Developing Attitudes towards Science Measures

In this study, we describe the development of measures used to examine pupils’ attitudes towards science. In particular, separate measures for attitudes towards the following areas were developed: learning science in school, practical work in science, science outside of school, importance of science, self‐concept in science, and future participation in science. In developing these measures, criticisms of previous attitude studies in science education were noted. In particular, care was taken over the definition of each of the attitude constructs, and also ensuring that each of the constructs was unidimensional. Following an initial piloting process, pupils aged 11–14 from five secondary schools throughout England completed questionnaires containing the attitude measures. These questionnaires were completed twice by pupils in these schools, with a gap of four weeks between the first and second measurements. Altogether, 932 pupils completed the first questionnaire and 668 pupils completed the second one. Factor analysis carried out on the resulting data confirmed the unidimensionality of the separate attitude constructs. Also, it was found that three of the constructs—learning science in school, science outside of school, and future participation in science—loaded on one general attitude towards science factor. Further analysis showed that all the measures showed high internal reliability (Cronbach’s α > 0.7). A particular strength of the approach used in this study was that it allowed for attitude measures to be built up step‐by‐step, therefore allowing for the future consideration of other relevant constructs.     

Powerful pedagogical strategies in initial teacher education

The development of beginning teachers’ practice during a school placement is a multiplicity of mediated interaction between university and school based systems. Both systems have the common aim of training effective teachers. However day‐to‐day internal institution matters can cause tension between the learning goals set out for the beginning teacher by the university and the schools’ drive to ensure maximum student performance in ‘high stake’ national tests. The aim of the intervention was to set up structures which might enable beginning teachers to develop the capacity to think about and reflect explicitly on their practice, through purposive activity in an authentic classroom environment. The context of the activity was a secondary science course which aimed to encourage new teachers to empathize with secondary school pupils (aged 11–16) and understand their conceptual difficulties in learning about science within the constraints of a ‘curriculum delivery’ lead culture. The dialogue engaged in as part of the intervention helped beginning teachers to think critically about practice during school placements.     

The Effect of Increasing Conceptual Challenge in Primary Science Lessons on Pupils' Achievement and Engagement

This paper reports research into the effect on 11‐year‐old pupils of introducing more cognitively challenging, practical, and interactive science lessons. Our hypothesis was that such lessons would increase the children's enthusiasm for science and their engagement with the scientific process, thereby improving educational performance. Schools in England are under pressure to raise achievement, as measured by the results of national tests. This has an impact on teaching, where revision of subject knowledge often dominates and can be particularly detrimental to more able pupils. The research was a controlled trial which took place in thirty‐two English primary schools as part of a project “Conceptual Challenge in Primary Science”. Teachers from 16 intervention schools participated in continuing professional development (CPD) and developed science lessons that had more practical work, more discussion, more thinking and less (but more focused) writing. The proportion of pupils achieving the highest level (level 5) in the national science tests at age 11 was compared in the matched‐school pairs before and after the intervention. Focus group interviews were also held with a group of pupils in each intervention school. There was a 10% (95% Confidence Interval 2–17%) increase in the proportion of children achieving the top score in the intervention schools. The pupils and teachers reported greater engagement and motivation. These findings suggest that moving from rote revision to cognitively challenging, interactive science could help improve science education. They merit replication in other international settings to test their generalisability.     

Cooperative Learning in Science: Follow‐up from primary to high school

This paper reports a two‐year longitudinal study of the effects of cooperative learning on science attainment, attitudes towards science, and social connectedness during transition from primary to high school. A previous project on cooperative learning in primary schools observed gains in science understanding and in social aspects of school life. This project followed 204 children involved in the previous project and 440 comparison children who were not as they undertook transition from 24 primary schools to 16 high schools. Cognitive, affective, and social gains observed in the original project survived transition. The implications improving the effectiveness of school transition by using cooperative learning initiatives are explored. Possibilities for future research and the implications for practice and policy are discussed.     

Examining Changing Attitudes in Secondary School Science

This study, carried out in England, examined the variation of attitudes towards science over the first three years of secondary schooling and with gender. The study in question was part of an evaluation of the “Lab in a Lorry” project, and involved 932 pupils completing a pre‐measure questionnaire containing items looking at six separate attitude constructs. From these data, two main patterns emerged; pupils’ attitudes towards science declined as they progressed through secondary school, and this decline was more pronounced for female pupils. These conclusions are largely in agreement with previous studies in this field. However, in examining separate attitude constructs, we were also able to identify that the sharpest decline occurred specifically for pupils’ attitude towards learning science in school. Furthermore, using linear regression, we identified that, as pupils progress through school, this construct becomes a greater influence on attitudes towards future participation in science. Therefore, we also concluded that learning science in school is a particular area that needs to be concentrated upon, if we are to improve children’s attitudes towards science. In the final part of the paper, we drew on interview data obtained from 44 pupils involved in the Lab in a Lorry study. Pupils’ comments in these interviews provided further insight into why pupils are “switched off” by school science. We drew out the most prevalent themes that emerged in the interviews, in order to provide further insight into why pupils do not enjoy science in school.     

