Call for Practical Science Experiments to be Protected in Curriculum

The Council for Science and Technology expressed in August its intention to write to the education secretary raising concerns over the science curriculum. The Council warns that the current focus on exams is squeezing practical laboratory experiments out of the curriculum. If things continue to progress down this path, the idea of school microscopes being a mainstay of any science lesson could soon become as antiquated as students playing with mercury.

Focus on exams is marginalising practical work

With teachers under such pressure to teach students with a focus on their exam results, little time is being left for other aspects of learning. Practical experiments, which do not necessarily contribute to the knowledge required in science examinations, are becoming side-lined. The focus on grades is damaging education, asserts the Council.

The importance of practical learning

There are three main ways in which we learn; audio, visual, and kinaesthetic. The current education system is becoming more and more tailored towards catering only to those who are good at listening to information, and committing it to memory in this format. Is the focus on exams simply an inconvenient drive for better results, or is it in danger of ignoring the needs of visual and especially kinaesthetic learners?

Will a lack of laboratory experience damage the scientists of the future?

Perhaps the most well-known experiment of the moment – the large Hadron Collider – is a perfect example of how theoretical understanding and physical experimentation combine to produce what many of us would define as science. While the discovery of the Higgs Boson started when Professor Higgs theorised about the particle, it was only when a complex and expensive piece of technology was built that his theory was ultimately proved.

Is there any doubt that children in higher education who do not have access to practical learning will be missing basic practical experience that could harm their careers in later years?

Are reasons other than timetabling conflicts affecting the decline in experiments?

A report by Parliament including the written evidence (link will download a PDF) of many specialists in the field suggests a number of other reasons why scientific experiments and field trips are in decline. Health and Safety is blamed as having a big impact upon the number of field trips and experiments taking place. A fear of lawsuits could be making teachers wary of letting their students anywhere near school microscopes, let alone Bunsen burners, dissection equipment or potentially dangerous chemicals such as acids.

Why does the practical experiment need to be preserved?
Many experts agree that practical experiments are vitally important in science education. For one thing, they make the learning process fun. Allowing children to enjoy their learning is one of the key ways in which they can be motivated to engage with a subject. It also helps to cater to the needs of learners who require practical experiments, rather than oral theory, in order to process and memorise key information.