Database of Publications

OPINIONI DEGLI STUDENTI DI SCUOLA SUPERIORE SUI CORSI DI LAUREA SCIENTIFICI
(HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT OPINION ABOUT THE SCIENTIFIC FACULTIES)

Ulderico Segre

“ La Chimica e l’ Industria” (Chemistry and Industry) – National journal of the Italian Chemical Society (SCI)

2006

Italian

Research

Researchers, Teachers, Policy Makers

3 – 10 pages

This paper shows the results of surveys of High School students taken during the meeting “I giochi della chimica” (chemistry games). The surveys focused on their interest in the Scientific Faculties (Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics). As regards chemistry, 3150 questionnaires have been distributed and filled in by students.
The questionnaires were composed of the following 6 questions:
1. What would you like to know about the course of degree in chemistry?
2. In your opinion, which are the negative aspects of the course of degree in chemistry?
3. In your opinion, which are the positive aspects of the course of degree in chemistry?
4. In which way the interest in the course of degree in chemistry could be stimulated?
5. Are you interested in the course of degree in chemistry?
6. If you are interested in, which are your expectations of job?
Concerning the answers to the first question, students would like to know something more about the job possibilities, rather than the organization of courses.
Answering to the second question, students seem to be worried about job possibilities after the degree, but more about the difficulty of the courses.
When they are asked to list the positive aspects of the course of degree in chemistry, they declare to be interested in the contents of chemistry, but also attracted by the possibility of experiences in international research centres.
Regarding the question number 4, it is evident that students strongly feel the need of learning chemistry with a more practical approach, also with the support of stages and research activities.
Finally, less than 20% of the students interviewed are really interested in the course of degree in chemistry; many of them would like to dedicate to research activities after degree, while few of them inhale to the profession of teacher. They declare to be interested in chemistry despite the difficulty of this discipline.
It is also important to underline that students declaring to be not interested in chemistry courses are mainly worried about the difficulty of finding a job and complain about a lack of support by their teachers as well as a poorness of laboratory activities at school.

This article has been chosen because it represents a significative analysis of the level of appreciation that high school students have of chemistry and can be considered as a source of suggestions to improve their motivation at school.
The survey is significative because the questionnaires have been proposed to a selected group of secondary school students: those participating in ‘chemistry games’, a competition that requires passion and scientific skills to its competitors. For this reason, considerations, doubts and criticisms coming from these students are a valuable tool to assess and improve the methodology of teaching chemistry at school, in order to get more motivated pupils.
The analysis of the questionnaires filled in reveals some noteworthy weakness point in the school education system, leading to a loss of motivation toward scientific disciplines, chemistry in particular. The main weakness points are summarized as follows:
- chemistry is an experimental discipline, but students perceive it as abstract. They complain the lack of laboratory activities and cannot understand the link between chemistry learned at school and chemistry as job opportunity;
- chemistry is considered difficult, even by students that are really attracted by it and interested in continuing studies in this field. This means that the choice of the contents to be taught at school is not adequate to the cognitive structure of the students.
- teacher’s role is fundamental, but, often, they don’t manage to give the adequate support to their students, in order to stimulate motivation and to convince them that they are able to understand this discipline.
As conclusion it seems very important to offer students more practical activities (i.e. laboratory activities and stages) and more applicative information (i.e. job opportunities and chemistry role in everyday life). It is also fundamental to support teachers in their work and to provide them with a valuable training, initial and in course, in order to get more motivated students.

Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry – University of Genoa - ITALY