real science...
If you don't have much time please do have a look at the summary, or even a read of this introductory page will give you the gist. Anyway
Since you’re a Planet Science visitor, we’re assuming that you care about the state of science education in the UK. (If you don’t, now might be the time to click somewhere else!) So you might be interested in NESTA’s new report, ‘Real Science’, which argues the case for more ‘hands-on’ science in schools.
It’s called ‘Real Science’ because we think that experiments and investigations need to be at the heart of learning about science. In other words, really great and inspiring learning about science needs to include a lot of ‘doing science’ – coming up with topics for investigation, thinking about a suitable experiment, conducting the experiment and then working through the results.
It’s challenging certainly, for pupils and teachers, but exciting and motivating as well. And the evidence shows that it works. NESTA knows this from the projects it’s funded and supported – great projects like Creative Space, Brain Games and Genetic Futures, you can read more about them and other innovative projects in the report. There's also more and more evidence from other researchers about the benefits of this way of learning.
So what’s the problem? Well, we know it’s not that easy. This way of teaching science takes time, money (for equipment and lab space), training – and sometimes experiments don’t work (or go off in interesting but unexpected directions). Sounds a lot like ‘real’ science, doesn't it?
The more chance that pupils have to do science and not just be told about it, the more likely they are to want to be scientists, keep up-to-date with issues in science – or teach science to the next generation.
So read the report and please tell us what you think. NESTA wants to take this issue forward, and work with more teachers, advisors and organisations to make sure that there’s more real science in schools. After all, if we can’t experiment with new approaches in science, then where can we?
You can download the full and summary reports below, and let us know what your thoughts by emailing: research@nesta.org.uk
We'd also love to hear from you about your experiences of conducting experiments in the lab if you're a teacher or school student.
NESTA commissioned a science teachers survey to go with the report, click here for the results.
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