Science-On-Stage Festival showcases Europe's new thinking on Science teaching

Europe has a great history of scientific endeavour that underpins our quality of life and is fundamental to our European identity. However, over the past years, a common concern in education has emerged: every year, throughout European schools and colleges, there is a decline in the number of students taking science. For example, Physics, the driest science, has seen student numbers slashed by half, with the result that some renowned European faculties have had to close shop.

EIROforum

EIROforum is a partnership of Europe's seven largest intergovernmental research organisations that enables them to pursue joint initiatives, combine resources and share best practices in science. It is committed to building on the well-documented public interest in science, using all forms of communication to foster dialogue and interest.

In particular, it is dedicated to improve science education in Europe's primary and secondary schools. To this end it carries out major joint education projects with the science teaching community. These projects reach their climax in the Science-On-Stage Festival, which brings together more than 500 teachers from across Europe to share innovative teaching ideas about science.

Grenoble

The festival's latest edition was held this year in Grenoble between April 2 and 10. Grenoble, site of the 1968 Winter Olympics, is the intellectual and economical capital of the French Alps. Grenoble is a cosmopolitan city located in a setting of outstanding beauty; it is a high tech hub famous for its research centres and universities, its economic dynamism and its many futuristic projects.

It was Grenoble's excellent scientific environment which prompted the successive decisions to establish three major European institutes on the city's Polygone Scientifique science park, the Institute Laue - Langevin (ILL) at the leading edge of neutron research), the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), the renowned international centre for molecular and structural biology, and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), one of the world's most powerful sources of synchrotron light.

Every year, over 8,000 researchers from all over the world come to use these facilities, demonstrating that science knows no borders.

Maltese contributors

Several Maltese participants contributed in various ways to the festival.

My own contribution was to lead workshops regarding the possibility of using newspaper articles in our science lessons. Many sources of information from everyday life contain facts that can be evaluated from a scientific point of view, and the analysis of this information can be used to teach physics. I believe it is a spontaneous and interesting way to show students that science is not only a theoretical abstraction but that it is primarily a useful tool, making critical evaluation possible of often passively accepted news from everyday life.

Another workshop that I was engaged in together with a group of other teachers dealt with the possibility of teaching science through themes. The workshop's conclusion was published in Teaching Science in Europe, a booklet explaining what European teachers can learn from each other.

It presents the learners as the stars in the classroom and concentrates on their experiences, values, questions and their perception. Students are inventors, artists, researchers, explorers and philosophers. We, as teachers, believe in their potential; we believe that they are able and willing to bring about change. In the words of the eminent educator Friere: "Just as social reality exists not by chance but as the product of human action, so it is not transformed by chance - it is a historical task, a task for men."

Elton Micallef

Elton Micallef, vice-chairman of Science-On-Stage - Malta and a teacher of Physics at St Joseph School, Blata l-Bajda, led another workshop entitled "Science Teachers Collegiality" and invited European teachers to share their ideas through a Website open to all teachers, and a report is due to be drawn up and presented to EIROforum for funding.

His workshop was an extension of his continual efforts to offer an opportunity to local science teachers through joining MASE - an association for teachers of Science (e-mail: info@masemalta.com).

Simon Cassar

Simon Cassar, a teacher of Chemistry at St Aloysius' College, presented the colourful world of chemistry through a series of eye-catching experiments, attracting the attention of many chemists participating in the festival. He was also invited to present his work in the highlights of the day. A set of colourful posters were also exhibited to provide the scientific explanation of these experiments and to show that Chemistry is an essential human endeavour.

Mr Cassar's colourful work included the rainbow columns - an acid-filled burette with indicators that continually changed colours as they reacted with the carbonate solution. The foggy rainbow demonstration showed the impressive effect that dry ice in a warm alkaline solution can present with a few drops of acid-based indicators.

Another impressive demonstration was given by making use of different chemical substances layered on each other according to their densities.

Perhaps his most exciting demonstration was the 'Motion lamps': when a mixture of vaseline and salted water is heated, the organic mixture expands, becomes less dense and floats, and convectional currents produce colourful fluid motion throughout the container.

