Proposal Of

Defining Integrated Science Education and

Putting It to Test
Abstract:
The thesis is made up by four studies, on the comprehensive theme of integrated
and subject-specific science education . A literature study on the matter is followed
by an expert survey, then a case study and ending with two analyses of students’
science results from PISA 2003 and PISA 2006. The first two studies explore
similarities and differences between integrated and subject-specific science
education, i. e. Science education and science taught as Biology, Chemistry and
Physics respectively. The two following analyses of PISA 2003 and PISA 2006 data
put forward the question whether there are differences in results of students’ science
literacy scores due to different types of science education.

The expert survey compares theories of integration to the science education

context. Also some difference in intention, in the school case study, some slight
differences in the way teachers plan the science education are shown, mainly with
respect to how teachers involve students in their planning.

The statistical analysis of integrated and subject-specific science education

comparing students’ science results from PISA 2003 shows no difference between
students or between schools. The analysis of PISA 2006, however, shows small
differences between girls’ results with integrated and subject-specific science
education both in total scores and in the three scientific literacy competencies. No
differences in boys’ results are shown on different science educations.
1. Integrated versus traditional science education
The Science education community expresses different views about how Science
education should be organised. The relative merits of integrated versus subject-
specific Science in compulsory schools are disputed among teachers, scientists and
teacher educators. Here we will describe these disputes and the alternative
standpoints regarding Science education and integrated Science education. A
thorough description of these points of view and their different positions may be
found in Fensham (1992). Fensham gives a comprehensive description of a problem
area in Science education. First, Fensham points to the social changes of the 1960’s
that gave Science new groups of learners, with all the difficulties this entailed. One
interest group, consisting of concerned Science teachers, expressed difficulties in
satisfying the interests of the different students in the Science classroom. Another
interest group, Science educators as a professional group, worked with curriculum
development and later worked in academic or advisory positions. Yet another
interest group, academic scientists, maintained that the number of students applying
for higher education in their departments was insufficient to cover the departments’
needs. Fensham describes setbacks in implementing the new curriculum during the
1980’s in his essay from 1985 (Fensham, 1985), where he charts major problems
with Science content. In his words

“After all, two of the things that mark off many Science teachers, scientists and
most Science curriculum developers from the great majority of their peers are their
interest in scientific knowledge as such and their willingness to persist in its
learning. It is neither surprising nor unnatural that persons educated extensively in
Science should look at the world, and at schooling, through eyes that are
conditioned by scientific knowledge. This, however, means that what they see as
important, significant and worthy of learning is likely to be different from what
persons uneducated in Science see when they look to Science as a phenomenon in
their lives and in society.” (Fensham, 1985, p. 421)

The point here is not that everyone should share similar views on what is important,
but that scientists and Science teachers have different views regarding what is worth
knowing of science and knowing in science. Fensham’s lodestar, as discussed by
Wandersee, is that Science teaching must be ‘of actual use’ to the student group in
both an affective way and in a real-world context (Wandersee, 2003). This has been
jeopardised by how curriculum implementation is conducted, since Science in
secondary schools has had a preparatory character and this affects how Science is
defined in the early school years. Science subjects have helped select students with
the commitment and persistence needed to perform well in this type of learning.
The way Science curricula were updated in the 1960’s made secondary science
education like a less advanced copy of Science studies at universities. To overcome
subject difficulties, elementary school Science and secondary school Science
created a division of labour such that elementary schools taught ‘processes of
science’. In elementary schools, many teachers were not educated in Science during
their teacher training and Science had a nominal place in school.

‘Many elementary teachers found that they could teach them with more personal
comfort, and with apparently greater effectiveness, in relation to social phenomena
in other areas of the elementary curriculum’ (Fensham, 2002, p. 11).

Subject-specific (traditional) Science education

Science education that is not integrated is usually called traditional (Hirst & Peters,
1970) or textbook Science (Yager, 1968). Aikenhead describes traditional Science
as canonical Science. He rephrases the debate about traditional versus integrated
Science into one about a humanistic perspective in Science education as opposed to
a traditional perspective on Science education. Aikenhead’s description of the
traditional curriculum includes a core which deals with

‘canonical abstract ideas […] most often decontextualized from everyday life but
sometimes placed in a trivial everyday context. […] emphasis on established
Science only. […] Mono-Science approach founded on universalism (Western
Science). […] Solely scientific reasoning using scientific habits of mind. […]
Seeing the world through the eyes of scientists alone.’ (Aikenhead, 2006, p. 3).
Fensham seems to express another definition of subject-specific Science: a specific
content learned for the sake of use in a laboratory for scientific purposes (Fensham,
1985). He sees a number of problems with the Science curriculum:

‘a) it involves the rote recall of a large number of facts, concepts and algorithms
that are not obviously socially useful b) it involves too little familiarity with many
of the concepts to enable their scientific usefulness to be experienced c) it involves
concepts that have been defined at high levels of generality among scientists
without their levels of abstraction being adequately acknowledged in the school
context […] d) it involves an essentially abstract system of scientific knowledge,
[…] e) it involves life experiences and social applications only as exemplary rather
than as the essence of the science learning f) the role of practical activity in its
pedagogy is associated with the belief that this activity enhances the conceptual
learning rather than being a source for the learning of essential skills g) its content
gives a high priority, even in biology, to the quantitative […] h) it leaves to the
continued study of these disciplines at the tertiary level the balance, meaning and
significance that is lacking in a-g’ (ibid p. 419).

