Managing time, content and expertise

‘Science education in Australia, as in other post-industrial countries, is in a state of crisis. The language of crisis is used by government, industry and educators alike to describe the diminishing proportion of students in the post-secondary years who are undertaking science related studies, particularly in the physical science.’ (Tytler, 2007)

It was against this background that the Australian Science and Mathematics School (ASMS) opened in 2003. Something had to be done to stop the decline in students studying maths and science. The charter of the ASMS was to provide leadership in the innovation and reform of teaching and learning in science and mathematics education.

The students at AMSMS are in their final years of high school (years 10, 11 and 12), a time at which the curriculum is usually very subject specific. Perhaps the most radical decision that was made, especially since the ASMS is a specialist science and mathematics school, was to develop an interdisciplinary curriculum. In this article I will give an insight into three key elements of developing the new curriculum at the ASMS: interdisciplinarity, making time for depth of study and using the current expertise of teachers, as well as developing new expertise.

Interdisciplinarity for new curriculum

The ASMS curriculum has often been drawn as a network or a web very much in line with the metaphor Hedley Beare uses in his envisioning of schooling (Beare, 2006).  The interdisciplinary curriculum for year 10 and 11 students retains the unique characteristics and distinctions between the subjects but connections between subjects are emphasised. This is designed to enable students to repackage knowledge to create new understandings to meet the complexities of the 21 century.

Knowledge is rarely static and we wanted to incorporate science that is being researched and refined by current scientists into our curriculum. Our curriculum blocks, which we call Central Studies, were chosen to bring in the cutting edge science. The curriculum is authentic and relevant and the interest of the students is captured by utilising scientific issues that are in the public arena. An ASMS student timetable for semester one in 2008 is shown in table 1.

Table 1: Semester 1 timetable for year 10/11 students 2008

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
100 minutes	Variety of Life	Variety of Life	Towards Nanotechnology	University/ Enrichment Studies.	Mathematics and Abstract Thinking
Recess
40 Minutes	Tutor group	Tutor group	Tutor group	Tutor group	Tutor group
100 minutes	Mathematics and Abstract Thinking	Towards Nanotechnology	Variety of Life	Towards Nanotech-nology	Towards Nanotech-nology
Lunch
100 minutes	Towards Nanotech-nology	Students study at home. Staff professional development.	Mathematics and Abstract Thinking	Variety of Life	Variety of Life

 

Although the students study in blocks called Central Studies, they will be resulted in the subjects Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, English (or English as a Second Language), Philosophy and Australian Studies to meet the requirements of the South Australian Certificate of Education.

The Central Studies are built around big ideas in science and mathematics but the humanities subjects are very important. Emphasis is placed on the methodology of the different disciplines and tasks are designed to develop the skills specific to each discipline. In this way, students can view a situation, issue or problem from many different perspectives. In the subject Towards Nanotechnology, for example, students use their philosophical skills to discuss ethical issues in nanotechnology. They investigate different human cultures in Variety of Life and respond using their English skills. By concentrating on the skills and perspectives of the disciplines, rather than the classical concepts and content of the subjects, the ASMS has developed a very different curriculum.

Creating time for depth of study

There is always a conflict between adding cutting edge material to an already overcrowded curriculum and developing a deep understanding of what is studied.

The ASMS solution to this conflict is to teach year 10 and 11 students together and to have a revolving two-year curriculum, as shown in table 2.

Table 2: ASMS Central Studies

	Semester one	Semester Two
2007	Technological World Body in Question Maths and Abstract Thinking	Communication Systems Sustainable Future Maths and Abstract Thinking
2008	Towards Nanotechnology Variety of Life Maths and Abstract Thinking	Earth and Cosmos Biotechnology Maths and Abstract Thinking

 

With students of many different abilities in a class, personalising the curriculum becomes very important and necessarily places many challenges on the teachers, who are the curriculum writers. One technique is to use the driving license analogy. Students define themselves as having ‘L’ plates (they need to develop the skills and knowledge), ‘P’ plates (further development needed in a few areas) or a full license. The teachers then develop different tasks or different ways through tasks for each group. A student on a full license may negotiate to do something different. Last year, a student worked with Professor Reg Cahill and their combined work was published in the journal Progress in Physics (Cahill and Stokes, 2008).

Interdisciplinary teachers or subject specialists?

Each Central Study is designed and taught by a team of 10 teachers who deliver to eight classes. It is divided into modules, each of which has specific outcomes but all address the fertile question which is answered at the end of the semester, bringing together knowledge and skills from all the modules.

Subject specialists need to ensure that the skills and perspectives of their subjects are incorporated into the modules. Since biology teachers might be teaching English tasks, it is really important that they are upskilled to enable them to do this competently. So, a teacher is utilised as a subject specialist in the curriculum design and writing stage and in the professional development of other teachers. At the delivery stage, the teacher’s role as an interdisciplinary specialist comes to the forefront. Teachers need to know what is in all modules so that they can help the students make connections between them.  Weekly team meetings enable this collaborative approach to curriculum design, delivery and evaluation to occur. The network and web metaphor for learning in the 21st century applies to teacher learning as well!

Success

The success of the curriculum can be gauged in a number of ways.

The ASMS is fulfilling its charter to encourage further study in science with about 80% of the ASMS students choosing to continue study in a science-related field at university or TAFE (Technical and Further Education).

General satisfaction is high. Each year, students are surveyed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). General satisfaction with the school is at 78.1 %, as compared to 53% for Australian year 9 students.

Success at an individual student level is shown in the following example. One of the students moved to the ASMS during term four, after becoming less and less engaged with her previous school, to the point where she was actively avoiding school. She has decided to stay at the ASMS and her mother shared the reasons behind this.

‘ . . . schooling was finally more than just about the social connections - it was about the quality of the teaching and learning and the opportunities the school provided for her! I believe this is at the very heart of the ASMS mission - there are many students who come to the ASMS who would always choose to do and be successful in maths and science, no matter where they went to school but the mission is to encourage those students on the fringe of engaging with maths and science to see that, given great curriculum opportunities and great teaching, it's a pathway worth pursuing.’

Reference List

• Beare, H (2006). How we envisage schooling in the 21st century. Applying the new 'imaginary'. London, Specialist Schools and Academies Trust.
• Cahill, RT & Stokes, F (2008). 'Correlated Detection of sub-mHz Gravitational Waves by Two Optical-Fibre Interferometers'. Progress in Physics, 2.
• Tytler, R (2007). Re-imagining science education. Engaging students in science for Australia's future. Camberwell, Victoria, ACER press.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ms Judy Sara is Interdisciplinary Coordinator Science and the 'Science by Doing' Project Officer at the Australian Science and Mathematics School, in Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia.

 

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