Natural Science Class: It's tasteless, but it's a pity to discard it?
In 2017, the Ministry of Education issued the "Compulsory Education Primary School Science Curriculum Standards", and natural science education entered the classrooms of young people in my country and became a compulsory course.
The reporter from Ban Yue Tan visited a number of primary and secondary schools and found that after 4 years of practice, my country’s youth natural science education has a certain foundation, but at the same time it faces multiple problems brought about by the marginalization of school education and the interweaving of out-of-school education routines. In the long run, It will weaken the training of national scientific and technological innovation talents.
1
In-school classes are "may or not",
Quick routines outside school
Since 2017, many places have explored natural science education for young people. Most schools have opened science courses, and some training institutions have carried out related attempts, and have initially solved the question of whether science courses can be taken, but can they be well taken. Still not optimistic.
"In some schools, science classes may or may not be available." A elementary school science teacher in a certain province said that non-linguistic mathematics arbitrarily squeezes science classes, and students who are in science classes may be called for tuition and talk by non-linguistic mathematics teachers. .
In some schools, science classes are held concurrently by teachers of mathematics and Chinese. The science classes of two sessions a week are divided into one session a week, and there is not even one session in a semester.
A teacher in a township middle school said that the school does not conduct experiments, the experimental equipment was littered or sealed up to accumulate dust, and some did not even open the packaging.
Some schools do not support outdoor observation and experiments in natural science courses due to insufficient funds, insecurity, and difficulty in management.
Elementary school student Xu Zihan told Banyuetan reporters that many students around him are interested in science but don't like science classes.
"I hope to carry out more scientific activities such as experiments, observation, planting, and breeding, instead of always watching slides."
The internal science courses are like chicken ribs, but the external science education is rapidly becoming routine.
In recent years, a large amount of social funds have entered the field of natural science education, and there are insufficient education systems, education standards, and teaching experience.
Interviews with Banyuetan reporters found that many off-campus training institutions have a relatively high standard of decoration and are equipped with basic experimental equipment, but their teaching ability is not good.
Shu Mou, the person in charge of an off-campus training organization in the Yangtze River Delta region, said that the teachers are mainly fresh graduates. They can find some materials on the Internet and sell them now. They are all children, which are easy to deal with.
There are also training institutions that turn outdoor science activities into outings and gardens, which they call "cognitive rocks and hydrology". In fact, teachers don't know how to talk about it, just taking children to the park.
Mei Bao, an astrophysicist and astronomy science education expert, said that the common problems faced by science classes are caused by short-sighted education and quick success.
2
Why science education is not effective
Incorporating natural sciences into the compulsory education curriculum system reflects the country's attention and determination to improve the scientific literacy of young people.
But why is the effect still unsatisfactory after repeated moves in many places and departments?
-The textbook lacks top-level design.
A number of interviewed teachers believe that science education textbooks generally have fragmented knowledge, lack of systemicity and logic, insufficient expression of scientific methods, scientific ideas and scientific spirit, and lack of curriculum standards, educational content, educational methods, and experimental norms. Standardization basis.
Pan Junhua, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said that science education cannot simply copy the subject education curriculum standards, but must build a comprehensive, scientific, and systematic system that opens up a multidisciplinary framework such as astronomy, geography, biology, physics, and chemistry.
——Science classes are generally ignored.
Some teachers interviewed reported that science teachers are at a disadvantage when public schools are appraising awards and professional titles; some private schools arrange science teachers to undertake inter-class inspections, nap inspections and other chores, and some schools do not even have full-time science teachers.
In some areas, laboratories, experimental equipment and laboratory specialists to support science education in schools are still lacking.
A teacher said that there is only 1 laboratory in 20 classes of a grade in his middle school.
In addition, to do experiments to purchase flammable and explosive products requires a certificate issued by the public security department, and many teachers can only replace it with video teaching.
-Insufficient support from specialized social forces.
At present, science education has limited school hours and single content, and there is a lack of high-quality, open, professional bodies that can integrate and interact with school education outside the school.
Mei Bao said that some foreign institutions have carried out astronomy-based out-of-school natural science education for teenagers to stimulate children's curiosity to explore the mysteries of the universe and natural laws. Such out-of-school natural science study tours are rare in China.
3
Science education urgently needs to enter the scientific track
Experts such as Chen Jiansheng, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and astrophysicist, believe that to effectively carry out youth science education, it is necessary to establish a scientific and standardized education system, stimulate both internal and external resources, mobilize social forces to work together, and cultivate more high-quality for the future Technological talents are ready.
The first-line science teachers interviewed suggested that science classes should be given the same basic status as Chinese and mathematics, and science classes should be taken as the main subjects to increase the importance of science classes in school education; according to the characteristics of natural science subjects, textbooks should be compiled and taught The training is combined with the school's supporting reforms, taking into consideration the learning of scientific knowledge, the cultivation of inquiry ability and the improvement of thinking level in the arrangement of scientific textbooks, to better reflect knowledge and science, and conform to the development law of students' cognition and psychology.
Pan Junhua believes that in addition to generally setting up science education majors in key normal colleges and expanding the scale of enrollment, it is also possible to recruit science and engineering graduates from non-normal colleges and universities, and to add teaching qualifications to the teaching team, cracking that the proportion of full-time science teachers is too low problem.
Mei Bao suggested that regular nationwide training should be carried out for existing teachers, increase investment in scientific education equipment, and establish a rigid restraint mechanism to ensure that the special funds are used exclusively.
Some science teachers believe that, on the basis of strict supervision of off-campus training institutions, the cooperation between science museums, private science camps and schools should be strengthened to coordinate the development of science education courses that meet the needs of young people in different stages.
Chen Jiansheng suggested to activate social resources, build science education bases and camps in the suburbs, and share resources such as the natural environment, venues, laboratories, observation and experiment equipment, databases, and science teachers.
Source: "Ban Yue Tan" Issue 22, 2021