The NSTA delegation of science educators landed Monday night and began the inaugural 2010 US–Sino Forum in Shanghai on Tuesday. The purpose of this trip is to learn about Chinese science education, and to identify any features, characteristics or practices that will help in teaching science in the U.S. We are also looking forward to an exciting cultural experience in the one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Shanghai is the largest city in China with a population of about 20 million people in a country often quoted as “highly motivated” and “beating” the U.S. in the development of highly educated scientists and engineers.
Our host, the China Association of Children’s Instructors of Science (CASCI), is NSTA’s counterpart in China. Our secondary host is the China Association of Science and Technology (CAST), which is an organization run by the government of China. This is an important distinction which I will discuss later. They have made the beginning of our visit very comfortable and have made us feel welcome by providing us with translators, a tour guide to get around, and by providing lots of food (which I will comment on later, too).
During the first morning, about half of the NSTA delegation spent time at the Shanghai International Forum on Science Literacy of Precollege Students. In its sixth year, this event is an opportunity for science educators from France, the U.K., the USA and China to interact and promote the development of precollege student science literacy. Dr. Jo Ellen Roseman and Ted Willard from the AAAS/Project 2061 represented the U.S. We were able to hear several presentations from two countries and see the award ceremonies for many science educators from around the country. (The background music for as the awardees went up to the stage was the theme song from the popular 1959–1973 TV show Bonanza.)
The NSTA/CASCI forum began after lunch with introductory speeches and then keynote speeches from Dr. Norm Lederman from the Illinois Institute of Technology and Dr. Wei Yu from the Research Center for Learning Science in Southeast University.   Dr Lederman provided a clear history of reform efforts in the U.S over the last ten years and concluded describing the challenges ahead with many of the reform programs. Dr Wei described the reforms efforts in China over the last 50 years, but spent most of the time on a recent large-scale effort called Learning by Doing in Science.
It was remarkable that she talked about many of the same things that science teachers say are key features of science education in the United States, such as experiential learning, inquiry, and Internet based communications. She quoted Piaget and other constructivist educators. She also spoke about several issues related to the unmet promises of the Learning by Doing effort in China, such as inadequate resources and qualified teachers.
One issue that differed greatly was the effect of the one child policy in China on children’s empathy and communication skills, particularly in the rural areas of China. Dr. Yu posited that because so many children in China are growing up as single children they have little empathy for others and lack many of the people skills that a child in a family with multiple children might develop growing up with siblings. She felt that this was a critical weakness and had to be addressed by the Chinese education system.
The second day begins with presentations from both U.S. and Chinese science educators.