Emerging Trends And Challenges In Science Education (original) (raw)
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New Trends in Science Education within the 21st Century Skills Perspective
New Trends in Science Education within the 21st Century Skills Perspective, 2020
Today, we are facing more problems in real world that we live. These problems can be illustrated such as climate change, new terminal diseases, natural disasters and so on. To be able to solve those mentioned problems we must firstly know our World. Science and science education makes this possible for people. Human meets science when he/she is born. At that time his/her lungs fill with Oxygen and starts to cry. As it can be understood from this scientific event we are not strangers to science. Herein a question is very significant to be learnt science in 21st century. Many indications show us students science knowledge’s level. For instance Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) results give us deep information about countries’ level in the scope of science education. The PISA examines what students know in reading, mathematics and science, and what they can do with what they know. OECD (2019), science score mean is 489 in PISA 2018. According to the results is found in 2018 PISA shows us that 14 OECD countries’ science scores mean is under OECD average. While some countries are successful in science education, most are not. TIMSS (2015), science achievement results are reported as average scores and distributions on the fourth and eighth grade science achievement scales. Within this context, 33 countries’ science score means is under 500 (centerpoint) for fourth grade among 47 countries and 20 countries’ science score means is under 500 (centerpoint) for eight grade among 47 countries. The most important questions which should be answered is that are our schools adequately prepared to educate students for future challenges? Besides this it can be argued that many students are not able to access to high quality science education they need. Becuase during Covid pandemic crises many students are not able to Access to face to face education. United Nation (2020), the Covid-19 pandemic created the largest disruption of education systems in history, affecting nearly 1.6 billion students in more than 190 countries. Closures of schools impacted 94 per cent of the world’s student population, up to 99 per cent in low and lower-middle income countries. It implies many students from both poor and developing countries can not acess to the educaion. This result show us the importance of 21st century teaching tools for successful science education. With the effect of technology and engineering science is making progress everyday.
Science and Technology Education in Nigeria: Refocusing on New Approaches
Abstract: In this study, we will examine the fact that without science and technology education, no country can achieve positive technology transfer, economic infrastructure, scientific and technological development and industrialization. The study observed that Nigerian citizens can benefit from science and technological education through refocusing on the new trends and development. The study concludes that there is no alternative to scientific and technological development. They are what distinguish the underdeveloped countries from the developed ones. The standard of living, social security, military and political power of the country all depend on the advancement of her science and technology. Key words: Education, Nigeria, refocusing, science, technology
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), 2020
The focus of the article is on mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the teaching and learning of science in Nigerian higher institutions. It argued that conventional strategies of teaching are not adequate for teaching science during the pandemic because of the lockdown and social distancing. The script is of the view that e-learning would be the best alternative: however, the various modes of e-learning required face-to-face lecturing, which may not be possible at this period. In light of this, the authors believed the Google Classroom framework, which has been in vogue in many countries of the world could be the best. The paper reviewed the benefits of Google Classroom based on the countries that had used the method. The manuscript mentioned some challenges that can militate against the implementation of the strategy in Nigeria. It was concluded that Google Classroom could be the alternative to science teaching and learning at this period if all the challenges mentioned were mitigated. Finally, the implications of the paper were highlighted.
Kampala International University Journal of Education, 14 (1), 2019
Experts in education, industry and national security are in consensus about imperatives for producing graduates who possess a thorough understanding of Science, Technology and Mathematics (STEM). Since the preschool level is the first and most important of all levels of education, teaching STEM to early learners whose curiosity is very high, lays a good foundation for scientific and technological development of the nation. Unfortunately not much of science is taught at the pre-primary school level and this has taken its toll on subsequent science learning at the higher levels. Although teaching scientific concepts to children in early years poses certain challenges to the teacher, both the venture and the challenges are not beyond positive solutions. The major focus of this paper, therefore, is about the strategies for reducing science learning difficulties at the lower level of Nigeria educational system. An exposition on the key principles for effective science learning among young children; basic science concepts and application; hands-on science for young children; and best practices in science education during the formative years was carried out. In the final analysis, strategies based on science goals, children's active exploration and discovery learning were recommended for effective implementation of the pre-primary science education programme in Nigerian schools and subsequent learning of science at the primary and secondary levels.
RE-FOCUSING SCIENTIFIC LITERACY THROUGH THE NEW NCCE SCIENCE EDUCATION CURRICULUM IN NIGERIA
Scientific literacy which is basically synonymous with the public's understanding of science is necessary for people in this age of technology to enable them use, cope and adapt to the technological inventions of the time. Education which has remained to be a social process in capacity building, sustaining humanity and indeed the vehicle for acquiring the requisite scientific literacy in any society has not been well positioned in Nigeria. Specifically, the basic education sector, which is the foundation for all forms of education, has been inundated with a myriad of challenges which militate against the realization of the scientific literacy goals. Central among the challenges is the problem of teacher production for the Basic Education sector. There has been a glaring dislocation/mismatch between the type of teachers trained in Colleges of Education (COEs) and the work they do at Basic Education level. The training programs are devoid of synchronization between the content and pedagogical knowledge with pitiable implementation affecting the quality of their service delivery, thus compromising the goals of the Universal basic education (UBE). The National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) within its constitutional mandate responded to the circumstance and radically overhauls the old Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) curriculum to a new service focused one. Salient features in the renewed hope include; differently packaged areas in which prospective teachers are expected to specialize, paradigm shift from teaching to learning in which pre-service teachers will be provided with opportunities to acquire professional skills and attitudes and a well articulated implementation framework. The overall implication of the reform program will be re-orientating the pre-service teacher production pipeline for a solid foundation of scientific literacy delivery. This paper therefore mirrors the interplay of the reform effort at the basic education level with the probable improved state of education quality in general as precursor to sound scientific literacy base.