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| EDUCATION TRIBUNE |
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Overseas overtures
Towards scientific literacy
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Overseas overtures Knowledge has been recognised as the key driving force in the 21st century. India’s ability to emerge as a globally competitive player will substantially depend on its knowledge resources. To foster generational change, a systemic transformation is required that seeks to address the concern of the entire knowledge spectrum. It would endeavour to build capacity and create quality and enable our country to empower its human capital.
According to a survey conducted by the National Knowledge Commission, nearly 60 per cent of India’s population is under 25. More than six decades after India won Independence on Mahatama Gandhi’s principle of ‘Swadeshi’ or self-reliance, an ever-increasing number of Indian students are going abroad for education. Indeed, more go overseas for higher education than from any other country. According to the Ministry of Overseas Affairs, 2.64 lakh Indian students have gone abroad for studies and they spend approximately about Rs 27,000 crore ( $5.5 billion) every year. Why do so many dream of acquiring a degree from an overseas university of repute? There are several reasons for this exodus. Indian universities are not able to accommodate all those who apply, especially in professional courses. For a country of more than 1.1 billion people, there are only 400 universities and the situation is further impacted with the reservation system. The competition to get into our top colleges and universities is so fierce that a large number of middle and upper middle-class parents are forced to send their children overseas. In the past, Indian students went to overseas universities only if they were assured of a scholarship. Now, middle-class parents are willing to support their children’s education in universities abroad as banks are providing educational loans at attractive interest rates. With the Indian economy growing at 8 per cent annually, this is leading to an increased level of prosperity, thereby increasing the affordability of an expensive overseas education, and dramatically increasing the career aspirations of a growing number of Indians. The latest figures show that higher education is recession resilient. The Institute of International Education says that the growth story in higher education in the US is seen in the number of Indian students at US colleges and universities was all-time high during the 2007-2008 academic year, reaching a total of 1,04,522 students, a 13 per cent increase, defying broad economic trends. Since 2001, Indians have been the largest foreign student population on American campuses, comprising 15.2 per cent of the total international students in the US. The year 2009 was the eighth consecutive year that India had remained in the top spot. Indian student inflow contributed nearly $3 billion to the US economy in 2008. Overall, international students contribute $17.8 billion to the US economy, according to the US Department of Commerce. A majority of students enrolled in the US stayed on after graduating but now, with the Indian economy booming, more and more are returning home either immediately on finishing their studies or after gaining some work experience. The return is facilitated by multinational companies and research laboratories setting up offices in India and the growing Indian economy. The bottom line is that the “quality of education” that matters the most. Students tend to go overseas to chase it. If India makes an effort to provide excellence in research and good academic standards within the country, it will certainly attract more students from abroad. Just as the US did in the past 50 years, today India has a similar chance to create academically competent institutions producing well-educated and talented people who even if they choose not to work here will carry a robust impression of India’s vibrant economy. |
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Towards scientific literacy As educators we should reflect on the demands of life in the 21st century and question what it now means to be scientifically literate and how we can effectively engage primary school students in teaching and learning for scientific literacy. It is often said that the main goal of science teaching is to achieve “scientific literacy” among the students. Unless a science teacher has a decent understanding of what scientific literacy is, it is unlikely that he or she will be able to intentionally teach in such a way that maximises this outcome. Unless a science teacher knows the value of scientific literacy, there is little hope that he or she will teach in such a way as to achieve it among the students. In a broad sense, scientific literacy refers to an individual’s scientific knowledge and use of that knowledge to identify questions, acquire new knowledge, explain scientific phenomena and draw evidence-based conclusions about science-related issues. It includes an understanding of the characteristic features of science as a form of human knowledge and enquiry. The awareness of how science and technology shape our material, intellectual, and cultural environments and the willingness to engage in science-related issues are also a part and parcel of the realms of scientific literacy. As educators we need to be clear on what it means to be scientifically literate and then what science outcomes we want our children to attain. Educational research and classroom practice over the last 50 years have shown scientific literacy to be more than disconnected knowledge of scientific terms and procedures. It is a broader construct that includes an understanding of the nature of science and the way science interacts with society. Scientific literacy has different degrees and forms: it expands and deepens over