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Research in Science Education, 1996, 26(3), 283-298 Students' Perceptions about Science: The Impact of Transition from Primary to Secondary School Wendy Speering and l_Aonie Rermie Curtin University of Technology Abstract As students move through school, attitudes to school in general, and science in particular, become less positive. This paper reports on a longitudinal study which mapped, from the students' point of view, the transition between primary and secondary school in Western Australia. The study focused on the subjectof science, and used both quantitative and qualitative methods. During the transition, there is a considerable change in the organisation of the school, the curriculum and the teacher- student relationship. Students in this study, especially the girls, were generally disenchanted with the teaching strategies used in their secondary science classrooms, and regretted the loss of the close teacher-student relationship of their primary school years. Their perceptions were that science in secondary school was not what they had expected, and this experience may have long term implications for their subject and career choices. In Western Australia, students move from primary school to secondary school at the end of year 7, when most students are 12 years old.This study has been designed to map the transition between primary and secondary schoolfrom the students' pointof view, focusing on the subjectof science.The purpose is to illuminatethe way thistransition impacts on the way studentsthink about, learnand enjoy scienceatschool.The paper begins by establishingthe importance of the transitionpcriod and describesthe changes in school organisation, curriculum and teacher-student relationshipsthatoccur at this time. Attitudes to School The findings of several Government and other reports into the education of young adolescents in Australia (Eyers, 1992a, 1992b; National Board of Employment, Education and Training [NBEET], 1992, 1993a, 1993b) indicate that as students move through school, their attitudes to school in general become less positive. One of the most influential reports focused on South Australian government schools. The students in the middle years [of schooling], of approximate ages 10-15 and typically in school Years 6 to 9, make up a definite developmental group, where rapid physical, social, emotional and intellectual changes occur .... There are clear signs of social alienation and lack of educational success among these students to the extent that their education and positive development is of real concern in a number of countries, including Australia (Eyers, 1992a, p. 16). In response to findings such as these, a Project of National Significance was initiated by the Commonwealth government in 1994 entitled Student Alienation During the Middle Years of Schooling. There have been other large Australian studies which confirm that there is reason for concern. For example, in a study of nearly 16,000 students in Queensland, Victoria and New South Watds, Ainley (1995) found that students in secondary schools had less favourable attitudes to school than primary school students. This was particularly the case for curriculum-related aspects, such as the students' perceptions of the relevance of schooling and confidence in their ability to be successful at school. Students' general satisfaction with school and their interaction with teachers dipped markedly in the early and middle secondary years. Social attitudes changed the least from primary to

Students' perceptions about science: The impact of transition from primary to secondary school

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Page 1: Students' perceptions about science: The impact of transition from primary to secondary school

Research in Science Education, 1996, 26(3), 283-298

Students' Perceptions about Science: The Impact of Transition from Primary to Secondary School

Wendy Speering and l_Aonie Rermie Curtin University of Technology

Abstract

As students move through school, attitudes to school in general, and science in particular, become less positive. This paper reports on a longitudinal study which mapped, from the students' point of view, the transition between primary and secondary school in Western Australia. The study focused on the subject of science, and used both quantitative and qualitative methods. During the transition, there is a considerable change in the organisation of the school, the curriculum and the teacher- student relationship. Students in this study, especially the girls, were generally disenchanted with the teaching strategies used in their secondary science classrooms, and regretted the loss of the close teacher-student relationship of their primary school years. Their perceptions were that science in secondary school was not what they had expected, and this experience may have long term implications for their subject and career choices.

In Western Australia, students move from primary school to secondary school at the end of year 7, when most students are 12 years old. This study has been designed to map the transition between primary and secondary school from the students' point of view, focusing on the subject of science. The purpose is to illuminate the way this transition impacts on the way students think about, learn and enjoy science at school. The paper begins by establishing the importance of the transition pcriod and describes the changes in school organisation, curriculum and teacher-student relationships that occur at this time.

