"Science education is related to the cultivation of children's rational thinking and logical ability in the future, as well as the future destiny and social progress of the country." At the inaugural symposium of Science Education in Primary and Secondary Schools held on March 28, Sun Changpu, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, expressed the consensus of experts and scholars present that day.

So, what are the practical explorations of science education in primary and secondary schools in China? What challenges do you still face? What opinions and suggestions did experts and scholars give?

Early training of scientific and technological reserve talents is of great importance

"The competition of national comprehensive national strength is talent competition in the final analysis. The early training of young scientific and technological reserve talents has important strategic significance and should become an important link in the growth chain of China's young scientific and technological talents training." Wu Yueliang, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and academic vice president of the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said.

"Mathematics education not only teaches students to use scientific language and scientific thinking, but also sharpens and strengthens students' character and willpower to solve difficulties. The quality of perseverance and determination is shaped and developed, which helps students better improve themselves and understand the world." Tian Gang, an academician and mathematician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said.

At the symposium, the participating experts emphasized the importance of strengthening science education in primary and secondary schools from different perspectives. They believed that strengthening science education is an inevitable requirement for implementing the Party's education policy, an important way to implement the fundamental task of building morality and cultivating people, and a basic support for cultivating national strategic scientific and technological strength.

Globally, major developed countries in the world attach great importance to science education in primary and secondary schools, taking it as an important measure to cultivate top-notch innovative talents and strengthen national strategic scientific and technological strength. For example, the United States issued science education standards, emphasizing scientific engineering practice, interdisciplinary concepts and core knowledge of disciplines; Germany implements MINT (Mathematics, Information Science, Natural Science, Technology) Education Action Plan 2.0; Japan, South Korea, Singapore and other countries have also implemented similar measures to increase support for science education in primary and secondary schools.

In May 2023, the Ministry of Education and other 18 departments jointly issued the Opinions on Strengthening Science Education in Primary and Secondary Schools in the New Era. The goal is to comprehensively implement various measures for adding science education in the "double reductions" through 3-5 years of efforts, improve the science education system in primary and secondary schools, continue to expand the scale of science education teachers, and significantly enhance their quality and ability.

The overall foundation of science education is weak

In the inaugural issue of Science Education in Primary and Secondary Schools, Wang Jiayi, a member of the Party Leadership Group, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Education and Governor of the People's Republic of China, wrote an article pointing out that science education involves a wide range, is highly systematic and challenging, but its overall foundation is weak.

For the specific manifestations of these problems, the experts present expressed their views from different perspectives, such as scientific concepts, regional balance, school practice, etc.

Liu Jiaqi, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a geologist, pointed out that science education in some schools is relatively general, there is no unified standard, and primary and secondary students of different ages and grades have different understanding abilities and interests, which cannot be generalized; There are still some schools that do not design courses from the height of scientific ideas and scientific thoughts.

Tian Gang found in his research that science education in primary and secondary schools in remote areas is still weak. Some schools lack basic experimental facilities, and some schools lack professional teachers. Scientific knowledge and teaching methods are updated slowly. "Attaching importance to scientific education in remote areas is of great significance to promoting balanced distribution of educational resources, achieving fairness and justice in education, and finding and cultivating more outstanding young talents."

Xiong Yongchang, secretary of the Party Committee and president of Beijing 101 Middle School, listed some challenges in practice, such as the relatively single science curriculum resources, the disconnection of curriculum content from the forefront of science and technology and major progress, and the urgent need to update and improve science teachers' teaching philosophy, teaching methods, teaching content, teaching evaluation, etc, The teaching evaluation is insufficient to investigate scientific thinking such as problem-solving ability in scientific practice, etc.

In combination with our experience in scientific education practice and exploration, Xiong Yongchang said: "It is an inevitable measure for our school to effectively implement scientific education to lead scientific and technological innovation education with curriculum." The school uses family, school and social resources to promote the integrated cultivation of innovative talents in middle schools and universities through such models as elite colleges and science and engineering strengthening basic classes. For example, VR driving vehicles, artificial intelligence, mathematics and architecture and other scientific practice innovation courses are launched for top students; Jointly build AI laboratory with Peking University Frontier Computing Center and other units.

To further deepen the integration of science and education

During the discussion, experts attending the meeting paid great attention to the importance of "interest" and "curiosity" to science education. Liu Jiaqi said, "Children should learn by playing, play while learning, play while learning, and stimulate their interest. If they are interested in something, they will be inspired. Interest is a smart catalyst."

Tian Gang drew a conclusion from his years of educational research and observation: "A first-class math talent should have three basic qualities: interest, talent and persistence. Among them, interest ranks first." He further suggested: "Many parents attach more importance to math education and science education, but many people force their children to learn math through problem brushing and introspection. Doing some exercises properly can train thinking, which is beneficial. However, if children are excessively suppressed, they may have rebellious psychology, fear and boredom of mathematics and science. "

Wu Yueliang explained the significance and direction of the integration of science and education. "Cooperation between the scientific community and the educational community in the field of science education is a win-win strategy. On the one hand, the development of science needs to select and cultivate students with scientific research interests and talents; on the other hand, the professional knowledge and experience of scientists can help educators improve the quality of science education." He suggested that, "We should further deepen the integration of science and education, open up the connection mechanism between basic education and higher education, especially the connection between high school and undergraduate science and technology talent training."

(Reporter Chai Rujin, Correspondent Liu Jie)

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