1. The Race to Improve Science Instruction
Dr. Steven Dear
Science Education Advisor

2. Were the Science PSSA Results Predictable?
Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) assesses international students in 4 year cycles in mathematics and science with the TIMSS assessment.

3. TIMSS Assessment
TIMSS questions are organized into Cognitive Domains with a loose hierarchy:
Factual Knowledge: Recall, Describe
Conceptual Understanding: Relate, Use Models, Find Solutions, Explain
Reasoning & Analysis: Solve Problems, Synthesize & Integrate Hypothesize & Predict, Draw Conclusions

4. TIMSS Results
USA 4th grade science students performance is statistically indistinguishable from the best science students from the rest of the world.
During 8th grade, USA science students are statistically indistinguishable from the average science students from the rest of the world.
By 12th grade, USA students are last in the world in Physics.

5. PISA 2003 Science Results
For 15 year old students, the USA placed 22nd out of 40 in scientific literacy.
The USA’s result is statistically indistinguishable from the lowest performing group of countries.

6. PSSA Results
Do student’s PSSA scores have conceptual issues as well as content issues?

7. PSSA: Content Vs. Conceptual
Since Eligible Content is not released from the PSSA assessment, how can student conceptual issues be separated from content issues?
Cognitive demands are greater for open-ended (OE) vs. multiple-choice (MC), so comparisons are useful.

8. 4th Grade, All Students

9. 8th Grade, All Students

10. 11th Grade, All Students

11. Science Education in the Past…
Knowledge: Facts and procedures…
Instruction: Start with simple facts…
Schooling: Test how many facts and procedures were learned…
Education: Large collection of facts and procedures…

12. What is the Result?

13. What Real World Knowledge is Needed?
High capacity for abstract, conceptual thinking.
The ability to apply that capacity for abstract thought to complex real-world problems—including problems that involve the use of scientific and technical knowledge—that are nonstandard, full of ambiguities, and have more than one right answer.
The capacity to function effectively in work groups.
Ray Marshall and Marc Tucker, Thinking for a Living

14. Considerations for Planning
What are your major goals for graduating students?
How do you access students, staff, programs and facilities?
What are the major components of change?
How important are interdisciplinary efforts?