Science Education for

Innovation-Driven Societies

Francesco Avvisati

OECD Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) Paris, Educating for Innovation-Driven Societies, 26 April 2012

Outline

• How does science education contribute to individual skills for innovation?

• Do education systems foster all skills for innovation?

• Are certain science pedagogies more effective in that respect?

• How can technology and informal learning help?

Innovation

Skills

Education and

training

HOW DOES SCIENCE

EDUCATION CONTRIBUTE TO

INDIVIDUAL SKILLS FOR

INNOVATION?

Innovation intensity by field of study

4

engi

neer

ing

&

com

putin

g

scie

nces

&

mat

hs

arch

itect

ure

agric

ultu

re

arts

educ

atio

n

soci

al s

cien

ces

busi

ness

heal

th

hum

aniti

es

law

othe

r

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

innovation intensity: any type

product or service

technology or tools

knowledge or methods

• Traditional views emphasise role of STEM graduates, but...

Non-disciplinary skills and innovation

5

4.1 3.1

2.9 2.8

2.6

1 2 4

come up with new ideas/solutions willingness to question ideas

present ideas to audience alertness to opportunities

coordinate activities analytical thinking

acquire new knowledge mobilize capacities of others

make your meaning clear master of your own field

write reports or documents work productively with others

write/speak a foreign language use time efficiently

use computers and internet perform under pressure

negociate knowledge of other fields

assert your authority

Odds ratio (innovative

vs non-innovative

graduates); based on

Reflex and Hegesco

• Critical skills according to tertiary educated workers

Science education and Innovation Skills

• need to consider learning outcomes that go beyond mastery of content knowledge and of procedural knowledge:

– Skills in thinking and creativity, positive habits of mind (curiosity, perseverance,...) and social skills;

• Science, as a subject, offers excellent opportunities for developing these...

• ... but how far are they really fostered in today’s schools?

DO EDUCATION SYSTEMS

FOSTER ALL SKILLS FOR

INNOVATION?

Do countries foster simultaneously subject-based and

behavioural skills? Not necessarily

AUS

AUT

BEL

CAN

CHL

CZE

DNK

EST

FIN

FRA DEU

GRC

HUN

ISL

IRL

ISR

ITA

JPN

KOR

LUX

MEX

NLD

NZL

NOR

POL

PRT

SVK

SVN

ESP

SWE

CHE

GBR

TUR

USA

BRA

HKG

MAC

IDN

RUS

440

460

480

500

520

540

560

580

600

620

640

380 400 420 440 460 480 500 520 540 560 580 600 620

Inte

rest

in

Sci

ence

To

pic

s

Science Score

HIGH SCORE HIGH INTEREST

LOW SCORE LOW INTEREST

LOW SCORE HIGH INTEREST

HIGH SCORE LOW INTEREST

Example: Science scores and interest in science

Source: OECD, based on PISA 2006

Robustness

partial correlation coefficents between science interest and

science score

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

partial correlation -0.74 -0.71 -0.66 -0.69 -0.74 -0.56

controls:

GDP p/c X X X

Luxembourg X X

Self-concept (mean) X X

Self-efficacy (mean) X X

Culture (Hofstede 4-

dim) X X

N 34 34 33 34 32 31

The Test-Score/Interest Paradox C

HL

US

A

PR

T

ISR

ITA

PO

L

BE

L

NZ

L

ME

X

TU

R

NL

D

SV

K

ES

P

CZ

E

HU

N

AU

T

ES

T

GB

R

SV

N

GR

C

CA

N

DE

U

FIN

IRL

AU

S

CH

E

LU

X

FR

A

DN

K

SW

E

NO

R

ISL

JP

N

KO

R

BR

A

RU

S

HK

G

IDN

MA

C

-1

-0.5

0

0.5

1

between-school correlation of average interest and scores

CH

L

PO

L

ME

X

HU

N

PR

T

US

A

ES

T

TU

R

SV

K

CZ

E

ITA

ES

P

ISR

GR

C

LU

X

AU

T

DE

U

BE

L

NZ

L

NL

D

GB

R

IRL

CH

E

FR

A

AU

S

CA

N

KO

R

SV

N

DN

K

JP

N

SW

E

FIN

NO

R

ISL

BR

A

RU

S

IDN

MA

C

HK

G

-0.6

-0.3

-1E-15

0.3

0.6

within-school correlation of individual interest and scores

Source: OECD, based on PISA 2006

ARE SOME PEDAGOGIES

MORE EFFECTIVE IN

FOSTERING ALL SETS OF

SKILLS FOR INNOVATION?

A within-country analysis

• Interaction

– Collaboration and participatory exchanges

• Application

– Drawing connections between school science and the outside world

• Hands-on

– Guided activities around lab experiments

• Investigation

– Autonomous student inquiries

Teaching indicators in PISA 2006 based on 4 clusters of activities:

Pedagogies for innovation skills

4 8

1 -1 -2

-2

-10

-0.15

-0.1

-0.05

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

Science score

20

3 6

-2 -1 -1

-0.15

-0.1

-0.05

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

Interest in Science Topics

Effective Science Pedagogies

• The current teacher has more impact on interest than on scores;

• Structured inquiry (“hands-on”) dominates unstructured inquiry for scores

• Interest and curiosity are nurtured with “applications”: i.e. when the teacher…

– …explains how a school science idea can be applied to a number of different phenomena

– …uses science to help students understand the world outside school

– …explains the relevance of science concepts to our lives

– … uses technological applications to show how school science is relevant to society

INNOVATING SCIENCE

EDUCATION

Leverage technology, harness informal learning opportunities,...

THANK YOU

Francesco.Avvisati@oecd.org

www.oecd.org/edu/innovation