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WHAT DO STUDENTS SAY ABOUT SCIENCE CLASS? A CROSS-STUDY FROM THE SIXTH GRADE(PRIMARY SCHOOL) TO THE FOURTH GRADE (SECONDARY SCHOOL).

Marbá-Tallada, Anna y Márquez Bargalló, Conxita

Revista enseñanza de las ciencias.

2010

Spanish

Research

Researchers, Teachers

Over 10 pages

This paper reports students opinions toward their secondary school science education and examined the variation of opinions over the last five years of compulsory school and according to gender. The study in question was a part of a science project organized by the City Hall. Data were drawn from students from 8 primary schools and 19 secondary schools from Barcelona. Students indicate their views about their school science education and their future career expectations using a questionnaire based on the Relevance of Science Education Project.
Six different attitudinal analyses were carried out: (a) through schooling; (b) through schooling comparing boys and girls, (c) comparing the students who want to become scientists with those who do not; (d) comparing the students who want to be taught as much science as possible at school with the ones who do not; and (e) comparing the students who are willing to get a job in technology with those who are not.
Regarding the attitude analysis through schooling, in general terms, students agree that is important to study science at school and admit that it is important as far as respecting nature and to appreciate the importance of science for our way of living. However, only a few of them also want to become a scientist or to be taught as much science as possible at school.
Results show that opinions toward science declined as they progressed through schooling, except in the third course. This decline is more pronounced in the first years of secondary school.
The second analysis carried out focuses on gender differences. Results also indicate that gender differences are lower than show in other countries. In general, boys tend to gave more positive attitudes towards school science than girls, but only a few statistically significant differences are described.
In general terms, the same pattern could be described in the third and fourth analysis, where the attitudes of the students who want to become scientist and those who want to be taught/learn as much science as possible at school with the others, respectively are studied. Mayor differences were described in those items that relate school science with the usefulness of science in their daily live, with the professions and with their appeal to school science.
Finally, when analyzing students´ attitudes comparing the ones that are willing to get a job in technology with the ones that are not, only 8 of 16 statistically significant differences could be determined.
The interpretation of these results and scholar implications are discussed in the paper.

In this article we find a research on the attitudes of pupils towards science from the primary to the secondary schooling. The importance of the present study lies in it corroborates one again that the decrease of their motivation starts with the secondary compulsory schooling and it is especially worrying in the case of women, though this lack of interest was already seen in the last course of primary schooling.

Another interesting aspect is that the analysis of the pupil’s opinion about science along several courses is accompanied by a detailed study related to the genre and by a comparative research of pupils who have shown certain interest towards professions related to science. Based on the evidences provided by former studies, the authors relate the pupil’s lack of motivation to the disenchantment they show for the contents of the secondary schooling, which do not seem to fit with the pupils’ interest. This fact invites us to reflect no only on the contents of the subjects but on the way they are presented to the pupils. With regard to the study about the genre, the results do not show the expected difference between genres, may be due to the size of the sample used.

Finally, it is important to point out the crucial role the teachers play in the election of scientific studies by the pupils. Since no differences have been detected among the perceptions of the students with regard the difficulty or interest of the science subjects, the guidance work of the science teachers seems more relevant for them while taking a decision.

CECE – Spanish Confederation of Education and Training Centre