Education and Training Committee Final Report Inquiry into the Promotion of Mathematics and Science Education ORDERED TO BE PRINTED March 2006 by Authority Victorian Government Printer No. 183 Session 2003–2006 i Inquiry into the Promotion of Mathematics and Science Education Parliament of Victoria Education and Training Committee Inquiry into the Promotion of Mathematics and Science Education ISBN 0 9752310 4 9 ISBN 0 9752310 5 7 Electronic ii Education and Training Committee Members Mr Steve Herbert MP (Chair) Mr Nicholas Kotsiras MP (Deputy Chair) Hon. Helen Buckingham MLC Ms Anne Eckstein MP Hon. Peter Hall MLC Ms Janice Munt MP Mr Victor Perton MP Staff Ms Karen Ellingford, Executive Officer Mr Andrew Butler, Research Officer Ms Eva Tench, Office Manager Level 3, 157 Spring Street MELBOURNE 3000 Telephone: (03) 9651 8309 Facsimile: (03) 9651 8323 Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/etc iii Inquiry into the Promotion of Mathematics and Science Education iv Chair’s Foreword The economic prosperity of Victoria and Australia is highly dependent on our ability to develop scientists who can compete globally. Of equal importance is the need for Victorians to be mathematically and scientifically literate, to help empower us as citizens and skilled participants in a world increasingly dominated by technological innovation. To achieve these outcomes, mathematics and science education must be engaging and contemporary. Mathematics and science education must also be relevant to students’ lives, promote deep conceptual understanding and embrace investigative inquiry and problem solving. It is in this context that I am pleased to present the Education and Training Committee’s report on the inquiry into the promotion of mathematics and science education. The Committee seeks to advance and promote mathematics and science education in Victoria, so that Victorian students can achieve a level of mathematics and science literacy that matches the best in the world by 2020. The Committee also seeks to increase participation in mathematics and science education and the pursuit of mathematics and science related careers for the advancement of Victoria’s economic, social, cultural and environmental goals. Victoria is fortunate that it already has an education system and teaching workforce that performs well by national and international standards. Victoria also has many centres of excellence that are successfully engaging students and teachers in the exciting new sciences. These include the Gene Technology Access Centre, the Victorian Space Science Education Centre and, Ecolinc, the new Science and Technology Innovations Centre at Bacchus Marsh. Furthermore, Victoria is home to cutting-edge science facilities, such as the Australian Synchrotron, that are at the forefront of science and innovation both here and overseas. The Committee saw first-hand numerous innovative and exemplary practices being demonstrated in schools and various centres of excellence. Victoria has many dynamic teachers with deep, contemporary subject knowledge and conceptual understanding who are embracing the teaching of new sciences with energy and enthusiasm. It is these teachers who are demonstrating the greatest success in engaging Victorian students and helping them to achieve a high standard in mathematics and science. Nevertheless, an overarching finding of this inquiry has been the considerable variability throughout mathematics and science education. Throughout Victoria there is variability in the levels of participation and achievement in mathematics and science subjects between different groups of students; variability in teacher quality; and variability in the v Inquiry into the Promotion of Mathematics and Science Education quality of science laboratories and equipment. The Committee also noted national inconsistencies within mathematics and science education. The Committee has recommended a raft of strategies to improve mathematics and science education in Victoria. Crucially, professional development targeting primary teachers’ confidence and familiarity in teaching science is required. For secondary science teachers, professional development should focus on staying abreast of new science and its applications, so that they can maintain student engagement in science. To ensure schools are at the leading edge of science education, new fields and applications of science need to feature prominently in our classrooms and, importantly, in our laboratories. Exploring the fundamentals of new sciences first-hand often requires new approaches in the laboratory and places new demands on equipment and facilities. As scientific investigation is at the heart of science education, the Committee recommends an equipment boost to both secondary and primary schools, and advocates schools sharing the more advanced contemporary and perhaps expensive equipment. I wish to thank all those who participated in this inquiry. I especially thank the students and teachers who shared their insights with the Committee and who made particularly valuable contributions to our investigations. I would also like to thank the schools and science education facilities that welcomed the Committee during its investigations. I thank the Committee Members for their dedication and hard work during this inquiry. Members of the Committee also wish to express sincere thanks to all staff that have assisted throughout this inquiry. I believe the improvements to mathematics and science education throughout Victoria, which will result from the implementation of the Committee’s recommendations, are testament to the success of the all- party investigatory Committee system. Steve Herbert MP Chair vi Contents Membership of the Education and Training Committee ...........................iii Chair’s Foreword ..................................................................................... v Executive Summary............................................................................... xiii Recommendations.................................................................................xxi List of Figures ..................................................................................... xxvii List of Abbreviations ............................................................................ xxxi Chapter 1 Introduction Vision for Mathematics and Science Education ....................................... 1 − Functions of the Committee − Terms of Reference Inquiry Methodology ................................................................................ 4 − Call for Submissions − Research Undertaken by the Committee − Conferences − Member’s Study Tour Evidence to the Inquiry ............................................................................ 6 Definitions ................................................................................................ 8 − Mathematics − Science − Enabling Sciences Chapter 2 Context for the Inquiry Introduction ............................................................................................ 13 Industry Needs for Mathematics and Science Education....................... 15 − Demand for Mathematics, Science and Technology Workers − Current Shortages in Supply of Mathematics, Science and Technology Workers Victorian Mathematics and Science Education Policy Setting ............... 21 − Growing Victoria Together − Blueprint for Government Schools − Science, Technology and Innovation Initiative − School Innovation in Science vii Inquiry into the Promotion of Mathematics and Science Education − School Innovation in Teaching: Science, Maths and Technology − National Goals for Schooling National Policy....................................................................................... 29 − Backing Australia’s Ability: Building our Future through Science and Innovation − Review of Teaching and Teacher Education − Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council A Vision for a Future Mathematics and Science Education Policy for Victoria ................................................................................... 33 Chapter 3 Curriculum Structure Introduction............................................................................................ 37 General Purpose of the Mathematics and Science Curricula ................ 37 Curriculum Framework in Victoria.......................................................... 40 − The Victorian Essential Learning Standards − VELS Curriculum Planning Guidelines − The Curriculum and Standards Framework II − The Victorian Certificate of Education − Extension Studies − The Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning − Vocational Education and Training in Schools Mathematics Curriculum ........................................................................ 50 − Mathematics and the Victorian Essential Learning Standards − Mathematics in the VCE − Foundation Mathematics Units 1 and 2 − General Mathematics Units 1 and 2 − Further Mathematics Units 3 and 4 − Mathematical Methods and Mathematical Methods (CAS) Units 1 to 4 − Specialist Mathematics Units 3 and 4 − Senior Mathematics in Other Jurisdictions − VCAL Numeracy Requirements The Science Curriculum in Primary Schools.......................................... 59 − Science and the Victorian Essential Learning Standards − Time Allocated to Science The Science Curriculum in Secondary Schools..................................... 62 − Biology − Chemistry − Physics − Psychology − Environmental Science − Agricultural and Horticultural