Lower secondary school teachers' judgements of pupils' problems

Lower secondary school teachers from six different schools in one Norwegian municipality reported on the prevalence of problems among pupils entering lower secondary school and types of problems among pupils in Grades 8–10. Teachers report that the transition from Elementary to Lower secondary school is problematic for approximately 30% of the pupils. About 70% of the teachers report that 25% or more of pupils transitioning to Grade 8 lack academic experiences and skills and have problems following directions. There is also a tendency for teachers who report higher values on professional (un)certainty about pupils' learning and on two efficacy variables included in the study, to be more favourably inclined towards inclusion of children who are perceived as having learning or behaviour problems. Additionally, teachers who report higher values on efficacy scales tend to report lower values on problems among pupils, and teachers who are less favourable towards inclusion report higher numbers of pupils having problems. The results are discussed in relation to schools as workplaces and professional development for pre‐service and in‐service teachers.     

A smooth trajectory: Developing continuity and progression between primary and secondary science education through a jointly‐planned projectiles project

This article reports on findings from a two‐year project—‘Improving Science Together’—undertaken in 20 primary and four secondary schools in and around Bristol, UK. The project was funded by the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca PLC as part of their national Science Teaching Trust initiative, and had as one of its aims the development of cross‐phase liaison between secondary school science departments and their feeder primary schools. Our findings suggest that, as a result of joint planning and implementation of a bridging unit, there had been an increase in the secondary school teachers’ understanding of both the range of the science curriculum covered in primary schools and pupils’ levels of attainment in the procedures of scientific enquiry. There was also evidence that transfer assessment information was informing planning and that pupils were experiencing greater continuity in their science education.     

‘Bridging work’ and its role in improving progression and continuity: an example from science education

Science in English primary schools has been judged a success, yet few pupils make the progress in secondary schools that their performance at the end of primary school suggested. Projects where pupils start science work at the end of the primary school and complete it at the start of secondary school—known as bridging units—have been suggested as one solution. This article reports an evaluation of bridging work in science in the north‐east of England. Pupils' and teachers' views of bridging lessons were collected and data on pupils' performance before and after bridging lessons compared. Claims that pupils find this type of work repetitive and that their teachers would rather teach something else either side of transfer are challenged. Findings highlight areas that are still problematic, including the use made of transferred assessments and progression in pupils' abilities, to comment on relationships between variables and patterns in data. The future for bridging work is discussed.     

Stability and Lability in Science Interest from Middle Schools to the Age of Science Choices (14 + )

Summaries

English

In parts of England and Wales, middle schools have been introduced for pupils of eight to 12 or nine to 13 years of age. From these they enter secondary schools whose general age of entry is 11. It is feared that the teaching of science in middle schools is inadequate and variable. This research has followed the science interests of pupils aged from 12 to 14 and investigated the factors that affect them by means of three questionnaires administered at yearly intervals.

The first questionnaire was administered to almost 600 boys and girls mainly to explore their recollections of the science activities they had experienced or not done in the 52 middle schools from which they came. Their liking for science was also measured and each of the activities done or not done was correlated with it. There were activities which correlated positively and negatively with liking for middle‐school science. There were also sex differences, with boys showing greater interest in ‘physical science’ activities and girls in biological ones. The most remarkable finding was that for girls the higher correlating activities were not merely biological but botanical and they were deterred by some activities with animals.

The second questionnaire after one year in the secondary schools, i.e. at 13 + , monitored the liking for chemistry, physics and biology taken by about 450 pupils. The third questionnaire was given at 14+ when these pupils had chosen to continue or abandon the further study of the three sciences. All the variables from the three questionnaires were then correlated with these science choices. Although the general influence of liking for middle‐school science had by then disappeared, certain specific middle‐school science activities still correlated significantly with science choices. The correlates of chemistry and physics choice were not exclusively physical science but included biological activities in which some measurement was involved, for example plant growth. There were sex differences. Previous activities with animals was detrimental to girls’ biology choices.

A range of other factors had, however, altered pupils’ liking for sciences over the two years in the secondary school: effects of teachers, perceptions of difficulty (especially in the case of girls’ physcial science) and liking for practical work. About a third of the pupils had not made up their minds about what subjects they wanted to study indicating that such an early age of choice is undesirable.     

