Changes in perceptions of science for third, seventh, and eleventh grade students

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING VOL. 22, NO. 4, PP. 347-358(1985)

CHANGES IN PERCEPTIONS OF SCIENCE FOR THIRD, SEVENTH, AND ELEVENTH GRADE STUDENTS

ROBERT E. YAGER and STUART 0. YAGER

Science Education Center, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242

Abstract

Similar results from four studies dealing with third, seventh, and eleventh grade students and their views of science teachers, science classes, usefulness of science study, and what it is like to be a scientist are reviewed and analyzed. The studies include the affective data from the 1977 NAEP report, the 1982 NAEP information, an Iowa follow-up study, and a study limited to one large school district. The analysis permits a synthesis of information on the failures of school science to affect student perceptions positively. Relatively few areas are identified which illustrate positive effects of science programs on students. Primary problems identified are: (1) science is less fun and exciting the longer students stay in school; (2) teachers are viewed as providers of information; the more preparation a teacher has and the more advanced the class, the less likely is a teacher ever to admit not knowing; (3) students do not feel more successful and/or more curious as they progress through a science program; (4) the school program does not provide increasingly accurate information and/or encouragement for science career choices.

The Third Assessment of Science by the National Assessment of Educational Progress which was released in 1978 included for the first time an extensive battery of questions in the affective domain (NAEP, 1978). Such new information proved a rich resource for much of the debate and research activity in science education which has raged during the past five years. It provided one of the databases for Project Synthesis which in turn has provided evidence and direction for the NSF-DEd staff study reported in 1980 (Hufstedler & Langenberg, 1980) as well as the work of the National Science Board Commission which issued its report late in 1983 (NSB Report, 1983).

The information provided from the 1977 testing provides much information that in turn poses questions. The original data have been reviewed and analyzed as new meaning and new explanations are sought (Harms, Bybee, & Yager, 1979). Yager has offered new comparisons and reviews of the 1978 reports (Yager, 1981; Yager 1982; Yager & Penick, 1983). Bonnstetter and Yager conducted a follow-up study in Iowa and later a study with a national sample with the NAEP items used for 9, 13, and 17-year-old samples (Yager & Bonnstetter, in press; 1983). Several extensions

01985 by the National Association for Research in Science Teaching Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. CCC 0022-4308/85/040347- 12$04.00

348 YAGERANDYAGER

using these items continue with work extended into several other nations and for various classes of students at the interface between secondary school and various forms of higher education.

In 1982 NSF funded a major project directed by Wayne Welch which was con- ceived as a means of updating the 1977 science assessment as a facet of the planned assessment in mathematics conducted by NAEP. This 1982 assessment of science included a sampling of both the achievement and affective items from the earlier science assessment. The report of this NAEP assessment was released in 1983 (Huef- tle, Rakow, & Welch, 1983; Rakow, 1983).

Yager and Yager conducted another study with a random sample of 450 9-, 13-, and 17-year-olds in a single large district in Iowa in 1983 (Yager & Yager, 1984; Yager, Yager & Bonnstetter, 1984). This study of a single district provided information concerning such attitudinal changes in a single setting with reasonable curriculum, teacher, socioeconomic, and instruction controls,

These reports make it possible to compare results across studies and to note changes that may have occurred over the five-year period. Differences in the four studies can be analyzed and discussed. Similarities can be noted; they provide a validation (for those occurring within the same time frame) and/or indicate lack of significant changes over the five-year period-a period marked with unusual concerns, activities, and problems in education generally and science education specifically.

The four studies which are used for this analysis include:

(1) the 1977 NAEP results for 9-, 13-, and 17-year-olds and adults (NAEP, 1978). (2) the 1982 NAEP results that used a sampling of the 1977 science items as a part of the

mathematics national assessment (Hueftle et al., 1983). (3) the 1982 Iowa follow-up study which utilized the common items from the 1977 NAEP

effort for which information for 9-, 13-, and 17-year-olds was available (Yager & Bonnstetter, 1983a, b).

(4) the 1983 Cedar Rapids study which utilized the same items from the 1977 NAEP efforts (as used in 3 above) (Yager & Yager, 1983, 1984).

Information for the National Assessments of Educational Progress is gathered from a stratified sample drawn from across the entire United States. The questions are all reviewed by education specialists (including science education, measurement experts, and school leaders). The questions are administered to probability samples where a total of 2500 persons are selected to represent each age level. For NAEP studies, four samples are used, namely 9-, 13-, and 17-year-olds and a young adult sample.