Attitudes to School

The findings of several Government and other reports into the education of young adolescents in Australia (Eyers, 1992a, 1992b; National Board of Employment, Education and Training [NBEET], 1992, 1993a, 1993b) indicate that as students move through school, their attitudes to school in general become less positive. One of the most influential reports focused on South Australian government schools. The students in the middle years [of schooling], of approximate ages 10-15 and typically in school Years 6 to 9, make up a definite developmental group, where rapid physical, social, emotional and intellectual changes occur .... There are clear signs of social alienation and lack of educational success among these students to the extent that their education and positive development is of real concern in a number of countries, including Australia (Eyers, 1992a, p. 16).

In response to findings such as these, a Project of National Significance was initiated by the Commonwealth government in 1994 entitled Student Alienation During the Middle Years of Schooling. There have been other large Australian studies which confirm that there is reason for concern. For example, in a study of nearly 16,000 students in Queensland, Victoria and New South Watds, Ainley (1995) found that students in secondary schools had less favourable attitudes to school than primary school students. This was particularly the case for curriculum-related aspects, such as the students' perceptions of the relevance of schooling and confidence in their ability to be successful at school. Students' general satisfaction with school and their interaction with teachers dipped markedly in the early and middle secondary years. Social attitudes changed the least from primary to

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284 SPEERINGANDRENNIE

secondary school. Rosier and Banks (1990) also found that over 9,000 Australian students participating in the Second International Science Study (SISS), enjoyed school less at the lower secondary level (school Years 8 to 10) than at the upper primary level (school Years 4 to 6).

Concern for the decline in positive attitudes of students to schooling as they move through the grades is not confined to Australia. Baumert (1995) used a longitudinal study of 9,400 year 7 students in Germany to confirm his assumption that interest in all school subjects declines as adolescents become more involved in developing a social identity. Midgely, Feldlaufer and Eccles (1989) accept that there is a general negative trend in attitudes towards school among young adolescents in the USA. Anderman and Maehr (1994) undertook a review of major research findings in the USA which showed that students' altitudes toward school in general decrease as they get older, with all academic domains affected. The decline can have devastating effects. "For some children, the early adolescent ~ars mark the beginning of a downward spiral in school-related behaviours and motivation that often lead to academic failure and school dropout" (Eccles, Lord, & Midgely, 1991, p. 521). There is evidence of both a gradual decline in academic motivation, such as lower school attendance and less attention paid in class (Eccles et al., 1993), and more specific deterioration in learning areas such as mathematics and English (Wigfield, Eccles, MacIver, Reuman, & Midgely, 1991).

Attitudes to Science

It is not surprising, then, that many studies on the specific subject of science have found that attitudes generally become less positive as students progress through the schooling system. In Australia, various studies have concluded that students' interest in, and enjoyment of, science decline sharply during the secondary school years (Baird, Gunstone, Penna, Fensham, & White, 1990; Baird & Penna, 1992; Baird, 1994; Rosier & Banks, 1990; Schibeci, 1984). Similar results have been reported in the USA (James & Smith, 1985; Kahle & Rennie, 1993; Mullis & Jenkins, 1988; Simpson & Oliver, 1990; Yager & Yager, 1985). In addition to the general trend of declining attitudes to science among students as they progress through school, there is much evidence that the decline is greater among girls, especially in the so-called 'hard' sciences, such as physics (Keeves, 1992; Linn & Hyde, 1989; Weinburgh, 1995). However, girls show more positive attitudes towards school in general than do boys (Kotte, 1992).

Attitudes During Transition

Studies in the US and Australia show that positive attitudes towards science decrease throughout the school years, with the most dramatic change occurring during the transition from the primary to the secondary system (Baird & Penna, 1992; Eccles, 1989; James & Smith, 1985; Linn & Hyde, 1989; NBEET, 1993c; Parker, 1984; Yager & Yager, 1985). At the end of their primary school years, students have a great deal of enthusiasm for science and its activities (Baird et al., 1990; NBEET, 1993c), but far fewer students express the same enthusiasm for secondary science (Rosier & Banks, 1990).

So it seems that the transition between primary and secondary school in Australia, perhaps more than at any other period of schooling, is a time when positive attitudes to science decrease sharply. The decline in motivation towards science during the early years of secondary school is particularly disturbing as it is likely to have enduring effects for the students' futures. It appears that it is in the first andsecond year of secondary school that attitudes to the pursuit of science subjects and careers are formed (Anderman & Maehr, 1994; Department of Industry, Science and Technology [DIST], 1995). The implications for girls may be even more important, as fewer girls than boys enrol in the physical sciences in the latter years of secondary school (Dekkers, DeLaeter, & Malone, 1991).

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STUDENTS' PERCEPTION ABOUT SCIENCE 285

Changing Schools

Why is it that the enthusiasm for science with which students leave primary school is dampened so quickly in the early secondary school years? The transition from primary to secondary school is marked by major changes in school organisation, the curriculum and its implementation. Primary school students typically stay in one room with the same teacher for most of the school day. In contrast, at the secondary level, students move from room to room and usually have a different specialist teacher for each subject, often as many as six in a day. The rigid timetable of the secondary school discourages integration across curriculum areas, and allows little flexibility to follow students' interests. As the classroom teacher is usually responsible for most of the educational and social development of all students in the class (Prouse & Smith, 1995), these organisational differences have clear implications for the teacher-student relationship. In terms of the science curriculum and its implementation, the changes between primary and secondary school are especially striking, because science in Western Australian primary schools is usually activity-based and student-centred, providing a strong contrast with daily science lessons which are teacher-centred and content-driven in secondary school.

Teacher-student Relationships

As a consequence of the different organisational structure, it is generally agreed that the cooperative and caring culture of the primary school has little in common with the more academically oriented, fragmented and competitive climate of the secondary school (Eyers, 1992a; Eye,s, 1992b; N'BEET, 1992). Similar problems are reported in Canada and the USA by Hargreaves and Earl (1994), Eccles et al. (1993) and Harter, Whitesell and Kowalsld (1992). These researchers described primary schools as having more personal and positive teacher-student relationships and more student involvement in decision making than secondary schools. They suggested that alienation from the schooling process can occur when students move to the more subject-fragmented orientation of the high school (Hargreaves and Earl (1994) use the metaphorical term "Balkanization" for this fragmentation) where there is less collaborative and cooperative work between students, and between students and teachers. Gallagher (1994), Houtz (1995), and Midgely, Feldlaufer and Eccles (1989) draw attention to the importance of teacher-student relationships, concluding that these deteriorated after the transition from primary school to high school, with a detrimental effect on students' motivation.

Curriculum

There is considerable evidence that the science curriculum in Australian secondary schools is driven by the perceived need to impart knowledge to students. According to a recent study in Western Australia (Chadbourne, 1995), the high school curriculum is dominated by university entrance requirements. Secondary students work from text books and cover the prescribed content of science units which have a long list of very specific objectives explicitly linked to student assessment (Rennie & Parker, 1993). In contrast, the primary syllabus contains four pages of general concepts to be covered during the eight years of pre-primary and primary school and exhorts the teacher to be flexible as "specific content is not specified for primary science" (Education Department of Western Australia, 1984, p. 5 I). Generally, primary classes participate in science activities for approximately an laour each week, although integration with other subjects could extend this time. Secondary students would normally be timetabled for more than three hours a week of science lessons.

These differences are reflected in teachers' ideas about teaching science. Rennie (1984) found that primary teachers considered students' attitudes to science to be more important than knowledge,

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286 SPEERINGANDRENNIE

and Ferguson (1991) found that the reverse was true for secondary teachers. Primary teachers made curricular decisions based on subject integration and the needs of the students, whereas secondary teachers were content-driven, and saw themselves as information givers (Gallagher, 1993). While most primary school students liked doing schoolwork and thought that the curriculum was interesting, the implementation of the science curriculum was seen as uninteresting and irrelevant by students in Australian secondary schools (Cumming, 1994; Department of Employment, Education and Training ['DEE-T], 1992; DIST, 1995). Both girls and boys can be deterred from taking science classes by the decontextualised approach to science used by many teachers (Klein & Ortman, 1994).

Teaching Strategies

Primary science is typically hands-on and aims to "give practice in problem-solving skills" (Rennie, 1984, p. 49). In Western Auswalia, "for primary school children science is a way of learning about themselves and their environment through first hand experiences, inquiry and problem solving" (emphasis in original) (Education Department of Western Australia, 1984, p. 3). One of the most recent and popular programs for primary science in Australia has, as some of its major features, an emphasis on hands-on activities, cooperative learning in small groups and a constructivist instructional model (Australian Academy of Science, 1994).

