Responding to global challenges, such as climate change and the need for sustainable development (Europe 2020 target), growth and social cohesion, calls for innovative, scientific solutions based on principles of gender balance, equality and respect for diversity are necessary. These challenges require a highly skilled science and technology workforce as well as active, responsible citizenship based on understanding of scientific concepts and interest in sustainable development. Consequently, science education should be made more attractive, for example through inquiry-based teaching, improved guidance and information services for science careers and reducing gender imbalances in science education and careers (see e.g. Rocard 2007).
Inquiry-based teaching and related approaches, such as problem solving or modelling are not new (see e.g. Dewey, 1938, Polya 1945, Burkhardt 1989, Artigue and Blomhoej 2013) and aim to increase pupil interest in mathematics and science, and facilitate lifelong learning and the development of basic and key-competences for future professional life, such as reasoning, representation, problem solving, application and critical reflection. These also form the basis of the PISA key-competences.
However, despite PISA and the resulting political efforts, inquiry-based teaching has not yet been widely implemented in Europe. In the European Union, on average, the percentage of graduates in science and technology is steadily declining, from 24.8 % in 2000 to 22 % in 2009 (Eurydice, 2011b,). Career aspirations are also affected by gender issues, with girls being less interested in science careers and having a lower self-concept of their scientific competences, which in turn affects their performance and engagement (Eurydice, 2011a, 2011b). The report “Evolution of Student Interest in Science and Technology Studies” (2006) notes that traditional methods can impact negatively on attitudes towards learning science.
Thus, in order to respond to global challenges, there is a need to promote educational innovation in the following three areas:
- Implementing inquiry-based teaching
- Raising student interest in science careers
- Reducing gender imbalances in science education
Promoting educational innovation in science education is currently a challenge for most European countries. Although action has been taken across the EU in the above areas, there are still barriers to innovative teaching methods, such as teachers’ reluctance to change established teaching practices, or contextual factors, such as overloaded curricula, or rigid assessment systems. Thus, implementation may take several years, and requires the active collaboration of key-actors such as teachers, schools, teacher education providers, school authorities and policy makers, to ensure systemic change.
There is a need for sustainable structures, which actively synthesise the knowledge from a wide range of projects into a coherent whole, whilst actively helping to embed innovative methods into the practices of actors. INSTEM is a step towards developing such structures.
References
Artigue, M., & Blomhøj, M. (2013). Conceptualising inquiry-based education in mathematics. ZDM – The International Journal on Mathematics Education, 45(6), 797-810.
Rocard, M., Csermely, P., Jorde, D., Lenzen, D., Walberg-Henriksson, H., & Hemmo, V. (2007). Science education now: A renewed pedagogy for the future of Europe. Brussels.