For the Iowa follow-up two samples were used; the first was a sampling provided by half the science consultants employed by the largest Area Education Agencies in the state. A total of 700 students participated in the all-Iowa pilot. Then science supervisors-all members of the National Science Supervisors Association-provided 1000 students at each level across the US for further data collection.

The Cedar Rapids study design included 450 randomly selected students from the three age levels in the district. Homerooms were selected at random for testing; numbers were reduced randomly to result in 150 respondents for each of the three grade levels.

This study is an analysis of the common results from the four studies, i.e., the 1977 and 1982 NAEP reports, the 1982 Iowa follow-up, and the 1983 Cedar Rapids

CHANGES IN PERCEPTIONS 349

study. Twenty-three items were selected from the four studies for analysis. These items were selected for use in one of four affective categories, namely:

(1) views of science teachers, (2) views of science classes, (3) views concerning usefulness of science study, and (4) views of what it is like to be a scientist.

The specific questions in each category included:

Science Teachers

(1) Does your science teacher ask you questions about science? (2) Does your science teacher like for you to ask questions about science? (3) Does your science teacher ever let you give your own ideas? (4) Does your teacher really like science? ( 5 ) Does your teacher make studying science exciting? (6) Does your teacher know a lot about science? (7) Does your science teacher admit to not knowing answers to your questions?

Science Classes

(1) Is your science class fun? (2) Is your science class interesting? (3) Is your science class exciting? (4) Is your science class boring? (5) Does your science class make you feel uncomfortable? (6) Does your science class make you feel successful? (7) Does your science class make you feel curious?

Usefulness of Science Study

(1) Are the things you learn in science useful to you when you are not in school? (2) Do you think that knowing a lot about science will help you in the future? (3) Do you feel that the science you study is generally useful to you?

Perceptions of Being a Scientist

(1) Do you think that being a scientist would be fun? (2) Do you think that being a scientist would make you rich? (3) Do you think that being a scientist would be a lot of work? (4) Do you think that being a scientist would be boring for you? ( 5 ) Do you think that being a scientist would make you feel important? (6) Do you think that being a scientist would make you lonely?

In a few instances information for the specific items had to be extrapolated from the 1982 data; in other instances there did not seem to be any useful data for the analysis in the 1983 NAEP final report. (In such cases asterisks appear in the tables.)

The specific questions for this analysis are:

350 YAGER AND YAGER

(1) What are the similarities and differences in the 1977 NAEP report and those reported for the 1982 NAEP, the Iowa study, and the Cedar Rapids study?

(2) What changes are apparent when the 1977 and the more recent information are compared?

(3) What generalizations are possible because of the information from the four studies concerning the effect of school science upon student attitudes? (a) What changes in perceptions occur during the nine-year span of the school years

(b) How do student perceptions of teachers, classes, the usefulness of science study, studied?

and views of scientists change and compare?

The results of the analysis appear in Tables I, 11, 111, and IV. Each table focuses on information from the four studies dealing with student perceptions of ( 1 ) science teachers, (2) science classes, (3) usefulness of science study, and (4) being a scientist. All numbers reported are percentages of total sample (included in the original studies) with such a perception.

Table I is a tabulation of the results from the four studies dealing with student perceptions about science teachers. It is readily apparent that students perceive their science teachers to be question askers. This is especially true in the case of the teachers of third graders where two-thirds (90% in the Cedar Rapids study) of the students report that their teachers ask questions frequently. This observation continues for seventh and eleventh grade teachers. However, the trend is for a decrease in ques- tioning. The two-thirds who characterize their teachers as question askers is reduced to under half for the eleventh graders in the two NAEP samples and just over half for the Iowa follow-up sample. The percentage for the Cedar Rapids sample falls from 90% of the third graders to 75% of the 1 lth graders with such a perception.

Table I also reveals that over half of the students at all three grade levels believe that science teachers like for them to ask questions in science classes. The percentage is fairly stable across grade levels. The Cedar Rapids samples were more convinced that their science teachers appreciated their own questions with 84% of the eleventh grade students reporting such a feeling.

