Public understanding of science and the out-of-school scientific experiences of grade 11 learners

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study is an exploration of the outside the classroom scientific experiences of Grade11 learners, as indicators of their interests, public understanding and engagement withScience and Technology.The out of school scientific experiences, interests and feelings of being informed aboutscientific issues, debates and developments of male and female grade 11 learners aredescribed and then compared to ascertain significant differences.This investigation departs from the hypothesis that science teaching and learningfocuses more on concepts, laws, principles and formulae with very little reference toscience-related public issues and everyday life experiences of the learners.Gender differences and motivational traits related to the students' preferences forparticular types of learning activities and needs are not considered in science curriculumplanning and design and also in classroom teaching. This leads to boredom anddiminishing interest in science among learners.The study analyses data from a survey of a sample of five schools with two hundred andtwenty five Grade 11 learners. Tables of descriptive findings, analysis of variance andpost-hoc comparison of means to analyse and interpret data from the learners are used.The researcher finds that generally learners have never had the scientific experiencesdescribed or seldom engage themselves with scientific activities, issues and debatesbeyond classroom science. Learners expressed interest in scientific issues anddevelopments but indicated that they were not informed about such issues anddevelopments. The results of significant differences showed that the outside the schoolscientific experiences, levels of interest and being informed of male and female Grade 11learners differed.The study has implications not only for science curriculum planners and designers butalso for science teachers and further research in the field of public understanding ofscience.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University