Exploring the Intersection of Science Education and 21st Century Skills A Workshop Summary (2010) / Chapter Skim
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2 Intersections of Science Standards and 21st Century Skills
2 Intersections of Science Standards and 21st Century Skills
Pages 16-29
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From page 16... ...
focused his examination of science standards on the National Science Education Standards (National Research Council, 1996) and on the standards of nine states that have joined the Partnership for 21st Century Skills: Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wisconsin (Schunn, 2009)
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. These national standards address not only student science learning, but also science teaching, professional development, assessment, and other aspects of science education; his comparison included the student learning and science teaching standards.
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Some states focus primarily on basic understanding of core theories, ideas, and facts, while other states call for students to be able to solve particular types of problems in the content area or to be able to describe patterns or explain phenomena. Schunn noted that all of the state standards include process strands that are presented separately from the subject-matter areas, just as the national standards separate science as inquiry from the subject areas of physical science, life science, and earth and space science.
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Overall Level of Overlap Overall, Schunn found a moderate level of overlap among the five broad skills, the nine state standards, and the National Science Education Standards (see Figure 2-2)
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Physical adaptability to various indoor or outdoor work environments. He first considered the extent to which the nine sets of state standards include goals related to "ability and willingness to cope with uncertain,
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, appears in a few state standards. For example, the Wisconsin standards explicitly refer to trying to build understanding, and the Kansas inquiry standards include detailed goals for written and oral communication, including constructing arguments and responding appropriately to critical comments.
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Schunn observed that the social elements of persuasion and negotiation are not mentioned in the science standards. Turning to "instructing," the fourth component, Schunn said that the emphasis on clear communication and explanation in most of the state standards is relevant to instructing others.
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In addition, a few state standards discuss this component in their technological design standards, because redesigning a product or process involves moving beyond an existing solution and deciding that a new approach is required. For example, the Maine inquiry and technological design standards for grades 9-12 state: "Students use a systematic process, tools and techniques, and a variety of materials to design and produce a solution or product that meets new needs or improves existing designs" (Maine Department of Education, 2007, p.
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Overall, he found a high degree of overlap between these six components and the teaching standards of the National Science Education Standards (National Research Council, 1996) , but much less overlap with state science standards.
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With regard to "willingness and ability to acquire new skills related to work," Schunn said that, although the science standards do not explicitly mention this component, it could be developed through Teaching Standard E of the National Science Education Standards, discussed above. Systems Thinking Turning to systems thinking, Schunn divided this broad skill into two components: "systems analysis" and "systems decision making." Noting that systems analysis is "what scientists do," he said that references to this component appear in all nine sets of state standards.
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He predicted that later workshop presentations would show that engaging students in large, team-based design projects supports development of 21st century skills, because of what such projects require (Kolodner, 2009; Kracjik and Sutherland, 2009) : working in a team would develop communications and social skills, a large team size requires adaptability and self-management skills, and the design process requires problem-solving and systems thinking skills.
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Fuchs then asked Schunn whether 21st century skills are developed only in specific domains of knowledge, or whether they might be transferred to other domains, such as from a science classroom to a workplace problem. He noted that Klahr and Nigam (2004)
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Responding to the question about whether teachers possess 21st century skills, Fuchs said that teachers solve nonroutine problems, engage in complex communication, and work in teams. However, he said, he was discouraged by the findings of an evaluation of implementation of curriculum supplements developed by the National Institutes of Health Office of Science Education.
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2 INTERSECTIONS OF SCIENCE STANDARDS AND 21ST CENTURY SKILLS system affect each other to a much more sophisticated understanding of how concepts or elements interact within systems. Considering education as a system, Schunn said that feedback is "a completely broken construct." The focus of feedback is on assessments to help teachers monitor student progress, with no attention to developing teachers' skills to change the course of instruction in response to the feedback.
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