Teacher influence on trends in science participation, attitudes and

international test results

Terry Lyons

Queensland University of Technology

terry.lyons@qut.edu.au

Problems?

“There has been one major state or national inquiry into teacher education every year for the past 30 years

No other program of professional preparation has been thought to warrant such scrutiny.”

(Dinham, 2013)

To what extent are teachers responsible for…

1. declines in senior science enrolments?

2. declines in student attitudes to science?

3. declines in PISA results in scientific literacy?

1. To what extent can declines in senior science enrolments be attributed to teacher?

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012

Physics

Chemistry

Biology

Multistrand

%

% Year 12 students enrolling in science 1992 - 2012

Changes in real Year 12 numbers

In 2012 there were 30800 more students than in 1992, but …

• 8000 fewer physics students; • 4000 fewer chemistry students: • 13 000 fewer biology students;

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012

Physics

Chemistry

Biology

Multistrand

%

% Year 12 students enrolling in science 1992 - 2012

Greater curriculum diversity in senior high school

Greater distribution of students across subjects

University analysis of school enrolment trends and strategic

responses

New courses to cater for greater curriculum diversity. Less

restrictive entry requirements (Assumed knowledge, bridging

courses)

University strategies reinforce credibility of non-traditional subjects

among schools and students, and reduce the strategic utility of science

and math subjects,

Policies to increase retention into senior high school

Therefore, arguments which seek to directly link declines in science enrolments to teacher quality are weak.

So, do teachers get a free pass?

No. While to some extent enrolment trends have been influenced by macro level policy forces, science teaching has been left exposed. Not used to competing for market share, many teachers have been slow to revitalise their teaching, much of which still looks like it did twenty years ago.

2. To what extent can declines in young people’s interest in science and science careers be attributed to teachers?

2007

1977

1977 2007

1977 2007

1977 2007

3. To what extent can declines in student performance in international science tests be attributed to teachers?

Australian ranking in PISA Science

2000 2003 2006 2009 2012

Shanghai-

China

Shanghai-

China

Hong Kong-

China

Finland Singapore

Hong Kong-

China Japan

Finland Finland Singapore Finland

Korea Japan Hong Kong-

China Japan Estonia

Japan Korea Canada Korea Korea

Australia Australia Australia Australia Australia

However…

• The mean scores for Australian students in these years were 528, 525, 527, 527 and 521;

• These scores are not significantly different to each other;

However…

• In PISA 2000, 32 countries participated;

• In PISA 2012, 65 countries participated;

• Of the seven countries which outperformed Australia in 2012, four did not participate in 2000 three did not participate in 2003, two did not participate in 2006.

PISA 2000 (alternate)

Countries significantly outperforming Australia

PISA entry date

Korea 2000

Japan 2000

Australia 2000

Countries significantly outperforming Australia

PISA entry date

Shanghai-China 2009

Hong-Kong China 2003

Singapore 2009

Japan 2000

Estonia 2006

Korea 2000

Australia 2000

People can come

up with statistics to

prove anything.

Forfty percent of

people know that!

– “The mean score difference between students in the lowest and highest socioeconomic quartiles represents around two-and-a-half years of schooling.”

– Significant differences in the PISA scores of metropolitan, provincial and remote students;

– Huge gap between indigenous and non indigenous students.

So…is there a PISA science problem?

So, are science teachers just victims of misconceptions and statistics?

No. The misconceptions focus public attention on science education, but distract us from the main game. Science subjects are no longer propped up by university structures. They have to stand on their own merits in open competition. Some teachers still do not appreciate this.

Further, there is still compelling evidence that the quality of science teaching and science teacher preparation needs to be improved.

For example …

• Nearly 1 in 4 Year 10 students said they’d decided

not to choose a senior science course because they did not have good junior science teachers;

• More than ½ agreed that they did not choose

senior science because they found school science uninteresting

(Lyons & Quinn, 2010)

• Similar to PISA 2006, where only ½ of Australian 15

year old students find science relevant

-(Thomson & De Bortoli (2007)

• 38% of 589 science teachers believed that

declines in enrolments were due to the declining quality of teaching in junior science;

(Lyons & Quinn, 2010)

What do we need to focus on?

Pre-service and early career teacher education

• A need for higher quality at all levels of science teacher education – entry, pre-service education, practical experience, mentoring, professional learning;

• Universities are too slow to transition from the 1 year (8 months!) Grad.Dip Ed. program to a two year minimum qualification;

• Too high an attrition rate in early years of teaching (suggesting either unsuitable candidates, or inadequate preparation.

Thank you