Marianne R Logan

The Impact of Teachers and Their Science Teaching on Students’ ‘Science Interest’: A four-year study

There is a crisis in school science in Australia and this may be related to insufficient students developing an interest in science. This extended study looked at changes in 14 students’ interest in science as they moved through junior secondary school into Year 10. Although the majority of these students still had an interest in science in Year 10, it had fluctuated for most students from year to year. The presence or absence of simple, but effective, teaching practices, identified by these students, seems to suggest one way to retain or improve situational and, it would appear, in several cases, personal interest.

Incorporating sustainability as a socio-scientific reality into science teacher education

School students often struggle to make the connection between school science and the real world. When students are provided with opportunities to see how scientific conceptual ideas are framed within socio-scientific issues that relate to their lives, such as climate change and sustainability, it is possible to illustrate how science is integral to their lives. This chapter critically considers the teaching of science concepts in everyday contexts to provide meaning and relevance to students’ learning. Two Australian case studies are outlined where pre-service teachers undertaking university science and technology teacher education worked with students in the primary school context. As part of this program sustainability was embedded into science education with an emphasis on the relevant socio-scientific reality of sustainability illustrating how students can be introduced to the notion of critical science agency in their everyday lives. Such agency can inform and empower students to think critically about these issues, share solutions and identify pathways for change in the future.