At the end of primary school, students believe that science will become more exciting at secondary school because of the specialised knowledge of the teachers, the sophisticated resources available, and the prospect of a more challenging curriculum. Victorian students expect it to be "active, interesting and fun" and especially look forward to "doing experiments, dissections, investigations and projects" (Baird et al., 1990, pp. 12-13). However, the reality of secondary school science appears not to meet these expectations. Baird et al. (1990) noted the disappointment of students beginning secondary school. They felt as if they just copied notes or watched demonstrations, and were not given any "real work." The students expressed their disappointment at the lack of activities, the amount of notetaking, listening to lectures, and the irrelevant topics (Baird, 1994; Baird et al., 1990). Students in Tasmania believed that "deterioration in the relationship between student and teacher, stemming from classroom management, lesson presentation and disciplinary measures" and too much emphasis on "chalk and taltd' resulted in poor behaviour due to boredom (DEET, 1992, p. 8). Western Australian high school principals maintain that the tertiary selection requirements influence even the early years of secondary school, so that teaching "tends to be a headlong rush through the crowded curriculum with little time for higher order thinking skills" and "suffers from excessive content, bookishness, individualism, competitiveness, didacticism, force feeding, conformity and traditionalism" (Chadbourne, 1995, p. 4).

In a study of grade 10 students in British Columbia, Ebenezer and Zoller (1993) found that the kind of science teaching which students experienced was the most important factor in forming their attitudes towards science. The students liked student-directed explorations and studying science issues which related to their everyday life. They particularly disliked notetaking, working from textbooks and memorising. Baker and Leafy (1995) found similar results when talking to Year 8 and Year 9 students in the USA. Tobin (1987) reported that laboratory activities in secondary schools, both in Western Australia and the USA, ''tended to be of a cookbook type with little opportunity for students to plan investigations or to interpret results. The emphasis was on collecting data" (p. 41). This contrasts sharply with the degree of independence which primary students enjoy when devising ways of answering a problem (Dawson & Shipstone, 1991).

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STUDENTS' PERCEPTION ABOUT SCIENCE 287

Purpose of the Study

The objective of this study was to increase understanding of the effect of transition between primary and secondary school on students' attitudes to, and perceptions about, science, including their career choices. The study focuses on the consequences for students of changes in school organisation, particularly as they affect the teacher-student relationship and the implementation of the curriculum.

The study adopted an essentially qualitative approach to follow closely the students' experiences and reflections on their experiences during the critical period of transition. In particular, the teacher- student relationship and the teaching strategies used to implement the curriculum were examined so that their importance in shaping students' attitudes towards science could be assessed. Thus the study is consistent with Krockover and Shepardson's (1995) suggestion that gender equity research in science education can only advance by focusing on "a more holistic image of education in which researchers investigate the interplay among the learner, the teacher, and the nature of the curriculum, instruction, and assessment" (p. 223).

Method

The study employed a longitudinal design and followed two groups of students from Year 7, their final primary year, into secondary school. To some extent, the fast group in Year 7 during 1993 served as a pilot study for the second, larger group who were in Year 7 in 1994, by identifying issues which could be examined more closely in the second group. Further, comparing the findings from the two consecutive groups provided an opportunity to test the consistency of the conclusions drawn.

Data were collected at two levels: first, case studies of individual students using mainly qualitative data, and second, at a broader level, both qualitative and quantitative data were collected from the cohorts of the case study students. It was intended that the case studies would provide the fine-grained detail necessary to describe and interpret the changes associated with transition, while the qualitative and quantitative data from the case study cohorts would allow these interpretations to be placed in context.

The quantitative data consisted of students' responses to a questionnaire and an attitude survey. The questionnaire was used to select the case study students. It consisted mostly of open-ended questions about the students' experiences of primary science, its perceived relevance, the teachers' relationships with the students, gender issues, achievement, and their expectations of secondary science. There were some items which required only a yes/no answer, such as "Do you enjoy science activities?" Other questions were more open ended, such as "What do you like best about science?" The questionnaire used for the second group of students was modified to include more items about the teacher-student relationship.