Fensham (1985) suggests that many of the things seen as problems in the Science
curriculum may be resolved by changing the curriculum to one that is student
centred and where learning is applied to real world problems and experiences from
the students’ perspective (Aikenhead, 1994b, 2003; Fensham, 1995, 2002; Venville,
Rennie, & Wallace, 2003).

A shorter and more easily assessed view of the problem of disciplinary knowledge
is found in Beane:

‘Part of the reason is that the problem is not with the disciplines of knowledge
themselves but with their representation in the separate-subject approach to the
curriculum. Put another way, the issue is not whether the disciplines of knowledge
are useful, but how they might appropriately be brought into the lives of young
people. And more than that, do they include all that might be of use in the search for
self- and social meaning?’ (Beane, 1995).
Beane claims that subject-specific approaches to school learning are too narrow to
tackle everything a young person needs to know but at the same time, learning
without disciplines is too narrow; both methods need to be present.

A review of common Science textbooks for compulsory schools provides some

insight into the traditional approach to teaching. Schwab gives us a description of
traditional textbook formulation of the scientific method in five steps 1) noting of
relevant data 2) forming of a hypothesis 3) plan for test of the hypothesis 4)
execution of the plan 5) drawing of the conclusion for the data (Schwab, 1964,
p.32). This is similar to descriptions of scientific inquiry preferred by current
curricula in the USA. Schwab’s interpretation of scientific method is not as
traditional as it may seem, since he discusses the problem of drawing
conclusions as a procedure of examining what may be said based on the data
generated by study. Schwab’s interpretation means that a particular outcome may
prove a hypothesis to be true, but an absence of outcome does not disprove a
hypothesis. This interpretation is far from the attitude of ‘one true answer’ that
traditional Science education is commonly accused of.

2. Previous research on student results

This section presents studies dealing with student results in different settings. A
study of teachers’ learning styles, their students’ results and different student
learning styles from the 1980’s will be presented first. Next comes a brief
description of the rationale behind international student assessments and the
expected outcome of assessing students learning with the OECD’s PISA assessment
instrument. Finally, results from students in STS teaching environments are
presented, since STS is a kind of integration of teaching and learning.
- Studies of teaching styles and student results
- Bennett’s study of Reading, Mathematics and English
- International studies
- The rationale behind TIMSS(Trends in International Mathematics and
Science study)
- Student results in PISA(Programme for International Student Assessment.)
- The framework of PISA as it relates to integrated Science education
- Comparing the frameworks of PISA and TIMSS

3. The research question in this study

To begin with, Science education will be presented to establish a context for this
study. In the second part of this section, the study itself will be presented. Finally,
the research questions that have guided this study in all its parts will be presented.

- The structure of Science education

- A Science education research question

4. Methodological considerations
In a section like this, methodology, ontology and epistemology are often discussed.
The character of the collected data is often mentioned and methods of data
collection and analysis are described. A meta-level of discussion can occur, where a
project or the ideas about a project are described and analysed as part of a
methodological discussion.

This section will treat the world view which functions as a backdrop for this
empirical study of Science education. The ontological aspect will be addressed:
given our present knowledge and methods, what can be investigated? This section
will also describe how analysis took place; a common way of analysing quantitative
data is through hypothesis testing and one part of this section will deal with how
this was done and what prerequisites are necessary for hypothesis testing. Finally,
the methodology section introduces the international student assessment paradigm
and how it is dealt with in this study.

The analysis differed depending on the data collected and there are two sections
dealing with the quantitative and qualitative nature of the data. This part addresses
the bigger context of the four studies in this thesis. Detailed presentations of the
methods used in each study are found within the respective paper. A discussion of
the quantitative study is followed by a discussion of the qualitative study. Ethical
aspects of the research are also mentioned.
- Ontological framework
- Different results for an individual
- Regarding international student assessments

5. Methods of data analysis

Statistical techniques are used in this thesis to analyse results. Before using these
techniques, the statistical methods themselves must be studied. Qualitative data,
interviews and surveys have been used and analysed in a qualitative way. One part
of this section is dedicated to that method. Finally, research ethics are discussed.

1. Analysis of quantitative data

- Hypothesis testing
- Validity
- Reliability
- Generalisation

2. Analysis of qualitative data

- Case study method
- Experts’ study
- Validity
- Reliability
- Generalisation

3. Ethics

6. Results
1. Defining integrated Science education
- The experts’ view of integrated Science education
- A case study of four schools

2. Statistical analysis of data from PISA 2003 and PISA 2006

- Hierarchical Linear Model (HLM) analysis of data from PISA 2003

- Hypothesis testing of data from PISA 2006
- Concluding results from the two statistical studies
7. Discussion
1. Compulsory Science Education

- Experts’ view of Science education

a. Results of the experts’ survey
b. Agreement
c. Disagreement
d. Neutral

- Case study
- Findings of the essence of integrated Science education

2. Discussing the results of the statistical analysis of data from PISA 2003 and
PISA 2006

- Similarities and differences between PISA 2003 and PISA 2006 data
- Differences between boys and girls
- Divergent results in the two statistical studies

3. Further research

References
APPENDIX