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The new Polish science curriculum was launched in the 2008 and currently is being implemented in upper secondary schools. The new general objectives of education, and students’ key competences that should be developed during science classes were defined in that document. Presented competences are in line with competences that might be developed by Inquiry Based Science Education (IBSE). IBSE is currently a popular instructional method in many countries and it is being strongly promoted by European Union. In the article the role of IBSE in the new Polish science curriculum is described and related to the method of ‘Independent Investigation to Acquire Knowledge’ that was formerly known in the national pedagogy. The article also presents results of a survey questionnaire that was conducted among Polish science teachers. The aim of the study was to measure the attitude of Polish teachers, pupils and society to IBSE. Based on the results the current position and degree of implementation of IBSE in Polish schools was estimated. Additionally the positive and negative factors affecting the implementation of IBSE were presented.

What is the image of research scientists in students’ minds? Studies in this area have been underway for more than fifty years and suggest that scientists are perceived as bespectacled men in lab coats, working alone in rooms full of basic lab glassware. This image has been derived mainly from the analysis of drawings, known as the Draw-A-Scientist Test (DAST). However, DAST instructions are based on the word, “scientists”, the meaning of which seems too narrow for today’s world and not reflecting the wide range of STEM-based research careers. Moreover, the instructions can predetermine the number and gender of people in the picture. For this reason, a new tool has been developed which provides an indirect analysis – the Indirect Draw-A-Scientist Test (InDAST). The new instrument was used in an experiment with secondary-school students (n = 851), and the resulting image of the scientist was compared with an earlier experiment that employed the original DAST instructions. The results showed that the basic attributes, appearance, and workplace of scientists are similar in both studies, but the new procedure disproved the theory that scientists are perceived as men working alone and that female students do not see themselves as scientists. Keywords: drawings analysis, gender and science, image of scientists, scientist stereotype, STEM careers.

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There is an increasing problem of a much smaller number of students in natural sciences or mathematics in Poland. The number of students is decreasing so dramatically that some courses are closed. Therefore, it becomes very important to look for the possible causes. The starting point for these considerations is the study on the image of a scientist. The image of a scientist and the factors that shape it have been the subject of research in various countries around the world for more than fifty years. The aim of the present research was to determine what the image of a scientist according to Polish students is. Additionally, the impact of the students’ age (in the range of 13-19 years old) on this image was analysed. The study involved 938 students of lower and upper secondary public schools from all over the country chosen randomly. The research was based on a questionnaire which was anonymous and community-based. The main questions were preceded by an enquiry about the respondent’s personal information such as gender, age, type of school they attend, and school locality. These data were needed for the analysis of such factors as, for example, the effect of gender. The obtained results showed that the image of a scientist according to Polish students is quite similar to the stereotype adopted by students from other countries. Contrary to some earlier reports, Polish students usually presented a scientist as a young person and paid more attention to personal safety equipment like a lab coat, gloves and goggles. It should be noted that this stereotype is quite archaic and is not associated with a real vision of a scientist. This lack of awareness may have an impact on shortage of students in the structure of science studies. Key words: Draw-A-Scientist Test (DAST), images of a scientist, stereotype of a scientist.