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Education: Primary science can prove too tough for teachers

Posted on: Monday, 22 September 2003, 06:00 CDT

Some science taught in primary schools is too tricky even for teachers to understand and could be fuelling children's dislike of the subject, says new research.

Children as young as ten were put off by a curriculum that was long on facts and figures and short of opportunities for interesting experiments, according to an analysis of previous studies by Colette Murphy of Queen's University in Belfast.

Naming the parts of a flower topped the list of boring science tasks in children's eyes and her research showed the problem was compounded by teachers who lacked confidence and expertise in the subject.

Ms Murphy found that even some teachers who studied science in the sixth-form could not answer questions intended for 11-year- olds.

Science is one of the compulsory subjects in primary schools in England and Wales and all pupils have to take national tests in it.

Ms Murphy's study for the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts found that children particularly enjoyed using computers in science experiments.

She said primary school science should be about giving children an 'exciting introduction' to the subject and the more difficult facts should be saved for later. For example, while teachers should help pupils to observe and describe phenomena such as evaporation and gravity, explanation of how they worked should be left until secondary school.

A 'large number of studies' showed that pupils struggled. Ms Murphy 'strongly recommends that primary school children should not be taught aspects of science that are too difficult for their teachers.'

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