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The report, 鈥樷�淢ake it more relevant and practical鈥�: Young people鈥檚 vision for school science in England鈥�, identifies four key improvements which young people felt could have made a difference to their experience of science education when they were still in school.听

The ASPIRES 3 study collected national data from over 7,600 young people aged 20-22 years old. IOE researchers听gathered young people's views through multiple-choice questions, open-ended survey responses and in-depth interviews. 听

While many young people agreed that learning science is important, 20% felt that school had put them off science. The study asked participants听to reflect on what could improve this picture for younger cohorts.听

Only 5% of young people involved in the study said no improvements were needed to improve their experience of school science education, while 72% of young people said increasing the science curriculum鈥檚 relevance was a priority for them. Young People suggest relevance could be increased using better links to 鈥榚veryday life鈥�, and explicit curriculum links to personal health and wellbeing, climate change and how to protect the environment.听

Young people who wanted a more relevant school science curriculum听were more likely to be women or live in more socioeconomically privileged areas. One participant, who chose not to study post-compulsory science recounted doing 鈥渁 project about the dangers of fracking in communities and whether it should be a good thing or a bad thing.鈥� She explained how the project 鈥� really stuck with [her], like applying [science] to social issues,鈥� helped make the content more memorable.

Almost 60% of young people indicated that there was a need for a greater focus on practical, experimental and problem-based learning. Young people also noted a need for more resourcing of equipment and labs, and better-quality learning experiences. This feedback was more likely to be from those who had attended comprehensive schools.

IOE Education BA student Princess Emeanuwa worked with the ASPIRES听project team during a summer internship, and shared her thoughts on the project findings in this video:

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The importance of teachers featured highly among participants鈥� recommendations for change. 41% of participants said that they would have liked 鈥渂etter teachers and/or more specialist teachers鈥�. Young people explained that by 鈥渂etter teachers鈥� they meant knowledgeable, passionate subject specialists who stay in post, and teachers who care about, and include, all students.听

鈥淲hile, luckily, the majority of my teachers fell into the good category, I think a teacher鈥檚 ability to relate to, and interact with, younger people is almost more important than their intelligence.鈥� said one young White man, who had graduated from a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) degree.

The study鈥檚 Principle Investigator听Professor Louise Archer explained 鈥測oung people are key stakeholders in education yet too often their voices are missing within policy and curriculum reform. Our new report draws on data from over 7,600 young people, sharing their views on how to improve school science".

Links

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• ASPIRES Research听
• STEM Participation & Social Justice group
• Department of Education, Practice and Society

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