Student Attitudes to Studying A-Level Sciences  

Oleh:

Havard, Neil

Jenis: Article from Journal - ilmiah internasional
Dalam koleksi: Public Understanding of Science vol. 5 no. 4 (Okt. 1996), page 321-330.
Fulltext: 321PUS54.pdf (262.98KB)

Isi artikel

This paper reports on a study of sixth form students’ attitudes to the study of sciences at Advanced level, and the factors that influenced the students in deciding whether to take those subjects. In discussions about the public understanding of science, it is often assumed that the sciences can be discussed together. In this study, attitudes to biology are shown to be significantly different from attitudes to the physical sciences; and the perception of difficulty is a major influence on student choice. Perceptions of career prospects and reasons for the gender imbalance in physical sciences gave some unexpected responses. A purposive sample of 175 able students was taken from the lower sixth (year 12) in four schools in Gloucestershire, UK. The survey compared attitudes of those studying at least one science with attitudes of those who studied none. Reference is often made in the UK to the decline in the numbers of students studying sciences beyond age 16, and the influence this may have on the economic performance of the nation in the long term. As long ago as 1968, the Dainton Report discussed what was termed the ‘swing from science’.1 The report was concerned with the entry of students into higher education courses on science and technology. Ormerod and Duckworth further studied pupil attitudes to the sciences in the mid-1970s. Referring to studies going back to the 1930s, they discussed the perception of difficulty, particularly noting the physical sciences as the hardest.2 The Royal Society’s Bodmer Report in 1985 heightened awareness in the UK of the problem of the public understanding of science, which inevitably affects interest and uptake of sciences.3 The 1993 government White Paper, Realising our Potential, refers to the historically low value placed on education and training, especially in science and technology.4 The issue is of interest to many, including government, industry, education and the media, but each has its own agenda and reasons for wishing to promote science. The situation is not as simple as many suggest, owing to the demographic changes in the population of students in this age-group, and also to the growth in the number of students taking A-levels in recent years. Various factors may influence students in their choice of A-levels. Performance at GCSE—the examination taken at age 16 which marks the end of compulsory schooling—is certainly one; and work done by Backhouse, Dickins, Rayner and Wood in 1982 suggests that success in mathematics and science at an earlier age influences uptake at A-level.5 Woolnough has also studied the influence of various factors such as teaching quality and out-of-class activities on school effectiveness in producing scientists. He concludes that it is too simplistic to generalize about people who choose to study science or to identify a single factor that influences that choice.6 0963-6625/96/040321 + 10$19.50 c 1996 IOP Publishing Ltd and The Science Museum 321

Opini Anda

Klik untuk menuliskan opini Anda tentang koleksi ini!

Kembali