and to offer intrinsic challenge and interest in themselves. ‘Drawing shapes, measuring and times tables can be engaging in themselves, as well as useful for wider purposes.’**
 * **The languages of maths and science are hugely important. They can offer new insights and understandings that students can internalise and relate to learning in other areas. Or, more negatively, they can act as a barrier to learning**
 * **An understanding of the complexity of things is a vital part of learning. Science, like French, is complex and challenging**
 * **Repetitive rote learning is de-motivating and ineffectual**
 * **Working in a team can be highly motivating and fun – but groupwork needs to be well directed and in particular take account of the needs of those who have not fully understood or fully participated**
 * **Maths tends to be regarded by primary school students as part of the everyday fabric of learning, whereas science is often more peripheral – since facilities may be more limited and sometimes staff are not as confident in their own abilities. Integrating maths and science (as in Sweden) might tend to diminish this problem – and indeed linking maths, science and other subjects (geography, history, current affairs, English) as in Lottie’s oil spill project – can also be highly effective**
 * **Many students at the top of end of primary school are still open-minded and willing to learn, even if they are not natural science and maths specialists**
 * **Out of school learning is very important and can be highly effective, especially where it links strongly with work in the normal curriculum.**

(The full discussion can be seen in the video taken - details on the 'DVDs illustrating good practice' page)

Compare the views expressed here with the conclusions of **James Hiebert (et al)** in //Learning, Learners and Assessment: Ed. Patricia Murphy, Open University, 1999// //in// //Problem-solving as a basis for reform in curriculum and instruction: the case of Mathematics// The FP7 international science teaching S-TEAM Project refers to a study in 2004, which stated:
 * **One important principle for reform is that students should be allowed to make the subject //problematic//**
 * **This means allowing students to be problematic means allowing students to wonder why things are, to inquire, to search for solutions, and to resolve incongruities**
 * **Such an approach to learning enables us as learners to make sense of the chaos, to sort out what is indispensable from what is optional**
 * **Our central proposition is that //both curriculum and instruction should begin with problems, dilemmas and questions for students//**
 * **Students should be allowed and encouraged to problematize what they study, to define problems that elicit their curiosities and sense-making skills**
 * **The focus of the current study is on maths – but the principle is relevant for all school subjects.**
 * It can be argued that science education in schools lives in a world of its own. It seems** **unsophisticated because it is unable to compete with advances within the scientific** **fields. It is abstract because it is trying to put forward fundamental ideas, most of which** **were developed in the 19th century, without sufficient experimental, observational and** **interpretational background, without showing sufficient understanding of their implications, and without giving students the opportunity of a cumulative development of understanding and interest. It is heavily in danger of being excessively factual because of the explosion in scientific knowledge and the “adding-on” of topics to an already excessive content base.** //(Europe needs more scientists, 2004)//

The situation in 2009 could be summed up in these terms:


 * The State of Science Education in Europe: **


 * •Relevance is lacking **


 * •Reforms in Pedagogy are needed **


 * •Girls are less interested than boys with fewer choosing careers in physical science and engineering **

Whilst there is clearly need for transformational educational reform, real advances in methodology and practice have been made in recent years, certainly in both Sweden and the UK – and of course more broadly. The **analysis of responses to the student questionnaire**, issued to students in Sweden and the UK at the start of the project, include the following on the whole very positive points: (UK 1 2 and 3 and SE 1 2 and 3 refer to the partner secondary schools participating in the project (lower secondary in SE)  **Maths**
 * •Reforms in curriculum are needed (more human content) **
 * **In my maths lessons I am involved in a lot of practical activities and problem-solving ** At UK1 and UK3, roughly half of the students agree, whilst the two UK2 groups record 86% and 96% agreement, respectively. In Sweden, however, a lower figure (60%) of the SE3 group respond positively, and 67% do at SE1. Remarkably, 100% of Group 1 and 91% of Group 2 at SE2do so.  ||
 * **Maths is really useful for lots of interesting careers ** Near unanimous agreement at UK2 and UK1 – and 75% agree at UK3. Near unanimous agreement in Sweden.  ||
 * **I would like to continue to study maths ** Between 86 and 75% say yes in the different UK groups – though whether they mean beyond age 16 is problematic. In Sweden, 94% in SE2Group 1 and 73% in SE2 Group 2 say yes, whereas the corresponding figures for the SE3 and SE1 groups are 74% and 48%, respectively.  ||


