No impact for inquiry-based learning intervention

The Education Endowment Foundation has published an evaluation of an inquiry-based learning intervention – CREST Silver Award.

Delivered by the British Science Association, the CREST programme aims to help pupils engage with science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects by allowing them to develop their own project ideas. Eighty secondary schools in London and the south east took part in the trial, involving 2,810 Year 9 pupils (ages 13–14). While CREST can normally be delivered by any STEM department in the school, for the trial, CREST was delivered by the science department in each school. Schools had the flexibility to decide how they would deliver CREST (for example, as a whole class activity or as a STEM club) and when they would run the programme (during school, after school, lunch break, or during class time). Pupils were expected to complete 30 hours of project work in total.

The independent evaluation by NatCen found that pupils who took part in the programme made no additional progress in science achievement (as measured by the Progress Test in Science) compared to similar pupils who were not offered the programme (effect size = -0.01). Nor was there any evidence that the CREST Silver Award improved self-efficacy in science or increased the percentage of pupils aspiring to a STEM career; however, small positive impacts were found for pupil confidence and attitudes toward school.

Source: CREST Silver: Evaluation report (December 2019), Education Endowment Foundation

Are immigrant children more likely to pursue STEM careers?

Findings from a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggest that immigrant children study more maths and science in high school and college, which means they are more likely to pursue STEM careers.

Marcus Rangel and Ying Shi looked at the trajectories of more than 286,000 children born outside the US, and who moved to the US before age 16, using nationally representative datasets including the 2010-2016 waves of the American Community Survey, the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and the National Survey of College Graduates.

They found that among US-born children, about 20% of college students major in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). However, among those born outside the US – particularly those who moved to the US after age 10, and don’t come from English-speaking or northern-European countries where the native language is linguistically close to English – this number is much higher, with around 36% majoring in STEM subjects.

The authors suggest that older children who immigrate to the US from a country where the native language is very dissimilar to English may choose subjects that rely less on language skills and build more on skills they are relatively more comfortable with, such as maths or science. The study found that children arriving after age 10 earn approximately 20% more credits in maths-intensive courses than they do in English-intensive courses. This focus then continues throughout college, which in turn leads to pursuing a career in a STEM field.

Source: Early patterns of skill acquisition and immigrants’ specialization in STEM careers (January 2019), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, volume 116, no. 2

Evidence supports The BSCS Inquiry Approach


