Teachers should help kids enjoy science, maths

In the 2011 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) – conducted on fourth-grade primary school students and second-year middle school students in Japan and the equivalent grades overseas – Japanese students showed some signs of improvement. However, it also found their enthusiasm for studying the two subjects was below international averages.

There has been increased interest in science since Kyoto University Prof Shinya Yamanaka won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine this year. Education officials should not miss this chance to help children learn to enjoy studying maths and science and improve the methodology of teaching the subjects at schools.

The TIMSS is conducted every four years by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement. In the latest survey, fourth-graders from 50 countries and territories and eighth-graders (second-year middle school students) from 42 nations and regions participated.

Japanese students at both grade levels maintained high positions, ranking fifth in maths and fourth in science. The average scores of the fourth-graders were more than 10 points higher in both subjects compared to the previous survey.

For science and maths classes at primary and middle schools, beefed-up curriculums – compiled in counter-reaction to the “cram-free” education policy – were put in place from April 2009, ahead of the full-fledged implementation of new curriculums for all subjects. Under the revised curriculums, not only have the content and number of classes been increased for the two subjects, but more importance is being placed on reviewing what has been learned, as well as experimenting and observing.

These efforts can be given some credit for the Japanese students’ improved performance in the latest TIMSS survey.

However, the survey’s questions on what children thought of science and maths found that the ratios of the Japanese primary and middle school participants who said they liked learning the subjects were lower than international averages. The figures for the older student group, in particular, were ominous – 39 per cent for maths and 53 per cent for science – both of which are more than 20 points below international averages.

Only 18 per cent of the Japanese middle school students said they would like to get a job related to maths, while the figure stood only at 20 per cent for science.

We wonder if teachers can help their students take to heart how interesting it is to study science and maths, as well as understand how useful the things they are studying will be in the real world.

A large number of experienced teachers are now reaching mandatory retirement age, while those educated under the cram-free education policy are entering the profession. It is said that many younger teachers are not accustomed to handling tools for experiments and they lack confidence in teaching science.

There is an effective programme under which the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry dispatches postgraduate students and retired teachers to schools to help with science experiments. The Democratic Party of Japan-led government marked the project to be scrapped during budget screening, but it is reasonable for the ministry to have decided to continue the program for the next school year and beyond.

Teacher-training colleges have to make sure prospective teachers have the skills to teach science and math. Boards of education, which are responsible for training in-service teachers, have the same responsibility.

In recent years, an increasing number of companies have been dispatching their employees to schools to conduct classes for children as part of their social action programs. When company employees and researchers working at the cutting edge of science technology discuss how useful studying science and maths is, their words will surely stick in children’s minds.