Effective science teaching and a strategy for its implementation

Is the way being lost in teaching science? Many primary schools do not have a well developed culture of science teaching and learning, there is a declining interest in science over the years 7 to 10, and there are proportionally fewer students continuing onto science in the senior years. In response to these concerns, the Victorian Department of Education, Employment and Training (DEET) established a major initiative, the Science in Schools (SiS) Research Project, to enhance and invigorate science teaching and learning. During 2000 and 2001 the project team has worked with teachers in primary and secondary schools across Victoria to introduce new initiatives into their science programs. Central to the project are the SiS Components, a framework that describes effective science teaching, and the SiS Strategy, a process by which schools implement change. This paper outlines the SiS Components and Strategy and describes some of the findings that have emerged from the project.