The status of school science laboratory technicians in Australian secondary schools : research report prepared for the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations

Australia needs a scientifically literate society and a supply of scientists and technologists to sustain a thriving economy and to address a wide range of social and environmental challenges. The goals of scientific literacy and a sufficient supply of science and technology graduates from higher education require that primary and secondary schools offer authentic and inquiry oriented science curricula that engage students and inspire them to continue their studies of science (Ainley et al., 2008). Science teachers depend heavily on good facilities and high quality technical support to implement an engaging and inquiry-oriented curriculum and this will be particularly important as Australia implements a national science curriculum. There has been very little research on the status of technical support for secondary school science, and most of this has been conducted in the United Kingdom (The Royal Society & ASE, 2001, 2002). Concerns about the status of technical support for science teaching programs in Australian schools by the Australian Science Teachers Association and Science Education Technicians Australia led to the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) funding a study to investigate the training and support for technicians, their roles and the level of servicing provided by technicians for the teaching and learning of secondary science..

Laboratory Technicians in Australian Secondary Schools

A number of reports have argued that secondary science education needs to be more inquiry oriented and involve authentic and practical investigations to develop scientific literacy and better engage students in learning science. Inquiry-oriented approaches, such as those advocated in the new science national curriculum, require that teachers have access to good laboratory facilities and equipment and are supported by knowledgeable laboratory technicians. Without adequate and qualified technical support, the quality of the curriculum will be compromised. This paper reports on the status of laboratory technicians in Australian secondary schools and makes recommendations for improving the quality of training and support of technicians and the level of servicing of science programs

Assessment of Primary Students Scientific Literacy

This article discusses assessment to improve teaching and learning in science. The report from the National Review of Science Education (2001) recommended that a resource bank of high quality assessment items be developed to support improved assessment practice in school science. A response to this has been the Science Education Assessment Resources (SEAR) project which is developing an online resource bank of science education assessment resources for teachers. The SEAR Project is described, as is the National Assessments of Scientific Literacy which will test the scientific literacy of year 6 students in 2003

Challenges of conducting ethical video-based classroom research

The advent of digital video technology has opened ‐ up a new paradigm of education research as it has the capacity to capture a permanent record of all the nuances of teaching and learning interactions in a form that allows the data to be scrutinised in great detail and shared with other teachers and researchers. The Capture of teaching on video is becoming widespread both for research and for teacher professional learning purposes. There are a number of research ethical principles and professional ethics that need to be considered when conducting this type of research if the rights of participants are to be protected

Proceedings of the 21st annual conference of the Western Australian Science Education Association

The Western Australian Science Education Association (WASEA) is an informal group of science educators that meets annually for a conference at one of the Perth universities. The conference is organised by a committee of representatives from the universities and has contributed greatly to collegiality amongst the community of science educators in Perth. The first meeting of WASEA was held at the Churchlands College of Advanced Education in 1975 and has been held each year except in 1979 and 1991 when the W ASEA meeting was incorporated into the meeting of the Australian (now Australasian) Science Education Research Association. These Proceedings comprise edited papers from the 21st meeting held in 1996. This collection of papers has been made available internationally through the Educational Resource Information Centre (ERIC)

Wellbeing and Retention: A Senior Secondary Student Perspective

Non-completion of senior secondary schooling continues to be a matter of concern for policy makers and practitioners in Australia today. Despite the efforts of governments to improve participation and retention rates, 30% of students drop out of school before completing Year 12. Further, some students remain at school, just biding their time until graduation. Within this context, we investigate whether the wellbeing of the students is a key factor in supporting senior students in deciding to continue at school. The article reports on the first phase of a two-year study of factors impacting on quality retention and participation of 250 Year 11 students from two school communities. This initial phase focuses on the senior students’ perspective of their wellbeing in Year 11, and includes our development of a suite of scales to measure the impact of students’ social connectedness and academic engagement on academic achievement and retention. Data from the survey of students are enriched through student focus groups. The article identifies critical dimensions of what students regard as a healthy senior school culture; that is, a culture conducive to a positive and productive experience in terms of their retention, participation and achievement. Implications for school and system policy and governance are proposed

Primary Connections: Reforming science teaching in Australian primary schools

Concerns about the status and quality of science teaching in Australian primary schools led the Australian Academy of Science to develop Primary Connections over 2004-8 with funding from DEST and the support of states and territories. Primary Connections is a teacher professional learning program supported with curriculum resources that aims to enhance learning outcomes in science and the literacies of science by supporting both inservice and preservice primary teachers to teach science effectively. Primary Connections is a systematic, widespread and innovative reform that complements programs within states and territories. The program is based on an innovative teaching and learning approach that links science with literacy, uses cooperative learning, embeds assessment with teaching and learning, and follows an inquiry process including student-planned investigations. Research has demonstrated that the program improves teachers\u27 confidence, self-efficacy and practice, students\u27 learning, and the status of science within schools

Improving the Scientific Thinking of Preservice Secondary Science Teachers

Previous studies indicate that many preservice science teachers lack facility with those formal reasoning patterns that are critical for learning science. The purpose of this project was to develop, implement and evaluate a curriculum package directed at improving preservice secondary science teachers\u27 scientific thinking. A matched treatment-control, quasi-experimental design revealed significant gains achieved through use of the curriculum materials

The state of science in Australian secondary schools

Presents research which sets out to establish two pictures: one of the ideal regarding the teaching and learning of science, the other of the reality of what is actually happening in Australian schools. Identifies issues and implications for science teachers and the profession

Think Piece: Preparing today’s children for the workplaces of tomorrow: The critical role of STEM education

Keywords: STEM, workplace, science, mathematic