Watch above: While Saskatchewan students scored high marks in science, one group is under-represented in the field
SASKATOON – Roughly nine out of ten Grade 8 students in Saskatchewan perform at or above their expected level of performance in science according to a national survey.
The results come from the Pan-Canadian Assessment Program which is administered by the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada.
“Anything that comes out that validates what we’re doing as teachers and what we’re doing specifically at this school really is a nice pat on the back,” said Brian Gurney, a teacher at Saskatoon’s Montgomery School.
The program tested 32,000 students across the country to come up with its findings. The test is administered every three years and focuses on science, reading and math.
Read more: How are Canada’s Grade 8 students doing in math, science and reading?
Gurney’s efforts may have helped contribute to this trend.
He is one instructor of Science Trek at Montgomery School, which students must apply to be a part of. Once enrolled, 28 Grade 8 students will spend the year following a science-based curriculum.
“We interact with so many different fields of science,” said Gurney.
“They meet scientists, we talk about scientists and we talk about what kind of skills those scientists would need.”
Grace Braaten is enrolled in the program and says science has always been of interest to her. Being in Science Trek, she says it allows her to learn from instructors and fellow students.
“I think it will make me an even better student,” said Braaten, 13, who wants to be a doctor in the future.
“I’ll be more organized and I’ll have study methods for exams and finals.”
While the statistics are positive for Saskatchewan’s elementary school students, some educators believe there is still more work to be done. The University of Saskatchewan’s Lana Elias says aboriginal students are still well under represented in the field of science.
“We certainly want to encourage aboriginal students to consider a future in the sciences,” said Elias, who is the director of science outreach at the U of S. She runs the PotashCorp Kamskénow program, which works provides hands on learning workshops to classrooms with high aboriginal enrollment.
The program recently won two international awards from the International Business Education Partnership Network at a ceremony in Brussels, Belgium.
“Getting them excited about science at a young age, they’ll hopefully take high school sciences and then have an opportunity to take science in post-secondary education,” said Elias, who is a former high school science teacher.
“We’re trying to show that… this is science, this is really fun, and this is something that you will get to do in school if you stick on with it,” said Sureni Gomis, one of the programs instructors.
Comments