Semi-structured interviews were the main qualitative data source for the case study students. Each interview was audio-taped (with permission), transcribed, and then analysed in order to find areas of focus for the next interview. Field notes were taken during the lesson observations, and were referred to in interviews with the students. All interviews and observations were undertaken by the ftrst author.

The attitude survey consisted of items concerned with students' interest in, enjoyment of, and enthusiasm for science, whether students would like to pursue careers in science, their perceptions of .their own ability in science, and their views on the need for girls to do science. This survey was adapted from one that was used with Year 8 science students in a school in Western Australia (Webster, Rigden, Medcalf, Heward, & Lovit't, 1994). Students were asked to respond on a four-point scale ranging from "Not at all" to "Almost Always" to questions such as "How much do you enjoy

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288 SPEERINGANDRENNIE

science.~' Other questions, Iike "One day, I would like to work in a job that lets me use what I learned in science," used a four-point scale from "Disagree a lot" to "Agree a lot."

First Study

In the 1993 academic year, the study involved 16 students from one government school in a middle class, suburban area in Western Australia. The students were in their final year of primary school, and, with their parents' permission, had volunteered to take part in the research. Six of these students were chosen for case studies because they had indicated in the questionnaire that they had aspirations for a career involving science and had enjoyed science at primary school. The selected group included one boy and five girls, chosen partly because the research indicated that girls' attitudes to science seem to be particularly affected during their schooling and partly because there were more girls in the group from which the sample was chosen. In 1994, three of the students attended the local government secondary school, one student attended a government secondary school in another district, and two students (including the one boy) enrolled in private schools. Throughout the first two years of their secondary schooling, they were interviewed (together with their parents) at intervals of six months, and also completed an attitude survey each year.

Second Study

In the 1994 academic year, ten students (seven girls and three boys) were selected for case studies in their final year of primary school in a similar manner as in the first study. They were representative of year 7 students in three primary schools (including the one used in the pilot study) in a middle class suburban area. Students who were very enthusiastic about science were chosen for the case studies because the literature base suggested attitudes would decline and thus the potential for change in their attitudes would tend to be greater, and possibly the reasons for the changes would be more transparent. Each case study student also intended following a career path which involved studying science.

Six of these students planned to attend the local government secondary school, while the other four expected to enrol in other schools. The six students at the local school (five girls and one boy) were investigated more closely throughout the study with data sources including surveys, semi- structured interviews and lesson observations. One of their secondary school science teachers was also interviewed. Figure 1 illustrates the longitudinal design of the study and the timing and nature of the data collection.

Results

Questionnaire

The questionnaire, which was expanded after the first study, was completed by 78 students in their last year of primary school in the second study. Only three students four percent felt that their teacher was not interested in what they did in science, and all but three "undecided" students stated that their primary science teacher related well to most members of the class. Primary school science actiyities were enjoyed by 96% of the students. When asked what they liked best about science (see Table 1), by far the most frequent response to the open-ended question was hands-on activities and experiments, which were mentioned by 82% of students. Eighty eight per cent of students thought that the science they were learning in primary school was useful to them, and 84% believed that what they learned in science would help them to get a job.

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STUDENTS' PERCEPTION ABOUT SCIENCE 289

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290 SPEERING AND RENNIE

Table 1 Student Responses to the Question: What Do You Like Best About Science?

Student responses Percentage of year 7 students (n=78)

Hands-on activities and experiments

Discovering and learning new things

Specific topics

82

13

14

Nearly all students (90%) wanted to study science at secondary school, 78% thought they would enjoy it, and 15% of students were unable to decide whether they would like it or not. The 61 (78%) students who expected to enjoy science at secondary school were asked why they thought so. The most common response was that it would be exciting, enjoyable and fun (22%), followed closely by the reasoning that because they had liked science in primary school, they expected to continue liking it in secondary school (19%). Other answers were that better equipment would be used (15%); there would be lots of experiments (15%); it would be different (13%); and harder and more challenging (10%). Five students (6%) had heard from others that secondary school science was interesting. Overall, these students were very positive about their experience of science in primary school, and were expecting to continue to enjoy it when they proceeded to secondary school.

