Tan, Timothy Ter Ming

Globalization, changing demographics, and technological advancements are some of the key driving forces of the future. Our students will have to be prepared to face these challenges and seize the opportunities brought about by these forces. Teaching and learning science can no longer be focused on acquisition of knowledge. Instead, a future-ready individual should develop discipline-specific and interdisciplinary ways of problem-solving. Instilling a range of cognitive and meta-cognitive skills such as critical thinking, creativity, and self-regulation, as well as the right attitude and values such as motivation, trust, respect for life, and diversity, become key elements of science learning. To achieve these learning goals, the Singapore Science Curriculum has made scientific inquiry as its pedagogical underpinning. Structures have been put in place to encourage teachers to try out different inquiry-based activities that develop these twenty-first century competencies. This chapter presents three innovative science and STEM learning approaches – image-to-writing approach (a model-based inquiry), spiral model of collaborative knowledge improvement (an argumentation approach), and microbial fuel cell (a design-based pedagogy) – adopted by science teachers to prepare their charges for the future and discusses how these pedagogical approaches contribute to the development of these competencies.

Science centers and museums (SCMs) have traditionally functioned as repositories of science-related material, gathered for public viewing and carrying an implicit mandate of educating those who enter. With time and the increasing expectations of visitors, museums have evolved to include interactive elements in their exhibits. SCM exhibits typically provide visitor experiences that are designed to attain educational goals in an informal setting. SCMs are now recognized as important players in the communication and dissemination of science to the larger public. Visits to SCMs afford opportunities to foster an interest in science, a passion for the learning of science, and to talk about science in less formal ways, such as between family members as opposed to school settings. A systematic review of high-quality empirical studies in the area of science education in the context of science centers and museums conducted between 2000 and 2020 is presented. Content analysis of 113 studies selected for this review aimed to summarize and highlight trends in the research. Common areas of research, thematic elements, and relationships were identified and discussed. These centered on visitors’ learning experiences, their perceptions of and interactions with exhibits and the environment of SCMs, the work of museum staff in designing and curating exhibits, and the design of exhibits. The overall implications of this analysis relate to the broader perspectives and understanding of science learning in such informal settings, the influences behind exhibit design and presentation, and pertinent issues facing SCMs.