What is “science”? The word is derived from the Latin word “scientia”, which means knowledge and true, deep understanding.
Between 2019 and this year, the media has been carrying headlines such as: Interest in science continues to drop; Don’t kill interest in the sciences; Malaysia needs to increase percentage of students in STEM; More students switching from science to arts stream; and Academicians: weak foundation to blame for students losing interest in science, maths.
So, it is surprising that Malaysia has been ranked at the 45th spot and above in science in the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa), which measures education of 15-year-old students in the 21st century by emphasising and evaluating thinking and problem-solving.
Countries with high Pisa scores have shared their recommendations and pedagogical methods to optimise the learning of science, and these include the important role that teachers play.A teacher’s main objective is to ensure that students acquire knowledge and construct problem-solving skills by understanding concepts.
Science teachers in these top-performing countries rarely have students sit for tests with multiple-choice or true or false answers.
In fact, any form of testing is not the norm as the preferred approach is to build students’ problem-solving skills through classroom evaluation.Compared to tests, consistent and frequent interaction with students can better provide teachers with information on how students are learning science.
Follow-up sessions with individual students can provide social, cognitive and emotional support to ensure that they continue learning the subject effectively.
The main focus in education is equity. A phrase shared by one of the countries that performed well in Pisa was, “Every school succeeds and every class succeeds.”
The intent is not to provide students with all available resources in the science laboratory or classroom, but to give every student an equal opportunity to fulfil their maximum potential.
Students with varying abilities and diverse educational backgrounds are taught to use science concepts, objects in their daily lives, and experiments to develop ideas and to problem-solve.
In cases where students lack the skills or background knowledge to solve open-ended scientific problems, teachers conduct additional research to ensure that effective scaffolding, such as in the form of videos, mnemonics and virtual images, is delivered to these students.
These approaches are worth adopting if we are to train our students to solve real-world problems using scientific theories and concepts.What we can do as teachers, however, is limited. As the saying goes, teachers open the door, but students must enter by themselves.
What educators can and must do is to encourage and guide our students in the right direction through classroom assessment and evaluation, and to spark curiosity.
As the great physicist Albert Einstein once said, “The most important thing is to never stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.”
BERNADINE CLARE CYRIL MICHAEL and DR MOHD MOKHZANI IBRAHIM
Tanjong Malim, Perak
