Science in society or science in school: Swedish secondary school science teachers’ beliefs about science and science lessons in comparison with what their students want to learn

Abstract

This article presents comparisons concerned with secondary school science teachers’ and their students’ beliefs about science and technology and also what science content secondary science teachers teach and what their students want to learn. Student data are part of the Relevance of Science Education (ROSE) study and the teacher data are part of an extensive study carried out only in Sweden. The results indicate that both secondary science teachers and their students are optimistic about science and technology as essential parts of societal development. When content from these knowledge fields is considered for instruction, significant disparities exist between what teachers teach and what their students want to learn. Additional results concerning the secondary science teachers’ beliefs, ‘out-ofschool experiences’, ‘Science Technology and Society’ (STS) approaches and ‘inquiry-based instruction’ are pointed out as important for the development of science instruction in secondary schools. The results are discussed in the contexts of students’ voices and teachers’ beliefs.

Crossing Disciplinary Borders: Perspectives on Learning About Sustainable Development

“…Latour (1987) and Kolstö (2006) note that there is a risk when offering students 'pre-packed knowledge' in contrast to activities where their experiences and questions form the basis for learning. In their study, Oscarsson, Jidesjö, Karlsson and Strömdahl (2009) draw attention to the fact that students are interested and optimistic about the future, for instance, in technology as an important part of social development. In reality, however, the students' interest in these questions is not being met in their education.…”

Finnish Students’ Engagement in Science Lessons

“…A contradiction has been found between students' interest in science in general and in school science in particular (Osborne et al, 2003). Both teachers and students perceive the value of science and technology as essential aspects of contemporary society and the future which make our lives healthier, easier and more comfortable and our work more interesting (Oscarsson, Jidesjö, Strömdahl & Karlsson, 2009). At the same time, students consider school science uninteresting but acknowledge the value both of science itself and of different science subjects.…”

Biologisk mångfald i svenska läroböcker för skolår 6-9

“…Detta kan tolkas som att barn har stor potential att lära sig sådant som väcker deras intresse och kan undervisningen i biologi göras mer intresseväckande skulle också kunskapen om naturen kunna öka. Elever i tonåren rankar dock undervisning om växter och djur i närmiljön som tillhörande de minst intressanta områdena inom naturvetenskapen (Oscarsson, Jidesjö, Karlsson & Strömdahl, 2009;Schreiner & Sjøberg, 2004;Sjøberg, 2010). Att väcka elevers intresse för biologisk mångfald är därför en utmaning för dagens biologilärare.…”

“…Det första är att avgränsningen skulle varit svår om nyttoaspekter på biologisk mångfald skulle innefattat även inbördes nytta mellan olika organismer. Det andra är att studier visar att tonårin-gar rankar sitt intresse för naturvetenskap högre om den relateras till människan och mänsklig verksamhet (Oscarsson, Jidesjö, Karlsson & Strömdahl, 2009;Schreiner & Sjøberg, 2004). Det var därför intressant att se om detta avspeglas i författarnas stoffval.…”