Context led Science courses: A review


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Authors
Wilson, Frances 
Evans, Steve 
Old, Sarah 
Abstract

Internationally, there is growing concern about secondary Science education. In many developed countries uptake of Science subjects has been falling, leading to fears that there will be a shortage of people with the scientific skills and knowledge needed in the twenty-first century. Science curricula are often considered to suffer from an overload of content, leading to the perception that Science subjects are among the most difficult. Furthermore, students have difficulties connecting the isolated facts which they are taught, and do not develop coherent mental schema. Content is often presented in an abstract manner that is remote from students' everyday experiences, so that many students do not understand why they should learn the materials which they are studying, and frequently fail to do so. As a result, students have difficulty applying scientific concepts in a context beyond the one in which they were taught that concept. In this article we examine one approach to Science education: context led Science courses, which have been developed as a result of these concerns.

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Assessment design
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Research Matters
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Research Division, Cambridge University Press & Assessment
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