a lifetime, and not just during the years in school. The attitudes and values established towards science in the early years will shape a person’s development of scientific literacy as an adult. Scientific literacy is a way of understanding or thinking about science that influences our actions and decisions. Understanding the dimensions of scientific literacy and the way they interact, informs our teaching and learning practices for scientific literacy. However, being scientifically literate in contemporary times may only require an understanding of the more important and enduring science ideas. We should then question, how could we most effectively engage students with these key ideas and concepts so that our teaching and learning practices contribute to the development of scientific literacy? Clearly, as teachers, we need to be robust in our handling of the science curricula and its associated materials. In particular, when focused on the primary years, it can highlight opportunities for building onto children’s innate curiosity about their natural environment and the world around them. Natural curiosity could be a motivation for learning important foundational habits such as investigating, observing, measuring, reasoning from evidence, using scientific language to describe experiences and making informed decisions based on scientific ideas. Making informed decisions requires children to build foundational understandings of the dynamic, creative and ultimately tentative nature of scientific research findings and knowledge. They would need to develop critical thinking and questioning skills in order to appreciate the role science could play in solving the social and personal problems. Thus, to be scientifically literate a child requires knowledge of important and enduring science concepts coupled with an understanding of the nature of science and an awareness of the relationship of science with society. Science literacy does not mean that everybody becomes a scientist, but to know what science is about and what it is not about. What we fail to see is that a sustained fascination with the workings of the world and a constant love for science and technology can actually lead to a more satisfying and fulfilling life. |
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Admission GuidelineAgricultureAgricultural
Scientists Recruitment Board, Krishi Anusandhan Bhavan, Pusa, New
Delhi 110012
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Campus NoteS MAharshi Dayanand University (MDU) has approved a new Ph.D. ordinance and introduction of various new courses in the 157th meeting of the Academic Council held recently. The council in its meeting, chaired by the Vice-Chancellor, also approved establishment of a new Department of Library and Information Science and introduction of Master's of Library and Information Science (two-year integrated) course from the session 2010-2011. The Academic Council allowed setting up of a new department of food technology and the change in the nomenclature of M.Sc (food processing technology) to M.Sc (food technology). The council also approved re-naming of the Advanced Centre for Biotechnology as Institute of Biotechnology and put its seal to the proposal for introducing two new courses—M.Sc (bioinformatics) and M.Sc (agricultural biotechnology) from the session 2010-2011 and 2011-2012, respectively. It gave its nod to the introduction of a new M.Sc (forensic science) course in the Department of Genetics from the session 2010-2011. Seminar on gender policy The Department of Public Administration of MDU will organise a national seminar on "Gender Policy in India: Prospects and Problems" on March 19. According to Prof. S. S. Chahar, head, Department of Public Administration, several renowned teachers, including Dr Reicha Tanwar, director, Women Study Centre, Kurukshetra University; Dr Kumud Sharma (University of Delhi); Dr Indu Grover (Centre for Women Development Studies, New Delhi); Ramji Lal, Principal (retired), Dayal Singh College, Karnal; Prof. Shri Krishan (Fellow, Nehru Memorial Museum & Library); Dr Jagmati Sangwan, director, Women Study Centre (MDU); Pramod Gauri (State Resource Centre, SEARCH); Prof. Rajbir Singh and Prof. Promilla Batra (Department of Psychology, MDU) will be the resource persons in the seminar, which will be held in the DDE Conference Hall of the university. Community radio station MDU has started working on the setting up of a community radio station (CRS) on its campus. A memorandum of understanding with Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Ltd. (BECIL) has already been signed for this purpose. According to sources, BECIL will provide consultancy and professional services to MDU for setting up of the community radio station, along with facilitating construction of the station. It is claimed that CRS will not only help in disseminating information related to the university, but also serve as a platform for the university students to hone their communication skills. The university has also been considering of setting up a modern TV studio on the campus, said the sources.
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Our world is increasingly shaped and directed by science. We only need to look around our environment to see the growing demands that are being placed on individuals and communities to understand, engage with and take up science research and applications of science in the form of rapidly developing technologies. In contemporary times, it seems increasingly important to achieve scientific literacy as an educational outcome. It may now even stand alongside language literacy and numeracy as an essential tool for living in the 21st century. Scientifically literate citizens would have a general, broad and useful understanding of science that contributes to their competence and disposition to use science to meet the personal and social demands of their life at home, at work and in the community.