Is the Bunsen burner Dead?

Broader Professional Context - Is Bunsen burner dead?

In recent years many developed countries such as USA, UK, Australia and New Zealand have been concerned with science education and the falling numbers moving from secondary to tertiary education in the areas of science. (1)
According to the PISA survey of 2014 New Zealand has experienced a decline in the Science literacy of 15 year olds, although still above the OEcD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development)  average this decline is significant and a worrying trend. (2)



So why is science literacy important in the 21st century?
Modern society is built on a scientific and technological platform and we largely function 
everyday where we expect the science and technology to function ubiquitously with little understanding of what is happening inside those little containers we carry around. Indeed we need to understand some large socioscientific issues that have arisen this century such as climate change, energy requirements of an increasing world population and distribution of food and medical supplies. In any modern democracy it is an educated populace that keeps the government policies in check via the media or direct protest.  How can you do this without science literacy?

Problems with current Science Education.
The role of science in modern society has seen a seismic shift in the 21st century however the science taught at secondary school is largely the same as it was 40 years ago.  We still learn the elements periodic table indeed this is what my current Year 10 class is learning just like me 30 years ago and my parents before me 50 years ago. Indeed despite all the changes in the curriculum science lessons are largely the same, all be it with more technology available, so now instead of doing a class demonstration we can watch a you tube clip. Indeed one of the first experiences for high school students arriving at secondary school is how to light a Bunsen burner safely yet in most real world laboratories health and safety has seen these replaced with electrical heaters.  One quote that seems significantly apt in describing the current state of science education is that students are "frogmarched across the scientific landscape from one feature to another, with no time to stand and stare, or to absorb what it was they had just learned" (Bull et al. 2010).(3)

There has a great deal of endeavour to change the curriculum over the past 30 years to be more connected to real world contexts, more student centric, more inclusive to a wider ethnic diversity, more cognisant of the way students learn, increased technology in the classroom. Indeed these efforts have resulted with the introduction of new words into the curriculum document but has had little effect on how science is taught in the classroom.  Indeed Science education seems to have a low profile in many primary school and is mostly used a context for inquiry learning and as a result students arrive at high school with very little knowledge of scientific methodology.

If science education is going to move into providing the appropriate skills for the 21st century and provide a science literacy that allows populace to make informed choices we need to rethink how science is taught in our schools.

(1) www.nzcer.org.nz/system/files/14606.pdf

(2) www.educationcounts.govt.nz/statistics/indicators/main/education-and-learning-outcomes/science_literacy_achievement_senior_secondary_schooling
(3) Bull, A.,Gilbert, H., Barwick, R., Hipkins, R., Baker, R. (2010) Inspired by Science, A paper commissioned by the Royal Society of New Zealand and the Prime Minister's Chief Science Advisor.