Future science and mathematics perceptions
Posted on 2 July 2014
As part of the Royal Society’s Vision Project, incoming Salters’ Chair Professor Judith Bennett has co-authored a commissioned report covering students’ attitudes to, engagement and participation in STEM subjects.
The report, written with Dr Martin Braund, Honorary Fellow in Education, and Dr Rachael Sharpe, former PhD student in Science Education, was one of nine research papers feeding into the main Royal Society publication.
The report sets out a vision for how the UK might achieve inspiring, high-performing education systems, with the aim that these systems can deliver a radical shift in the population’s understanding, engagement with and appreciation of science and mathematics by 2030.
The paper consists of a literature review and a commentary about possible future directions for work and implications for science and mathematics.
The four main questions that are addressed include:
- What does the evidence say about student attitudes, engagement and participation in STEM subjects?
- How can mathematics and science education be made more enjoyable, rewarding and effective?
- What types of evidence need to be collected in future in order to assess more reliably students’ choices and the reasons for this?
- How should research and intervention strategies evolve to collect this evidence?