5.3.6 Science

5.3.6 Science

Inspectors noted increasing levels of experiential learning in Science

Junior Cycle Science remains a popular option for students and is mandatory in many schools. The skills of critical thinking and investigation that are promoted in the science subjects are vital skills for all students to have as they navigate multiple, and often conflicting, sources of information. Such skills are also highly valued by employers. This section looks primarily at Junior Cycle Science where the trend towards increasing levels of experiential learning, noted in many mathematics lessons, was also evident. The Junior Cycle Science specification was examined for the first time in 2019. Up to that point, the uptake of Junior Certificate higher-level Science had remained steady (Table 5.18). Data from state examinations in the period 2016 to 2020 shows a significant increase in the uptake of higher level Biology (Table 5.18), Chemistry and Physics in Senior Cycle (Table 5.19).

Table 5.18: Numbers of students taking Biology examination in Leaving Certificate and Science examination in Junior Cycle / Junior Certificate: 2016-2020

	Leaving Certificate Biology			Junior Cycle / Junior Certificate Science
Year	Higher level	Ordinary level	Total candidates	Higher level	Ordinary level	Total candidates
2020	84.9%	15.1%	34,852	N/A*	N/A	N/A
2019	79.3%	20.7%	34,109	Common level		59,543
2018	79.1%	20.9%	33,549	79.8%	20.2%	58,208
2017	77.8%	22.2%	34,292	79.9%	20.1%	57,208
2016	73.9%	26.1%	34,101	79.1%	20.9%	55,471

Source: State Examinations Commission * As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Junior Cycle 2020 examinations were cancelled.

Table 5.19: Numbers of students taking Chemistry and Physics examinations in Leaving Certificate: 2016 - 2020

	Leaving Certificate Chemistry			Leaving Certificate Physics
Year	Higher level	Ordinary level	Total candidates	Higher level	Ordinary level	Total candidates
2020	90.0%	10.0%	9,662	86.9%	13.1%	8,097
2019	86.7%	13.3%	9,506	82.9%	17.1%	7,942
2018	86.6%	13.4%	9,167	83.1%	16.9%	7,535
2017	86.2%	13.8%	9,468	82.7%	17.3%	7,585
2016	84.3%	15.7%	9,089	77.4%	22.6%	7,753

Source: State Examinations Commission

Good levels of student engagement were noted in science practicals; formative feedback on students’ work was an area for further development

All science inspections from the period to which this report refers evaluated schools’ engagement with the new Junior Cycle Science specification which commenced in schools in September 2016. Inspectors found that the overall quality of teaching was good or very good in 95% of those inspections. Science teachers had begun to incorporate enquiry-based teaching methodologies more often into lessons, and this enabled students to think critically about scientific concepts.

The overall quality of learning in Science was good or very good in 92% of subject inspections. While levels of student engagement in practical lessons were high, students were often less active in lessons when practical work did not occur and content was presented by the teacher rather than discussed and analysed by students. During the early stages of the new specification, some lessons were structured very similarly to how they might have been when the previous Junior Certificate syllabus was in operation. The prevalence of these approaches reduced over time, particularly as JCT training became more readily available, and after a full three-year cycle of the specification was completed.

The overall quality of assessment in Science was found to be good or very good in 81% of science inspections. Where there were concerns regarding assessment, the main issue was often that classroom based assessment (CBA) skills, particularly those in the second Science CBA relating to research skills, were not a feature of lessons. Features of Quality produced by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) for Subject Learning and Assessment Review (SLAR)85 meetings were often shared with students. However, formative feedback on how students could improve their work was identified as an area in which practice could be developed further. Questioning strategies, peer assessment and the creation of a better balance between formative and summative assessment were also identified as areas in need of improvement in Science.

85 SLAR meetings enable teachers to collaboratively reach consistency in their judgements of students’ work against common, externally-set Features of Quality.

Irish students performed well in science elements of international assessments

Results from PISA 2018 indicate that students in Ireland were significantly above the OECD average in Science, with significantly fewer low-performing students in Ireland compared to the average across OECD countries.

TIMSS 2019 results indicate that, while students in Ireland significantly outperformed students in twenty-three countries, seven countries had significantly higher mean science scores than Ireland.

While Ireland’s performance in PISA 2018 and TIMSS 2019 was broadly positive, the proportion of very high achieving students was lower in Ireland than in most high-performing countries and the overall data indicates that there is still scope to improve outcomes for high achieving learners in STEM subjects.