MSP Regional Meeting:NIH Resources to Support STEM Education

Bruce A. Fuchs, Ph.D., Director Office of Science EducationNational Institutes of Health , DHHSbruce.fuchs@nih.govhttp://science.education.nih.gov

Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)

• http://www.pisa.oecd.org

• Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

• Policy oriented-determined by needs of governments

• “Literacy”- capacity of 15 year old students to apply knowledge

• Not limited to curricular competencies- lifelong learning

• 49 countries- OECD members + others

Problem Solving Example

PISA 2003 Problem Solving

USA

Argument:What About Our Top Students?

PISA

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Science.education.nih.gov

Science.education.nih.gov

• Categorized educational resources (1600+)

Science.education.nih.gov

• Funding opportunities

NIH Challenge Grants in STEM Education

• http://science.education.nih.gov/callbruce• (See information page)

• http://dpcpsi.nih.gov/osc/challengegrants/stem.asp

SEPA(Science Education Partnership Awards)

• http://www.ncrr.nih.gov/science_education_partnership_awards• For program announcements

• http://www.ncrrsepa.org/• To see examples of funded projects.

Science.education.nih.gov/LifeWorks

NIH Curriculum Supplements Series

Targets grades K-12

16 teaching units developed to date

Developed in collaboration with NIH scientists

Created with outside curriculum development experts (e.g., BSCS, EDC)

Interactive teaching units that combine cutting-edge science from the NIH with innovative pedagogy.

Over 340,000 supplements requested by educators in more than 16,700 zip codes http://science.education.nih.gov

Inquiry in Science

• Inquiry refers to the way scientists study the natural world and propose explanations based on evidence

• Scientists ask questions about the world• What causes earthquakes?• Is the climate changing?• What causes human illness?

• Inquiry in different fields of science is similar• Rigorous reasoning• Considers evidence (observations, lab experiments, etc.)• Hypothesis testing• Build models and/or theories that are predictive and subject to further testing

• Inquiry is central to the nature of science

Inquiry in Science Education

• Inquiry refers to a way of teaching science that incorporates aspects of the scientist’s approach

• Inquiry can be used to teach science content

• Inquiry is also a skill students should master

• Inquiry is not…• Best learned simply by reading about it• A procedure that can be memorized (e.g., “the scientific method”)

Inquiry in Other Occupations

• Inquiry is used in other careers–not just science• Physician diagnosing illness in a patient• Assembly line worker investigating production line errors• Office worker using database to solve customer’s problem

• Businesses report that employees with problem solving and critical thinking skills are in short supply

• These skills are rewarded in the U.S. economy

Doing Science: The Process of Scientific Inquiry

• Inquiry in the “foreground” of lesson

• Discuss how scientists work• Evidence• Teamwork• Sharing data and explanations• Working with questions

• Scientific• Testable

• Solve a community health problem

Challenges to Inquiry

• Preparing teachers• Inquiry intimidating if teacher is unsure of content• Professional development• Supportive curricular materials

• Myths about inquiry• All instruction should be inquiry based• Students must generate their own questions• Good “hands-on” curricular materials = good inquiry• Inquiry is independent of subject content matter

Assessment: A Major Challenge

• Most state and national-level assessments do not measure inquiry skills• We measure what is cheap and easy • We don’t measure some things we value most

• Assessment should measure both content knowledge and specific inquiry skills

• Businesses assess these skills in prospective employees

• Schools need effective, inexpensive ways to assess these skills

Office of Science EducationOffice of Science Policy

Bruce A. Fuchs, Ph.D., Director Office of Science EducationNational Institutes of Health , DHHSbruce.fuchs@nih.govhttp://science.education.nih.gov

Mathematics and Science Mathematics and Science Partnership (MSP) ProgramsPartnership (MSP) Programs

U.S. Department of U.S. Department of Education: Education:

San Francisco San Francisco Regional MeetingRegional Meeting