Many studies have shown a decrease in scientific interest with an increase in age. Since interest is linked to a high degree of deep-level learning, it is of great relevance to foster interest in science. This study investigates interest in biology from 7th, 9th, and 12th grade students in Germany (N=257). Results show a significantly lower interest in 9th grade in comparison to 7th grade, but a significantly higher level of interest in 12th grade compared to 9th grade. This increase could potentially be linked to the fact that students can chose to continue taking biology in upper secondary education, which leads them to be more interested in the subject. In order to increase interest in 9th grade students, a one-day intervention in an out-of-school student laboratory was developed. During the intervention, students conducted hands-on experiments to investigate the field of bionics. Students in 7th and 9th grade (N=121) participated in the intervention. An increase in interest in biology was observed in both grades. This highlights the potential of out-of-school laboratories to foster and develop interest. Future studies should investigate if the same effect is achieved using in-school interventions as well as looking at possible long-term effects.

Schools have begun to face many challenges with the influx of recently immigrated students who are not able to speak the official language well enough to participate in class. To help integrate and accelerate language acquisition in German schools, these students are often enrolled in "international classes". Our project, "Biology for Everyone", teaches newly arrived secondary students science through the use of hands-on experiments. While addressing scientific content, students build new language structures and improve their German. Using 13 interviews, the concomitant research examines students' evaluations of the project in relation to science as well as language acquisition with a qualitative content analysis. Results show that students value this action-oriented approach as it helps them understand scientific concepts. Furthermore, they notice an improvement in their Germanand an increase in their science content knowledge. Therefore, such "international classes" should be considered for use in additional subjects in order to ease integration into the regular school system.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract