New Perspectives in Science Education

The Council of the European Union in the Annex to their document of 22 May on key competences for lifelong learning, Key Competences for lifelong learning: a European Reference Framework defines key competences as those all individuals need for personal fulfilment and development. According to the document, key competences are developed in a lifelong learning perspective and through formal, non-formal and informal learning in all contexts, including family, school and other communities. The Framework sets out eight competences, one of them being mathematical competence and competence in science, technology and engineering. A second key competence of relevance to this paper is multilingual competence. It is relevant to this paper to note that the Framework estates all eight competences are not only equally important, but also that they overlap and interlock, as aspects essential to one domain will support competence in another. (1) This paper studies a practical case of non-formal learning where the two competences mentioned above are instrumental. We studied three very different groups of learners who were invited to watch live in their homes the official NASA stream of the Perseverance rover Mars landing on 18 February 2021. The first group were high-school students in a co-ed rural centre. The second was a class of English as a second-language adult students of different ages in a language school in an urban setting. The third group was an extended family group that comprised male and female members of three generations. The three groups were asked to watch the stream live and then report on their degree of participation and their response to the streaming. Watching the streaming was a demanding task, first because of its length and the scientific nature of the topic itself; secondly, because the streaming was in their second language; and finally, because the participants had to deal with the additional stress of the lockdown and the need to use a technology some of them were not familiar with. However, the results obtained indicate that the combination of competences required made the task engaging. The results also lead us to propose that quality online experiences should be regarded by educators as a viable alternative to field trips and visits to science centres, above all when engaging learners, and especially female learners, is a priority in activity design.

Keywords Key competences, learners’ motivation, activity design, gender

References (1) Council of the European Union Council Recommendation of 22 May 2018 on key competences for lifelong learning ST/9009/2018/INIT OJ C 189, 4.6.2018, p. 1–13