Attitude Survey

The survey was administered to 71 Year 7 students in 1994, and then 147 Year 8 students (including most of the previous year's sample) completed the survey the following year. The results for three questions relating to interest, enjoyment and careers are illustrated in Table 2. Generally students were less interested in the science work they were doing in Year 8 than they were in Year 7. This is particularly striking for the girls whose positive responses dropped from 66.6% in Year 7 to 54.7 % in Year 8. There is a noticeable decrease in the enjoyment of science from Year 7 to Year 8 for both boys and girls, with the boys responding more positively than the girls on both occasions. Similarly, the career aspirations of the students are less likely to include science after they have commenced secondary school, with the boys again remaining more positive than the girls.

Table 2 Percentage of Boys and Girls in Years 7 and 8 Responding Positively to Questions About Science

Girls Boys Total

Item Year 7 Year 8 Year 7 Year 8 Year 7 Year 8 (n=42) (n=84) (n=29) (n=63) (n=71) (n=147)

Interested in the science work 66.6 54.7 58.6 55.6 63.4 55.1 they are doing

Enjoy science 57.2 48.8 65.5 54.0 60.5 51,0

Would like to have a career which uses science 59.5 42.9 65.5 49.2 61.9 45,5

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STUDENTS' PERCEPTION ABOUT SCIENCE 291

The difference between students' attitudes before and after transition was considerable. Consistent with the results from the questionnaire, the attitude surveys indicated that most primary school students involved in the study were enthusiastic about science, and were looking forward to secondary school science. However, these positive attitudes to science decreased in the ffust year of secondary school. The girls in particular became less interested in science.

Interviews

The students in the first study who were selected for case studies were interviewed at the end of primary school, twice during their fast year of secondary school, and again half way through their second year of secondary school. The case study students in the second study were divided into two groups on the basis of which secondary school they attended. Both groups were interviewed at the end of primary school. The six students attending the local high school were interviewed three times during their first year of secondary school. Before each interview, observations were made of three of each student's science lessons. The four students in the second study who attended other high schools, were interviewed at the end of the first semester in their first year of secondary school. Figure 2 contains a summary of the interview schedules for each of the groups.

Response to school change. When they moved into year 8, all of the students from each group generally enjoyed the greater personal independence of secondary school, and the freedom to socialise with a larger group of friends. They were all positive about their school experience. One of the most common reasons given was the increased opportunity to meet people.

Kym: Pretty good.... Moving around is a lot better than just sitting there. And there are also more students to get to know. (Beginning of semester 1, year 8)

Natalie: It 's good. I like changing around subjects and not having the same teacher all the time, and you meet lots of people. (Beginning of semester 1, year 8)

Attitudes to Science

The case study students were selected because of their enthusiasm for science. This was reflected both in the questionnaire responses and in the interviews recorded at the end of Year 7. However, the evidence from the attitude survey (see Table 2) indicated that their attitudes to science declined in year 8, and the interviews provided some reasons for this.

By the middle of their fast year at high school, 6 of the 16 interviewed students liked science more than in primary school; 3 liked it about the same; and 7 were enjoying it a lot less than in primary school. When asked why they liked science more in secondary school than in primary school, the six students whose attitudes had become more positive all commented on the amount of practical work that occurred in their science classes.

Sue:

Elizabeth:

Michael:

We do mostly practicals and stuff like that .... Usually we do write-ups of practicals and that's all, but we don't really take any notes from her. (Middle of semester 1, year 8)

In primary school we didn't do experiments every day like we do now. (Beginning of semester I, year 8)

Because we do a lot more experiments than we did in primary school. (End of semester 1, year 8)

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292 SPEERING AND RENNIE

Year First study Second study Second study

Students: Students at local school: Students at other schools: Kristy Teresa Natalie Sue Rochelle Karen Melissa Sara Elizabeth Kym Michael Ralph Jane David Kath Grant

1993 End of semester 2 (year 7)

1994 End of semester i (year 8)

End of semester 2 End of semester 2 End of semester 2 (year g) (year 7) (year 7)

1995 End of semester I Beginning of semester I End of semester 1 (year 9) (year 8) (year 8)

Middle of semester 1 (year 8)

End of semester 1 (year 8)

Figure 2. Interview schedules for students in the first and second studies.