Challenge in learning and teaching science

Taking as a basis a conceptualisation of personal challenge having both cognitive/metacognitive (thinking) and affective (feeling) components, the nature and extent of perceived challenge in learning and teaching science were explored for seven teachers and thirty-seven students in five secondary schools over a period of five months. Findings suggest that many secondary students are not challenged by the science they learn in school. Similary, many secondary science teachers are insufficiently challenged by the task of teaching. There are indications, however, that science teaching and learning attitudes and practices can be improved if teachers work to diagnose and change key classroom factors that influence level of perceived challenge in learning.     

Citizenship and Personal, Social and Health Education in Catholic Secondary Schools: Stakeholders' Views

During 1999–2000, the writer carried out a survey of six randomly selected Catholic secondary schools in England to examine the attitudes of stakeholder groups towards Citizenship and Personal, Social and Health Education. Questionnaires were completed by six governors, 12 parents, 139 pupils, 12 teachers and six school leaders, providing insight into perceptions of the purposes of selected components of Citizenship and Personal, Social and Health Education, viz. Citizenship Education, Moral Education and Sex Education. Drawing on Hornsby-Smith's (1996) definition of contrasting perspectives, which he characterises as 'Open' and 'Closed' Catholicism, the enquiry located attitudes of the stakeholder groups along a continuum of values. While there was evidence of consensus across stakeholder groups within each component, differences in attitudes were also identified. The results indicated that governors and school leaders adopt more 'Open' attitudes towards Citizenship Education compared with pupils, teachers and parents; that school leaders adopt more 'Open' attitudes towards Moral Education compared with pupils; and that pupils and teachers adopt more 'Open' attitudes towards Sex Education compared with governors. One conclusion is that these results demonstrate that, when traditional religious values are challenged by rapid social and technological changes, stakeholder groups in faith schools are faced with added tensions to resolve.     

‘This is a school,it's not a site’: Teachers' attitudes towards Gypsy and Traveller pupils in schools in England,UK

This article examines teachers' attitudes towards Gypsy and Traveller pupils in one primary and one secondary school in an inner‐London borough in England, UK. The research is based on in‐depth interviews with 20 teachers, heads, deputies and classroom assistants. The main aims of the study were to examine examples of ‘good practice’ in schools and to explore strategies that would improve the educational outcomes for Gypsy and Traveller groups. This article will argue that despite schools implementing inclusive measures for Gypsy and Traveller pupils, this alone does not encourage positive attitudes or change attitudes towards them. In some cases, such practices work to emphasise the difference and outsider status of these groups.     

The Relationship between Students' Connections to Out‐of‐School Experiences and Factors Associated with Science Learning

This study examined the relationship between students' out‐of‐school experiences and various factors associated with science learning. Participants were 1,014 students from two urban high schools (secondary schools). They completed a survey questionnaire and science assessment describing their science learning experiences across contexts and science understanding. Using multilevel statistical modelling, accounting for the multilevel structure of the data with students (Level 1) assigned to teachers (Level 2), the results indicated that controlling for student and classroom factors, students' ability to make connections between in‐school and out‐of‐school science experiences was associated with positive learning outcomes such as achievement, interest in science, careers in science, self‐efficacy, perseverance, and effort in learning science. Teacher practice connecting to students' out‐of‐school experiences was negatively associated with student achievement but has no association with other outcome measures. The mixed results found in this study alert us to issues and opportunities concerning the integration of students' out‐of‐school experiences to classroom instruction, and ultimately improving our understanding of science learning across contexts.     

The Environment for Values Learning

This study examines the impact of the environment on pupils' learning of values. The sample selected for the study was 14 secondary schools, 3 Mission and 11 government schools. In all, 3102 Secondary 1 and 2 pupils were involved in the study. The study adopted an 80% cut-off point as a decision rule for interpreting the data. Among the dimensions considered were teacher helpfulness, affiliation, peer relationship and cooperativeness, class learning environment, values of respect, trust and attitude towards school rules. The study found that sharing and caring, mutual respect between teachers and pupils and courtesy were not strongly represented. It also found a bias towards friendship over obligation to public morality. On the positive side, there was strong achievement orientation and a belief among pupils that teachers were helpful and interested in pupils.     

Stories about creative teaching and productive learning

The article is based on an empirical, interview‐based research project investigating resources and barriers to creative teaching within three Danish primary and secondary schools. The analysis shows how project‐oriented teaching does seem to represent a creativity oasis for both teachers and pupils. Furthermore, the work identifies a distinction between an art‐based and a problem‐solving approach to creativity, and it is suggested that teachers help pupils to work with the various different opportunities for creative learning represented by different subjects in school. Furthermore, a dilemma is pinpointed between the demand that teachers conform to centrally defined test systems, and the challenges facing our societies in relation to bringing up pupils and students who dare to take risks, challenge the existing order and create something new.     

