Crisis in Science Education. Technical Report No. 21.

Overview & Synopsis

Summarizes efforts of several representatives of the science education community to assess the current status of science education in the United States. The first section reports results of three surveys which were administered: (1) to gather current information about the nature and activities of the science education programs at 28 major universities; (2) to identify perceptions of problems facing science education by some of its practitioners; and (3) to collect suggestions from a sample of science educators for solving some of the current professional problems. A current status report is provided in a second section which resulted from an open forum with representatives from the 28 science education programs and from a synthesis of all major reports, studies, and analyses concerning science education as a profession in the last four years. A third section provides an analysis of the current crisis in science education from a philosophical perspective; and a fourth part deals with future steps, new directions, and needed actions in both policy and research in science education. (CS)