‘More practical approaches needed to teach science’
JIS:
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR of the Scientific Research Council (SRC), Dr Cliff Riley, said more practical approaches are needed in the teaching of the sciences in schools.
He noted that the reason some students continue to struggle with those subjects in external examinations like the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC), is due to their “unattractiveness”.
“When you look at the passes in mathematics, they are very low. Passes in physics, chemistry, and biology are far lower than in normal business areas as well as in (modern) languages. We’re struggling and we need to make it more practical,” he emphasised.
Riley was one of the participants at a two-day Caribbean Science Education and Technology Conference, at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston, on April 10.
He suggested that to overcome this struggle, recognition of the importance of science and its impact on the lives of Jamaicans, as well as on national development, was required.
PRACTICAL APPROACHES
Senior Lecturer and Science Centre Coordinator at Church Teachers’ College, Tillack Hardeen, agreed with Riley that more practical approaches must be adopted in the teaching of science.
“Science isn’t being taught the way it should be. Real science is science that you explore, that you touch and see, and that’s where the excitement comes in (and) where you get people interested,” he said.