American Association for the Advancement of Science – författare

What would it cost the education system to adopt policies that emphasize science literacy for all students? How can we ensure that tests measure what educators, parents, and others want them to? How can universities set admissions policies that motivate K-12 institutions to produce science literate graduates? Project 2061 of the American Association for the Advancement of Science believes that serious efforts to reform the K-12 curriculum in this country require an understanding of the whole of education. To gain this kind of perspective, Project 2061 commissioned experts to prepare reports on a dozen areas of the education system that would have implications for the implementation of the reforms defined in their earlier volumes Science for All Americans and Benchmarks for Science Literacy. Blueprints for Reform is a summation of those reports offering teachers, parents, policymakers, business leaders, and others a starting point for their exploration of the education system and its response to reform.Blueprints for Reform includes discussions of equity, assessment, teacher education, policy, finance, school organization, curriculum connections, family and community, research, materials and technology, and business and industry. A chapter is devoted to each of these topics providing an overview of the issue and some recommendations on how to move forward. The idea behind this strategy is to bring current research together in one place so anyone working in the area of science education and reform can have complete access to the latest information, methods, and debates.To spark the kind of thoughtful debate that can lead to meaningful change, Blueprints for Reform also has an on-line component providing summaries of the chapters in the book, as well as a database of bibliographies and science- and education-related topics. Through Blueprints On-Line, anyone with a stake in improving science education can share experiences with peers, find information on interrelated facets of the education system, or air their views on how best to go about systemic change. Blueprints for Reform offers a bold new examination of the current system to determine what changes are desirable and possible in science education, and how best to ensure our children are prepared for life in the twenty-first century.

The call for science curriculum reform has been made over and over again for much of the twentieth century. Arguments have been made that the content of the curriculum is not appropriate for meeting the individual and social needs of people living in the modern world; that the curriculum has become overstuffed with topics and does not serve students especially well; and above all, that the curriculum does not generate the student learning it is expected to produce. The latest volume in a continuing series of publications from the AAAS designed to reform science education, Designs for Science Literacy presupposes that curriculum reform must be considerably more extensive and fundamental than the tinkering with individual courses and subjects that has been going on for decades. Designs deals with the critical issues involved in assembling sound instructional materials into a new, coherent K-12 whole. The book pays special attention to the need to link science-oriented studies to the arts and humanities, and also proposes how to align the curriculum with an established set of learning goals while preserving the American tradition of local responsibility for the curriculum itself. If fundamental curriculum reform is ever to occur, a new process for creating alternatives will have to be developed. Designs for Science Literacy provides the groundwork for such a process.

The call for science curriculum reform has been made over and over again for much of the twentieth century. Arguments have been made that the content of the curriculum is not appropriate for meeting the individual and social needs of people living in the modern world; that the curriculum has become overstuffed with topics and does not serve students especially well; and above all, that the curriculum does not generate the student learning it is expected to produce. The latest volume in a continuing series of publications from the AAAS designed to reform science education, Designs for Science Literacy presupposes that curriculum reform must be considerably more extensive and fundamental than the tinkering with individual courses and subjects that has been going on for decades. Designs deals with the critical issues involved in assembling sound instructional materials into a new, coherent K-12 whole. The book pays special attention to the need to link science-oriented studies to the arts and humanities, and also proposes how to align the curriculum with an established set of learning goals while preserving the American tradition of local responsibility for the curriculum itself. If fundamental curriculum reform is ever to occur, a new process for creating alternatives will have to be developed. Designs for Science Literacy provides the groundwork for such a process.

The same technologies that fuel scientific advances also pose potential risks--that the knowledge, tools, and techniques gained through legitimate biotechnology research could be misused to create biological weapons or for bioterrorism. This is often called the dual use dilemma of the life sciences. Yet even research with the greatest potential for misuse may offer significant benefits. Determining how to constrain the danger without harming essential scientific research is critical for national security as well as prosperity and well-being. This book discusses a 2007 survey of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) members in the life sciences about their knowledge of dual use issues and attitudes about their responsibilities to help mitigate the risks of misuse of their research. Overall, the results suggest that there may be considerable support for approaches to oversight that rely on measures that are developed and implemented by the scientific community itself.The responses also suggest that there is a need to clarify the scope of research activities of concern and to provide guidance about what actions scientists can take to reduce the risk that their research will be misused by those with malicious intent.