Sir, can we do an experiment?

…was almost an automatic greeting from students in my science classes. Another science education story provides further evidence for declining student interest in science noted in a previous post. Research suggests that science educators' heavy reliance on book work is having a negative impact on student enthusiasm. Apparently students would rather be experimenting or out on field trips—how surprising!

A Ministry spokesman responds: "We are aware of the pressure that teachers feel they are under to cover everything" which reminded me of a favourite extract from a Howard Gardner interview:

For me, the biggest enemy of good education in America today is the pressure to cover vast amount of material. Anybody who succumbs to this pressure converts school to a verbal memory routine.

Of course the crowded curriculum is only one part of the problem, teachers also need new ways of teaching science… cue Jane Gilbert ;-)

Update: It seems MPs were saying the same thing in the UK two years ago and the Government responded with a trial issues-based science curriculum—Science in the 21st Century.