The students who enjoyed science less at high school expressed the view that taking notes, working out of the book and listening to lectures were very common in their science lessons, and that it was very boring.

Teresa: My science teacher, we don't really get along. It's probably because we do mostly lecturing, and it's pretty boring. (End of semester 2, year 8)

Kym: We've been doing for the last three weeks, just notes, notes, notes, and we haven't, like all the other classes, every single time, with Mr G [Elizabeth's teacher], have done an experiment, and we've done one, which we'd already done about ten times each before .... So a lot of the kids are getting a bit fed up with having to do notes every week. (Middle of semester 1, year 8)

Two of the students were in the same science class. Every other student had a different science teacher and consequently there was a variety of approaches to science teaching, and these different approaches are reflected in the students' comments~

Teaching Strategies

Observations of lessons revealed a wide range of teaching strate~es. Some teachers involved the students in practical activities in most lessons, but most preferred a more transmissive style, either lecturing to the students or expecting them to work from the text book for much of the time. Students' opinions generally favoured the more hands-on approach, and thus the implementation of the science

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STUDENTS' PERCEPTION ABOUT SCIENCE 293

curriculum in secondary school did not meet most students' expectations. They perceived it to consist mainly of note taking, working from a book and learning for tests. Further, the secondary school curriculum was perceived by some students to be less challenging than they expected, although this varied depending on the teacher.

Jane:

Teresa:

Rochelle:

Sometimes [we do] activities, but usually writing down from our books. (End of semester 1, year 8)

It's probably because we do mostly lecturing, and it's pretty boring, fEnd of semester 1, year 8)

Urn, yes, not all the time, they can be a bit tedious if it's just going through work and doing assignments or just sheets....We've done a lot of topics, always following the same format. We always just go through the book, and we always have revision at the end, and I think we have a test after every so many....I think I might grow to enjoy different parts of it. (Middle of year 8)

It was obvious that these students were disappointed in the way that secondary school science was being presented to them. They had little interaction with their teachers during science lessons and did mostly bookwork. In contrast, the comments of Sue, Elizabeth and Michael (quoted earlier) who were doing more practical work in their classes, were more positive in their attitudes towards science.

Teacher-student Relationship

The student interviews from both the ftrst and second study samples revealed that the most important change during transition for these students was the altered teacher-student relationship. This was the factor mentioned most frequently by students when they started secondary school, and they found it difficult to deal with initially. The close teacher-student relationships formed in the primary school could not be developed in the secondary school because each teacher had much less time with each class. Only three of the interviewed students felt that the teacher-student interactions in the science classroom were more positive than in primary school, while the other 13 were disappointed at the lack of personal attention.

Sue:

Natalie:

Ralph:

Yeah, like in primary school they'd always be following you up on every single subject you did, and now the teacher sort of stays at the front of the class. (End of semester 1, year 8)

He doesn't, like walk around and ask people questions and everything like that. He just stands out the front and does what he has to do. (End of semester 1, year 8)

The teachers don't know you as well [as in primary school] because they only teach you for a few hours a week. fEnd of semester 1, year 8)

When asked to choose and give reasons for their favourite subjects at secondary school, all of the girls gave the reasons for their choices as liking the teacher, or having a "good" teacher.

�9 Kym:

Kath:

Probably English because I've got Mr C - he's a cool teacher. (Beginning of semester 1, year 8)

English or phys-ed, because I like phys-ed. I like my English teacher! (Beginning of semester 1, year 8)

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294 SPEERING AND RENNIE

Natalie: Probably theatre, beo_ o~e it's l~e really easy .... [The teacher] is really nice. She's not like a teacher, more like a friend. (Beginning of semester 1, year 8)

In contrast, the boys were more likely to mention that the subject was interesting or useful than they were to mention the teacher.