Mr Cassar's work was acknowledged among others by Dr Dudley E. Shallcross and Tim G. Harrison from the University of Bristol (www.chemlabs.bristol.com). Dr Shallcross, Mr Harrison and other Fellows from the Royal Society of Chemistry will incidentally be visiting Malta this October to give shows related to scientific experiments - a bit of science on stage!

Charmaine Galea and Claudia Bezzina

Charmaine Grima, teacher of Physics at the Naxxar government secondary school and Claudia Bezzina, teacher of Physics and Maths at St Monica School, Fleur-de-Lys, presented an interesting workbook that can be easily used in our curriculum. The book illustrates the historical development of Science and scientific theories, and includes simple, practical experiments that students can try by themselves, since apparatus needed for the experiments can be easily found at home.

The book also includes word games to motivate students' interest in Physics. All of this material is presented in simple English to cater for a wide range of abilities. In addition, the book features colourful photos, which make it more appealing to students. Its eye-catching layout was greatly appreciated by visitors who confirmed that the book provides what science students are looking for.

The audience present during the fair were also invited to try out some of the book's simple experiments. They were all astonished by the manner in which concepts of physics could be delivered by means of such mundane materials as balloons, candles, meat trays, paperclips, cork, and plastic bags.

Foreign publishers present at the fair showed keen interest in publishing Ms Grima's and Ms Bezzina's work, which was also acknowledged by the European Southern Observatory (ESO), which awarded the authors a prize.

Science's many applications

We are living relatively better, longer and happier thanks to science.

In the sphere of health, science promises to fight cancer; the unique properties of synchrotron light can help improve traditional X-ray techniques and open the door to developing completely new methods of imaging and therapy.

The study of proteins is essential for unravelling the complex process of life. X-ray crystallography using synchrotron light is an extremely powerful technique for revealing arrangement of atoms in proteins, which is the key to understanding how they work.

Neutrons have the singular capacity to penetrate materials without causing damage; they can help us understand the process at work inside a material when it is damaged or transformed. This could also have many applications in industry.

Research in nanotechnology certainly looks set to revolutionise consumer electronics and the future, paving the way for such things as quantum computers and flexible ultraflat screens.

Science education in Europe

Europe has emerged as a strong economical entity due to its scientific development. Indeed, economical strength goes hand in hand with scientific development.

However, in order to maintain scientific progress, special and large facilities are often needed, but some of these require resources beyond the means of any single country. This was the motivation for the setting up of EIROforum.

Likewise, Europe is witnessing an evolution of Science education, which up to some time ago was largely seen as an issue of national sovereignty. This is a very positive development.

Every year innovative schemes are launched aimed at improving science teaching and attracting more numbers to take up science education at higher levels. For some years now, international studies comparing different countries, such as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), have described advantages and shortcomings in Science education.

Such studies look at national and European education process variables in detail. By looking beyond national boundaries, examples of good practice, unusual viewpoints and surprising solutions, one can resolve problematic situations within national educational systems. However, remedies can only be found if each country analyses its own educational scripts and modifies them in view of the European experience.

A concern for all

This concern should not be addressed only by educators and politicians but the public in general. A society that lacks scientific literacy is bound to lag behind. One must acknowledge that advancement in science brings with it advancement in all other spheres. A society that claims to be a leader in today's world must be equipped with leaders in science. Today's society is experiencing fast economic and scientific change. The way science is perceived plays a decisive role - it revolutionises all spheres of human life - peoples' environment, their behaviour and way of thinking.

The challenge is clear - we must find ways and means of attracting more students to science and engineering studies both in the higher education and vocational tracks. We need new thinking and innovative ideas on how to teach science. This is basically what the Lisbon Agenda challenges to do.

We especially need imagination in science. It is not all mathematics, nor all logic, but also includes beauty and poetry. And, as the English Romantic poet John Keats famously said in his Ode on a Grecian urn: 'Beauty is truth, truth beauty - that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know'.