Inclusive education for pupils with autistic spectrum disorders in secondary mainstream schools: teacher attitudes,experience and knowledge

The aim of the current study was to examine the experience, attitudes and knowledge of school staff in relation to inclusive education for pupils with autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs) in mainstream secondary schools. Fifty-three participants from 11 secondary schools in the north-west of England completed a survey that covered socio-demographic information and teaching experience, perceptions of inclusion within their school, experience and knowledge of ASDs, influences on integration of pupils with ASDs, ability to cope with behaviours associated with ASDs and benefits and problems associated with integration of pupils with ASD in mainstream schools. Respondents tended to indicate positive attitudes towards inclusion. Our analysis also showed that senior managers and Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators reported greater self-efficacy in teaching pupils with ASD and in coping with behaviours associated with ASD than did subject teachers. Finally, respondents reported social inclusion as both a potential benefit and challenge for pupils with ASD. The implications of these findings for future training and practice are discussed.     

Educational dialogues and the fostering of pupils' independence: the practices of two teachers

If the purpose of an educational system is to guide pupils towards achieving independence, then certain conditions about the design and conduct of that system must be met. In this paper, those conditions are formulated from a socio‐cultural perspective on learning and development. This paper examines the extent to which those conditions were fulfilled by teachers judged ‘good’ by their pupils and by school management in a case‐study in two Montessori secondary schools. Because discourse is assumed to play a central role when pupils work on assignments with the teacher assisting them, dialogues occurring in various teaching‐learning situations were analysed. The types of language genre used by the teachers and pupils were found to be important characteristics of the ongoing dialogues. The main results were that ‘good’ teachers excel in the adoption of a personal approach to pupils, but they work much more intuitively than systematically or deliberately to stimulate pupils' development of higher mental functions.     

Who dares to disconnect in the age of uncertainty? Teachers’ recesses and ‘off‐the‐clock’ work

In 1999, all student teachers at secondary I level at the University of Bern who had to undertake an internship were asked to participate in a study on learning processes during practicum: 150 students and their mentors in three types of practicum participated—introductory practicum (after the first half‐year of studies), intermediate practicum (after two years of studies) and final practicum (after three years of studies). At the end of the practicum, student teachers and mentors completed questionnaires on preparing, teaching and post‐processing lessons. All student teachers, additionally, rated their professional skills and aspects of personality (attitudes towards pupils, self‐assuredness and well‐being) before and after the practicum. Forty‐six student teachers wrote daily semi‐structured diaries about essential learning situations during their practicum.

Results indicate that in each practicum students improved significantly in preparing, conducting and post‐processing lessons. The mentors rated these changes as being greater than did the student teachers. From the perspective of the student teachers their general teaching skills also improved, and their attitudes toward pupils became more open. Furthermore, during practicum their self‐esteem and subjective well‐being increased. Diary data confirmed that there are no differences between different levels of practicum in terms of learning outcomes, but give some first insight into different ways of learning during internship.     

Affiliation to school: measures and interventions

The degree of affiliation which pupils develop towards their schools is an important factor in their engagement and success. It has also been a matter of concern at the time of transfer from primary to secondary school. This article describes the development of a brief method for identifying the degree of affiliation which pupils feel, and also identifying any points of concern. Data from 670 pupils in a London secondary school is reported. Concerns about pupils’ experience of transfer are often addressed through interventions which are teacher-centred. An account is given of a pupil-centred intervention to improve affiliation, and its apparent long-lasting effects. There also seems to be an improvement trend over years, reflecting the school’s paying attention to this theme.     

Self‐Initiated Art Work and School Art

This article deals with the forms and contents of self‐initiated art works: the kind of learning that takes place in the production of self‐initiated art works as well as the relationships with school art. We interviewed 52 Dutch students (aged between 10 and 14) from different schools of primary and secondary education, and their art teachers. The students showed examples of their home art as well as their school art. Based on interviews and the works presented, four main categories of self‐initiated art works can be distinguished: applied art, popular culture, personal experience and traditional art. Learning outside school is partly incidental and informal (learning by doing, copying), but involves intentional learning as well. Students are aware of the differences in style, materials and themes between their spontaneous, self‐initiated art work and the work they are required to make in school. Moving the domain of self‐initiated art into schools may jeopardise it, but art teachers should neither ignore nor dismiss it. They should be aware of children's self‐initiated visual culture and relate to it in their lessons.