Improving Indicators of the Quality of Science and Mathematics Education in Grades K-12 (1988) / Chapter Skim
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2 Indicators of Science and Mathematics Education
2 Indicators of Science and Mathematics Education
Pages 15-26
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From page 15... ...
In attempting to abstract from the complexities of American schooling and to propose new indicators of the quality of science and mathematics education, the committee has taken on a task that requires a clear sense of definitions, methods, and goals. This chapter first defines what we take to be the purposes of science and mathematics education and then presents a conception of schooling that has shaped our choice of indicators.
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From page 16... ...
Because the sciences and mathematics, despite their many interconnections, are quite differently constituted, literacy in each of these domains is discussed separately. Literacy in Science' The dimensions of scientific literacy that should be integral to any educational program include the nature of the scientific world view, the nature of the scientific enterprise, scientific habits of mind, and the role of science in human affairs.
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From page 17... ...
~ Particular concepts, mathematical tools, or techniques can reappear in various scientific specialties, thereby not only helping to suggest new advances but also providing syntheses among different parts of the total scientific world view. Examples of such recurring concepts or tools include scale, cycles, waves, estimation, energy, antibodies, and probability.
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From page 18... ...
. Necessary conditions for understanding the processes of science include familiarity with a wide range of natural phenomena; asking questions and forming hypotheses; understanding the need for tests or controlled comparisons; embracing theories of measurement, evidence, and data; and accepting a method of notation or formalism, most often mathematical, that allows an unambiguous and replicable depiction of a set of phenomena.
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From page 19... ...
The historic study of most scientific advances shows, however, that other, more individual, and even aesthetic, elements enter to assist the purely logical-critical faculty during the creative phase of scientific work. There is, in short, no single "scientific method." Moreover, accepting the scientific world view does not disqualify an individual from sensitivity to, or the appreciation of, artistic and humanistic achievements.
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From page 20... ...
Much mathematics originally developed for its own beauty or interest has later provided tools for scientific or technological applications that were inconceivable earlier. Literacy in Mathematics ~ The types of mathematical literacy practical arithmetic, civic application, professional use of mathematics, and cultural appreciation-correspond roughly to the central objectives of the four hierarchical tiers in the educational system: primary, secondary, undergraduate, and graduate.
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From page 21... ...
Practical Literacy in Mathematics Practical literacy is knowIedge that can be put to immediate use in improving basic living standards. The ability to compare loans, to figure unit prices, to manipulate household measurements, and to estimate the erects of various rates of inflation brings immediate real benefit.
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From page 22... ...
As one progresses through the more complex developments in mathematics, however, the size of the interested audience may decrease, to an audience perhaps something like the readership of Scientific American. Pursuing cultural literacy in mathematics to the more advanced stages enables one to appreciate the seemingly arcane research of twentieth-century mathematics not only for its potential and unknown practical application but also, and more important, as an invaluable and profound contribution to the heritage of human culture.
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From page 23... ...
, was followed by theories that emphasized the interaction of the student with the structure of the subject matter (Brownell, 1947; Piaget, 1954; Bruner, 1960, 1966; Gagne, 1965; Ausubel, 1968; Dienes and Golding, 1971) , and is currently developing into theories of how children actively construct knowledge for themselves through their interaction with the environment, including the formal and informal teaching to which they are exposed (Resnick, 19873.
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From page 24... ...
In fact, a second principle underlying the recommendations in this report is that the behavior of teachers and students is indeed influenced by the incentives and constraints they face. Examples of such incentives include teachers' salaries relative to those offered in other professions, which may attract or dicourage talented individuals, and the quality of the mathematics and science courses available in a school, which may increase or decrease student enrollment.
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From page 25... ...
For example, the lack of adequate laboratory facilities may make it difficult for a school to attract teachers who really want to teach science and may force teachers who do teach science in that school to base instruction on memorizing facts rather than on developing an understanding of scientific principles through hands-on experiments. By the same token, the lack of facilities and the consequent dullness of the instruction may lead students to avoid taking science courses.
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From page 26... ...
to accommodate their own skills and interests and their perceptions of their students' skills and interests. As a result of these decisions by individual teachers about how to use the intended curriculum, children in different classrooms and in different schools experience different actual curricula and consequently learn different things, even when they all attend schools using the same intended curriculum.
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