Science education

Lore & Background

Sharp is said to have established a model for science to be taught throughout the British public school system. BAAS emphasized separate pre-professional training in secondary science education. The initial development of science teaching was slowed by the lack of qualified teachers. In both cases the influence of Thomas Henry Huxley was noted; John Tyndall was also influential in the teaching of physical science.

Reader's Guide

In the United States, science education was a scatter of subjects prior to its standardization in the 1890s. The development of a science curriculum emerged gradually after extended debate between two ideologies, citizen science and pre-professional training. According to the Committee of Ten, the goal of high school was to prepare all students to do well in life, contributing to their well-being and the good of society, and to prepare some students to succeed in college. This committee supported the citizen science approach focused on mental training and withheld performance in science studies from consideration for college entrance. The US adopted a curriculum characterized by elementary science focusing on simple natural phenomena (nature study) by means of experiments carried out 'in-the-field,' secondary science focusing on laboratory work and prepared lists of specific experiments, teaching of facts and principles, and college preparation. The format of shared mental training and pre-professional training consistently dominated the curriculum from its inception to now. However, the movement to incorporate a humanistic approach, such as inclusion of the arts (S.T.E.A.M.), science, technology, society and environment education is growing and being implemented more broadly in the late 20th century.

Did You Know?

• Physics First, a program endorsed by the American Association of Physics Teachers, is a curriculum in which 9th grade students take an introductory physics course.