Here is engine of innovation

KCSE candidates

2020 KCSE candidates at Lions High School, Kisumu, prepare for the chemistry practical paper.

Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

  • In science education, the place of a laboratory cannot be overemphasised.
  • This is where scientific laws, theories and narratives are executed and students develop research skills.

Albert Einstein said, “Education is not learning of facts but training of the mind to think.”

The teaching of natural sciences should embrace this because they are at the engine of innovation. 

We must interrogate the way science education is conducted in our learning institutions, more so universities. People’s need have changed with the changing world. That calls for university science teaching to prepare students for the future. 

Science has many disciplines but chemistry, which largely cuts across all sciences, is a central discipline as far as innovation and inventions are concerned. As such, its teaching must be aligned with specified objectives, such as the development of scientific thinking.

Through that, the graduates will prioritise their gifts and talents rather than the degree.
In science education, the place of a laboratory cannot be overemphasised. This is where scientific laws, theories and narratives are executed and students develop research skills.

Adequate facilities

Qualified personnel and adequate facilities for university chemistry teaching produce graduates who discover themselves.

American philosopher of science Thomas S. Kuhn said science education ought to be conducted in tandem with research tradition; laws, theory application, and instrumentation.

This informs the scientific process, providing real engagement with content and consequently opening the thought process.

Chemistry is continuously becoming central to questions of public concern. Affordable healthcare, manufacturing, environmental conservation, climate issues, terrorism threats, among many others, call for thorough knowledge and competence in chemistry.

But scientific theories and principles must be supplemented with actual examples and analogies which spark creativity and imagination, the core ingredients of innovation.

Universities must allocate more practical teaching hours in the laboratory and industrial visits to achieve the government’s ‘Big Four Agenda’.

Mr Alwala, head of chemistry laboratories at Kibabii University, is organising secretary, Kenya Chemical Society - Western Chapter. [email protected].