Database of Publications

STUDENTS’ DISINTEREST ON LEARNING OF SCIENCES: TEACHING CONSEQUENCES.

Jordi Solbes, Rosa Montserrat and Carles Furió

Didáctica de las ciencias experimentales y sociales (n.21, 91 – 117)

2007

Spanish

Research

Researchers, Teachers

Over 10 pages

The present work reflects that, in general, the number of pupils inscribed in the scientific post-secondary schooling (or baccalaureate) and in elective subjects of a scientific nature, is decreasing. In particular, there is a high percentage of girls that drop out the subjects of chemistry, physics and maths. Therefore, the authors state the following problems:
- Do the pupils have a negative image towards the learning of science? Do they show lack of interest towards science subjects? Which are the causes?
- ¿Do the pupils know anything about the values and the positive contributions of science to the human race?
- ¿Does the teaching of science subjects (as physics and chemistry), take into account the lack of interest shown by the pupils?

The author starts from the following hypothesis: there is a negative image and lack of interest towards the subjects of science because of several causes; the most important are the teaching of science, the problems of genre and the consideration science has in our educative system.

To validate the aforementioned hypothesis several tools are used:

- Analysis of de data from the university access tests in order to confirm the drop out of the scientific studies, the influence of the genre, and the structural variables of the educative system.
- Questionnaires addressed to the secondary schooling pupils and interviews with the most representative groups about their opinion with regard to science and the influence of issues like society, science teaching and genre.
- Analysis of the main textbooks and questionnaires addressed to both, active and potential teachers, in order to analyse the possible causes of the students’ lack of interest.

The results of the data analysis from the university access texts show a decrease in the number of students that choose subjects like Physics or Chemistry, especially in the case of girls. The results of the questionnaires regarding scientific subjects show that the students find them extremely boring, less useful than other subjects, difficult and too theoretical. With regard to their image and appraisal of science, the results are certainly worrying, most of the pupils find the subject of chemistry as something which has no practical use, they hardly know any scientific women, and they relate the physics and the chemistry to negative aspects of our society such as the pollution or the arms race. In the interviews with pupils, we find interesting comments regarding the lack of laboratory practice, the excess of formalism, the difficulty of the science subjects and their disconnection from reality.

In the study of the textbooks, the author finds in most of them the same practical exercises (recipe type) at the end of each chapter, there is no description of devices, no STS relation or the science history. Moreover, more than 70% of the texts do not mention the aims and values of science, nor its contribution to human needs. There is also no mention of the contributions of women to science. Finally, the results of the questionnaires addressed to the teachers show a favourable opinion towards the use of STS contents or a more practical training to increase the motivation of the pupils; however they also attribute the absence of the aforementioned to the lack of knowledge, the lack of time in the curriculum and the tradition.

In conclusion, we can confirm that the pupils’ opinion on science has a clear influence in the dropping out of the science studies, something which, according to the author, should be taken into account in the future training of science teachers, introducing practical activities, STS relations and even a new guidance to change the social image of science in the class.

The present article is extremely important in the field of the pupils’ motivation towards science. It is first of all a quantitative study on the decrease of the number of pupils in the subjects of science, according to the university access tests. Moreover, it is qualitative study on the causes of the pupils’ lack of interest towards science through three different paths: the pupils and their opinion about science, the treatment of science in the textbooks and the teachers’ opinion.
The conclusions are quite worrying; we find a decrease in the number of pupils inscribed in scientific subjects in the recent years, especially in the case of the girls. From the study of the pupils opinions on science, the results are very similar to the ones included in the Rocard report; and the research on the textbooks and the questionnaires addressed to the teachers indicate that the motivation problem has its roots in the way of teaching sciences, characterized by its conceptual nature and the lack of practice, with a complete absence of contents relating science to our current society, and with a poor presence of women in this field.
Though it cannot be firmly stated that the results obtained directly relate the pupils’ lack of interest on science to the decrease in the number of pupils’ inscriptions in this field, its influence is out of question. On the other hand, the conclusions obtained make more evident the need of applying a different methodology, as many institutions have suggested, stressing the importance of the teachers role in this change as well as the need of curriculum which favours the breaking with the traditional teaching system.

CECE – Spanish Confederation of Education and Training Centre