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Science NCF2023

The National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2023 emphasizes the importance of science education in developing critical thinking, inquiry skills, and an understanding of the natural world. It outlines a structured approach to teaching science across different educational stages, integrating various scientific disciplines and promoting interdisciplinary learning. The framework also addresses current challenges in science education, such as the need for conceptual understanding over rote learning and the importance of hands-on experimentation.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
54 views21 pages

Science NCF2023

The National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2023 emphasizes the importance of science education in developing critical thinking, inquiry skills, and an understanding of the natural world. It outlines a structured approach to teaching science across different educational stages, integrating various scientific disciplines and promoting interdisciplinary learning. The framework also addresses current challenges in science education, such as the need for conceptual understanding over rote learning and the importance of hands-on experimentation.

Uploaded by

Sandeep Mitra
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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National Curriculum Framework

for School Education


2023
Science Education

ANITA MITRA
PGT -CHEMISTRY
KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA MHOW
WHAT IS SCIENCE???
Science is the study of the natural and physical
world around us through a systematic process of
observing, questioning, forming hypotheses,
testing hypotheses through experiment,
analysing evidence, and continuously revising our
knowledge.

The process of Science is not something that


only scientists do in laboratories alone.
It also develops an important set of capacities (and
dispositions) essential for leading a rational and
fulfilling lives.
These capacities (and dispositions) help us make
informed and good decisions that benefit us and
our communities.
Learning Science enables us to gain valid
knowledge about the world as well as acquire
scientific values, capacities, and dispositions, such
as curiosity, creativity, evidence-based thinking,
and sound decision-making.
As a subject in schools, Science draws significantly from
the disciplines of
 Biology,
 Chemistry,
 Physics,
 Earth Sciences,
 Mathematics,
 Computational Sciences,
and, where relevant, from Social Science and Vocational
Education.
IMPORTANCE OF SCIENCE

Good education in Science, including the development of a mindset of inquiry and research in students, is
critical in addressing the challenges that India and the world face today, such as climate change, improving
healthcare, technological advancement and use for sustainable development, creation of just and equitable
livelihoods, and living in harmony with nature.
Therefore, ensuring high quality education in Science, and its relationship with other subjects such as
Social Science and Vocational Education forms a key focus of this NCF.
This would help students to gain an understanding of how science and scientific research can address the
central challenges faced by our society.
Children must start learning the process of science and the basics of the scientific method starting in the
Foundational Stage itself.
In the Preparatory Stage, they gain further experience in the process of Science and the scientific method
through observing patterns and relationships in their natural environment and conducting simple hands-
on experiments.
Science is introduced as a separate Curricular Area
only in the Middle Stage. In this Stage, the approach
integrates the disciplines of Biology, Chemistry, and
Physics.
This integrated approach continues in the first two
years of the Secondary Stage (Grades 9 and 10).
In the final two years of the Secondary Stage (Grades
11 and 12), a disciplinary approach is taken, with
Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Earth Science being
offered separately.
Students thereby get the opportunity to choose and
understand the nature of one or more of these
disciplines more deeply and develop competencies
specific to each.
AIMS of science education

Scientific understanding of the natural and


physical world:
Scientific understanding develops through specific
observations, questions, experiments, theories, laws,
principles,and concepts.
 An adequate knowledge of these is essential to build a
systematic and verifiable understanding of the way the
natural and physical world functions.
In Science Education, students must thus learn the
fundamental methods, concepts, and theories on which
Science rests.
Capacities for scientific inquiry:
 The abilities to put forth hypotheses,
arguments,predictions, and analyses, and to test
hypotheses, evaluate situations, and draw logical
conclusions, are fundamental to the learning of
Science.
Science Education must thus build these skills in
students systematically over the Stages in school.
Understanding the evolution of
scientific knowledge :
There are crucial historical moments in the
development of Science and scientific
knowledge that could not have occurred
without the efforts of various individuals and
organisations over thousands of years.
Understanding these key moments and
discoveries will develop students’
understanding of how scientific knowledge and
the methods of science evolved and still evolve
over time.
Interdisciplinary understanding
between Science and other curricular
areas :
Learning in Science involves understanding
interlinkages across disciplines.
Concepts,principles, laws, and theories cannot be
viewed as isolated, but instead they together
contribute to a holistic understanding of the world.
 Students would learn to inquire and learn about
the world through such an interdisciplinary
approach.
Understanding of the relationship
between Science, Technology, and
Society:
The contribution of Science to Society and how
different societal needs led to the generation of
scientific knowledge is also an important part of
learning Science.
Engaging with issues related to connections
between Science, Technology, and Society,
including the ethical aspects and implications,
and appreciating the role Science plays in
addressing the challenges and the world is
undergoing, will add to the breadth of students’
learning.
Scientific temper:
Developing the capacities for critical and
evidence-based thinking and freedom from fear
and prejudice is central to the learning of Science.

Students will imbibe scientific values and


dispositions such as honesty, integrity, scepticism,
objectivity, tenacity, perseverance, collaboration
and cooperation, concern for life, and
preservation of the environment.
Creativity:

Asking good questions, observing patterns in the


world around us, formulating plausible
hypotheses given those patterns, and designing
good experiments to test those hypotheses often
requires artistry and creativity.
Developing such creativity and a sense of
aesthetics in the pursuit of scientific
understanding and exploration is another very
important but often ignored aim of Science
Education.
Current Challenges

A major challenge related to


Science in the school curriculum is
the focus on facts and definitions,
with a neglect for the development
of conceptual understanding and
the capacities for scientific
inquiry.
Science teaching-learning has traditionally
been based mostly on the textbook, with a
focus on facts and definitions
and providing very less time for
exploration and discussion.

Science content in school should be


determined by the Aims of School
Education and what all students should aim
to learn in Science.
 Meanwhile, higher education entrance
examinations (or other methods) must change to
being competency-based rather than rote-based
and ‘fact recounting’.
Another challenge is the lack of connection
between the school curriculum and what
students observe and experience
outside school.
Students come to school with their own
theories
about the world.
learning Science especially requires access to
apparatus, equipment, and laboratories.
Unfortunately, this remains a neglected need.
Low-cost, easily available materials are also not
used.
 Teachers often lack the capacity to develop such
local,low-cost teaching-learning materials.
At the Secondary Stage, access to a laboratory is non-
negotiable ,students must be able to assemble and
manipulate apparatus, use materials, and design
simple experiments to truly develop important
competencies related to Science.
ESSENTIAL CONCEPTS
Even though it would be clear that this is not complete
‘knowledge of Science’, this ‘essential set’ could be
decided based on the following criteria:
 It provides adequate knowledge of the world
for that age group.
 It provides the base and platform for further
learning of scientific ideas.
 It provides adequate ‘material’ for developing
the capacities and values related to Science
Education.
 It provides sufficient scope for inquiry and
development of capacities for scientific inquiry.
In addition, whatever concepts are chosen, they
should be interesting, challenging, and intelligible for
young minds.
 At the same time, students must develop capacities
for scientific inquiry and the ability to communicate
scientific questions and ideas aligned with each
Stage. These are addressed in the Curricular Goals
and Competencies for both the Middle and
Secondary Stages.
 The Learning Standards must make a judicious
choice of content on the basis of these principles to
reduce the ‘content load’ on the students.
THANKS

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