Currently, for the vast majority, the experience of learning Science in school would appear to be less than satisfactory. The stark opening lines from the report of the high level group on Science education, ‘Science Education NOW’ (2007) read as follows:
‘In recent years, many studies have highlighted an alarming decline in young people’s interest for key Science studies. Despite the numerous projects and actions that are being implemented to reverse this trend, the signs of improvement are still modest. Unless more effective action is taken, Europe’s longer term capacity to innovate, and the quality of its research will also decline. Furthermore, among the population in general, the acquisition of skills that are becoming essential in all walks of life, in a society increasingly dependent on the use of knowledge, is also
under increasing threat’, (Rocard et al., 2007, p. 2).
A review of the relevant literature in this regard reveals a distinct difference between the experiences of students learning Science at primary level and subsequently at secondary level. At primary level, up to the age of 10, student interest in Science is high and this applies across both genders, (Haworth et al., 2007). By the age of 14, this interest has declined considerably, (Osborne et al., 2003). Such findings seem to suggest that students’ interest in pursuing further study in Science and/or following a Science -orientated career has largely been formed by this young age. It would also appear that the Science education curriculum at the end of primary school and at the beginning of secondary school fails to stimulate students’ interest in Science. In this context, an even more stark conclusion has been put
forward by Osborne et al., (2003) based on data compiled by Hadden and Johnstone, (1983):
‘In fact, Hadden and Johnstone’s data show no improvement in attitude towards Science from the age of 9 onwards, which leads to the speculation that, in some senses, school Science education might do more harm
than good!’ (p. 1060).
While the suggestion that ‘school Science education might do more
harm than good’ (p. 1060) is mischievous in the researcher’s opinion
and signals a misrepresentation of the views of Hadden and Johnstone (1983), the report recently issued by the OECD and entitled: ‘Evolution of Student Interest in Science and Technology Studies’, (2006) states quite clearly that while young children have a natural curiosity with regard to these subjects, traditional formal Science education can stifle this interest and lead to the development of negative attitudes towards the learning of Science. Significantly, this OECD report also identifies the crucial role of positive contacts with Science at an early stage. Clearly, a much greater effort needs to be made to ensure that the quality of Science education is of the highest standard throughout that critical period when students are transitioning into second level education and attempting to come to grips with a new education system. Such curricula should provide opportunities to engage with Science in varied, stimulating, enjoyable and gender-sensitive ways, as happens at the EUSO. What happens during Science education upon arrival into secondary schooling needs to be looked at. In Ireland Science in the Junior Cycle, even at the highest level, is popular with students but the drop-off in Chemistry and Physics in the senior cycle is considerable.
The link between lack of interest in the Sciences at an early age and the development of negative attitudes towards the learning of Science is evident in much of the literature on Science education. Though there is some evidence that children are developing negative attitudes
towards school Science while still in primary education, (Murphy and Beggs, 2001; Pell and Jarvis, 2001; Breakwell and Beardsell 1992; Doherty and Dawe, 1988), it would appear that, in most countries, children enter secondary school with a favourable attitude towards Science, but that this becomes diluted rather quickly and in particular on the part of girls, (Kahle and Lakes, 1983).
Again, a key issue here is the quality of Science teaching to which this age group is exposed. Woolnough, (1994) found that the quality of the teaching was a major factor in decisions to continue with Science beyond the age of 16. This finding essentially confirms Ebenezer and Zoller’s (1993) study of the attitudes of students of the same age. It also validates Haladyna et al’s (1982) study of ten to fifteen year old students’ attitudes towards Science. In each instance, these researchers found that the most important variable affecting students’ attitude was the kind of Science teaching they experienced. This would appear to have a less engaging quality when compared with the teaching of other school subjects, (Cooper et al., 1996). However, the issue of subject knowledge is also a determinant of effective teaching (Turner-Bisset, 1999) and this has been found to also apply in the case of teachers working in the US, (Tobin and Fraser, 1988). In Ireland, The Teaching Council’s commissioned report, ‘Learning to Teach’, (Conway et al., 2009) also connects teacher effectiveness with teacher knowledge.
A consistent finding in the literature (Martin et al., 2008) is the presence of predominantly negative attitudes with respect to Science education among secondary school students across the EU as they make their way through the second level system. Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), which measures the performance in Mathematics and Science of 4th and 8th grade students and provides reliable data on the link between level of self-confidence in learning Science and achievement in Science,
(Martin et al., 2000) shows that positive attitudes towards Science decrease between grades. According to the Index of Students’ Positive Attitudes towards Science (PATS), 4th grade students generally have positive attitudes (Baker and LeTendre, 2005). However, in three of the four EU countries where comparisons were possible, 8th grade students had considerably poorer attitudes towards Science than 4th grade students. This was especially true in Italy, where 78 % of 4th grade students and only 47% of 8th grade students had positive attitudes towards Science, (Martin et al., 2000). In countries where Science is taught as separate subjects, 8th grade
students’ attitudes to Biology were the most positive, but slightly less positive than to earth Science, Chemistry and Physics.
Other findings in the literature suggest negative links between student attitudes towards Science and student attainment. For example, an analysis of data from TIMSS, conducted in 1999, which measured both student attainment and student attitude, shows that the higher the average student’s achievement, the less positive is his/her attitude towards Science, (Ogura, 2006).
Equally worrying is the data from the “Relevance of Science Education” project (Sjøberg and Schreiner, 2010) which shows a 0.92 negative correlation between students’ attitudes towards school Science and the UN index of Human Development. Norway, which is at the top of this index, has the most negative results in terms of student attitudes to school Science. This has been interpreted as possibly indicative of a feature that is systemic to the nature of advanced societies. It is not insignificant that in more than 20 countries students’ responses to the statement ‘I like school Science
better than other subjects’ are increasingly negative the more
This researcher is of the opinion that such outcomes may perhaps reflect the bewildering proliferation of subject and career choices to which students in these countries typically have access: computing, languages, economics, business studies, psychology, sociology, theatre and film studies, journalism. Many of these have only come on stream during the past decade. EUSO team leaders from the former Soviet Bloc countries are also cognisant of an increase in the number of non-Science subjects and career options available to their students. In this regard, they report a decrease in the number of high achieving students taking Science, a development which they believe will have implications for their continued success in future international Science Olympiads, including and the EUSO and the IJSO.
Whitfield (1980) argues that the rejection of Science can be accounted for by the perception that it is a difficult subject. Others, however, suggest that peers and friends have a significant impact on the attitude of both boys and girls towards school Science, (Breakwell and Beardsell, 1992). This appears to be more pronounced between the ages of 11 and 14, (Simpson and Oliver, 1985). That there is a relationship between parental support and positive attitudes towards Science is also clear, (Simpson and Oliver, 1990). Moreover, students having a parent in a Science-related career have been found to be more likely to show a general interest in (and positive attitude towards) Science and to identify how it may be useful to them in the future, (OECD, 2007a).
The decline in the numbers studying science in secondary schools, the sharp decline in the numbers studying Chemistry and Physics and the steep decline in the number of girls in particular studying Chemistry and Physics in the Ireland and the EU was a motivating factor in establishing the EUSO.