 * __General remarks on Maths __**

There are much more marked differences between the individual schools than between Sweden and the UK. There are even quite marked differences in responses between different groups in the same school – with for instance the Control Group at UK2 recording on the whole significantly even more positive responses than the Focus Group, within the context of generally very positive attitudes to the subject from both UK2 groups. There are particularly marked differences between schools (and to some extent between groups within schools) when it comes to responses to **I feel enthusiastic about maths,** varying from 24% positive responses to 93%. Only SE2:1 seems to find maths exciting, as a clear majority view. It may be that the overwhelmingly positive responses from SE2 (especially Group 1) reflect the students’ experience that they are involved in **a lot of practical activities and problem-solving.** **Science**
 * **In my science lessons I am involved in a lot of practical activities and problem-solving ** Interestingly, the Control Group at UK2, with its many very positive responses to questions about science learning, has 100% positive responses here, compared with 88% for the Focus Group (still a strong response, but with three students dissenting – one of them strongly!). UK1 also has a 100% positive response, with UK3 at 69%. SE3 has an 86% positive response, whereas SE1 again has 100% positive response and SE2:2 91%.  ||
 * **<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Science is really useful for lots of interesting careers ** <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;">Groups score between 88% positive responses **(**Control Group at UK2) and 70% (Focus Group at UK2) with UK1 at 84% and UK3 at 80%. SE3 has a 70% positive response here, SE2:1 88% and SE2:2 73%.  ||
 * **<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">I would like to continue to study science ** <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;">UK1 has the most positive responses amongst the UK schools (92%), with UK3 also very high at 85%, the Control Group at UK2 on 84% and the Focus Group at UK2 on 78%. SE3 has a lower positive response rate (60%), SE2:1 has 88% and SE2:2 82%.  ||

<span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;">It is noticeable that almost all students in all groups say they enjoy science lessons, whereas the response to the same question in relation to maths is much more varied. Within this context, there appears to be the most enthusiasm for science at SE2, amongst all the survey schools, within the groups chosen to complete the questionnaire. Most students both in Sweden and the UK also seem to find science (at least potentially and no doubt often actually) exciting. Again, there is a much more positive response from students in both countries in this respect than there is for maths. Sweden has higher positive scores in response to **Parents, other adults or other young people have helped me to understand difficult scientific ideas.** It would be interesting to discuss whether this reflects a general trend in relation to greater involvement of parents and friends in the learning process in Sweden. In response to **In science I have the opportunity to discuss issues that interest me,** those groups with higher positive response rates SE2:1 (100%), SE2:2 87% and the Control Group at UK2 (80%) also had high positive response rates to **In my science lessons I am involved in a lot of practical activities and problem-solving.** However, UK1 also had a 100% positive response to this question, despite a lower positive score on the question of being able to discuss issues of interest in science.
 * __<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">General remarks on Science __**


 * Overview of the situation in the UK and Sweden**

Nevertheless, the curriculum and teaching methodologies in the UK are still much too constrained by the obsessive drive to ‘raise standards’, whatever they are, achieve higher examination results, satisfy inspectors, cram yet more knowledge into an already overcrowded curriculum, and take over huge proportions of the lives and energies of both students and teachers in this process – greatly restricting their capacity for creativity and innovative action. In Sweden there are to some extent similar pressures, though to a less intense degree. This produces a more relaxed and therefore in some ways more effective learning environment. However, more opportunities for innovative cross-curricular work could be taken, especially work involving ICT and activities giving students more opportunity to act as independent scientific investigators rather than passive learners.

Enterprise education and education business partnership have proved a great focus for curricular innovation within the project. So too has environmental education, with an excellent co-operation between Asköviken Nature School and the Wilderness Centre. Ironically, this co-operation has now come to an end, because the Wilderness Centre has now ceased to exist, owing to cut-backs in local government spending enforced by central government. The high esteem in which the work of the Wilderness Centre was held is incidentally reflected in the comments of our primary school student interviewees, above.

Colleagues in Västerås have also – again somewhat ironically – been motivated by their visits to Gloucestershire to set up a local professional development facility for teachers of science and maths, inspired by the Gloucestershire professional development centre at Hucclecote, which (like the Wilderness Centre) actually closed its doors in July of 2011.