Grant:

Ralph:

Righf now because we're doing new things, I really like design and technology .... Then probably things like maths, science, English and social studies. They're pretty important. (End of semester I, year 8)

Art, and then probably phys-ed....It's interesting to learn about and not boring, fEnd of semester 1, year 8)

The results indicated that the attitudes of the girls to school subjects were related slrongly to their perceptions of the teacher-student relationship, but for boys, the interest level of the subject was more important than the teacher.

Career Choices

Although few students felt that an unpopular teacher would prevent them from studying a subject if they felt it was vital to their future, several students had changed their career choices, or had become less sure of their long term goals. For example, Jane was becoming uncertain about her early choice of a career in medicine.

Interviewer:. You want to be a Doctor, don't you?

Jane: I'm not sure, but I 'm going to keep my options open. I don't know....Or I might try and be a lawyer. (End of semester 2, year 8)

Kym and Kath were also rethinking their plans for science-related careers.

Kym: I was thinking about being a proper scientist who goes on to find a cure AIDS or cancer and stuff. (Middle of semester I, year 8)

Kym: I don't know what I want to be. I 'd kind of like doing something creative. I want to write, or draw, or make something with clay. (End of semester 1, year 8)

Kath: I love animals, but I don't want to have to give them needles, or put them down, and everything. I want to do something friendly with them. (Beginning of semester 1, year 8)

Kath: I've changed my mind, and now I want to be a journalist. (End of semester 1, year 8)

Discussion

The data from the questionnaire, attitude survey, and interviews all indicated that the students in this study were more enthusiastic about science at the end of primary school than they were early in secondary school, a trend which confirms the findings in the literature. Although students generally enjoyed the social interaction of secondary school, there was considerable disenchantment with the nature of the teacher-student relationships and teaching strategies used in science classrooms, even among this sample of initially enthusiastic students. The general decline in attitude towards science

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of this cohort of students appears to be at least partially connected with the less positive teacher- student relationship experienced in their secondary school science classrooms. Students, especially girls, frequently mentioned the nature of their relationship with their teachers when justifying why they did or did not like science.

The expectations of the year 7 students (as shown in responses to the questionnaire) were that secondary school science would be exciting, fun, hands-on and challenging. Many of those students who had enjoyed science in primary school expected that they would continue to enjoy it for those reasons. Instead. most students in this study were generally bored with their science lessons, and had failed to create a strong relationship with their science teachers. The reality was, that for many students beginning secondary school, science lessons involved lectures, note-taking exercises or working from a text. The enthusiasm for science with which these students had entered secondary school seems to have been somewhat dampened by this and the unexpected boredom which followed. The results of this study suggest that if it is desired that students maintain their enthusiasm for science, the science curriculum in Western Australian secondary schools, and its implementation, need to be reviewed.

Although these findings are derived from students in only three primary schools in a middle class area, they are consistent with other reports in the literature, particularly the longitudinal study by Baird and Penna (1992). The early years of secondary school appear to be the critical time when students make decisions about subject and career choices, so it is vital that the excitement about science with which students enter secondary school should be built upon by offering them a science program which is suited to young adolescent students. It would appear that both the content of the curriculum and the pedagogy of science teachers needs to change so that students can actively participate in a more relevant and interesting science program in their early secondary years. However, even if this were to occur, the cta-rent organisation of secondary schools may need to be reconsidered in order to allow for better teacher-student relationships to develop, an important factor in the establishment of interest in a subject, especially for girls. It is interesting to note that this is one factor receiving particular consideration in an experimental middle school in Western Australia (Prouse & Smith, 1995).

A notable, but unsurprising, outcome of this study is that the teacher-student relationship, the curriculum, and its implementation are all found to be inter-related, so that when considering the reasons for the changes in students' attitudes to science during the transition from primary to secondary school, no aspect should be considered to act in isolation from the others. Each of these factors makes an important contribution to the experiences of students learning science at school. Further research will need to be cognisant of all of these variables, as taking one or other of them out of context will provide only a partial, and possibly misleading, understanding of how students think about science.

Correspondence: Wendy Speering, Curtin University of Technology, GPO Box 1987, Perth, Western Australia, 6001, Australia. Interact email: rspeerin @ cc.curtin.edu.au

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