Science Education NOW: A renewed Pedagogy for the Future of Europe

In recent years, many studies have highlighted an alarming decline in young people’s interest for key science studies and mathematics. Despite the numerous projects and actions that are being implemented to reverse this trend, the signs of improvement are still modest. Unless more effective action is taken, Europe’s longer term capacity to innovate, and the quality of its research will also decline.

Furthermore, among the population in general, the acquisition of skills that are becoming essential in all walks of life, in a society increasingly dependent on the use of knowledge, is also under increasing threat.

In consequence, the European Commission has tasked this group of experts to examine a cross-section of on-going initiatives and to draw from them elements of know-how and good practice that could bring about a radical change in young people’s interest in science studies - and to identify the necessary pre-conditions. Since the origins of the declining interest among young people for science studies are found largely in the way science is taught in schools, this is the main focus of this report