Table I indicates that most (two-thirds or more) report that science teachers encourage them to share their own ideas in science classes. The percentages with such positive feelings remain fairly constant over grade levels in all studies except the 1982 Iowa follow-up study where students reported that secondary teachers (seventh and eleventh levels) were far less pleased for students to share their own ideas in science classes.

Table I lists student perceptions about their teachers’ “liking” of science. The number of students reporting such a feeling is barely one-third at the third grade level but (with the exception of the Cedar Rapids sample) this jumps to over three-fourths for seventh graders and over 80% for eleventh graders. Secondary teachers of science who generally have significant college preparation in the sciences (when compared to typical elementary teachers) display this “liking” frequently and openly.

Table I also provides information concerning teacher ability to make science interesting. Elementary teachers (over two-thirds of the time) are perceived to make science study exciting. This falls to just over half (only 30% for the Cedar Rapids sample) who report that their seventh grade teachers make science study exciting. The percentage drops below 50% for all four samples of eleventh graders. It seems that the better the science preparation of teachers the less ability they have to make science

CHANGES IN PERCEPTIONS 35 I

TABLE I Student Perceptions Concerning Their Science Teachersa

DESCRIPTION

Asks questions about sc ience

Likes you t o ask questions i n sc ience

Lets you g ive your ideas

Really l i k e s sc ience

Makes sc ience study exc i t i ng

Knows a g rea t dea l about science

Admits t o not knowing

Nine Year Olds

NAEP Iowa

77 02 02 CR

61 * 63 90

66 * 63 00

37 * 31 35

70 * 60 59

57 * 60 67

45 * 40 43

Thi r teen Year Olds

NAEP Iowa

77 02 02 CR

55 53 65 77

40 46 53 61

62 7 1 40 72

76 79 76 37

50 51 56 30

65 63 7 1 57

30 * 23 23

Seventeen Year Old8

77 02 a2 CR

~~~

45 42 54 72

73 71 42 73

01 a5 ao 7 1

40 49 45 45

79 81 00 74

17 * 15 19

“All figures represent total percentage of the four samples (N = 2500 at each level for NAEP N = 1700

*Items not asked and/or reported for 1982 assessment. for Iowa follow-up; N = 450 for Cedar Rapids study).

study exciting. As teacher preparation in science increases, student motivation and student excitement with “sciencing” decreases.

Table I reveals that large numbers of students perceive that their teachers know a great deal about science. Over 60% of the third grade students report their teachers to be very knowledgeable about scienceeven with teacher feelings of inadequacy and the general lack of significant science preparation. Nearly two-thirds of the seventh grade students report their teachers know a great deal; such perceptions increase to 80% for students in the eleventh grade.

Science teachers are perceived by their students as knowing answers to questions. However, third grade teachers far more frequently admit to not knowing. In fact, elementary teachers are perceived to admit to not knowing nearly half the time. This decreases to 20% for students in the seventh grade and well below 20% for eleventh graders. It is fair to observe that high school science teachers rarely admit to not knowing answers to science questions.

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TABLE I1 Student Perceptions of Their Science Classes" Nine Year

Old

NAEP IOWA

.DESCRIPTORS 77 a 2 8 2 CR

Fun 6 2 60 57 45

Interesting 8 5 8 2 8 6 7 4

Exciting 50 53 56 39

Boring 4 4 6 5

Makes me feel:

a) uncomfortable 5 6 6 9

b) successful 56 57 58 59

c) curious 56 4 3 4 8 6 0

Thirteen Year Old

NAEP IOWA

77 8 2 0 2 CR

4 0 3 3 4 1 12

40 4 2 5 2 5 6

46 4 3 4 4 10

31 27 26 24

55 36 2 0 14

3a 42 36 35

4 6 4 9 5 1 55

Seventeen Year Old

NAEP IOWA

77 8 2 a2 CR

27 27 28 21

45 39 43 5 9

51 4 8 49 16

19 18 41 38

53 4 3 22 24

2a 30 21 35

51 53 4 3 45

"All figures represent total percentage of the four samples ( N = 2500 at each level for NAEP; N = 1700 for Iowa follow-up; N = 450 for Cedar Rapids study).

Table I1 provides the summary information from the four studies concerning student perceptions of their science classes. Third grade students are more likely to describe science classes as fun. About 60% report such a perception. This figure drops to 40% for seventh grade students and down further to 25% for eleventh grade students. Science classes are reported to be less fun the longer students remain in school.

Similarly, science classes are reported as interesting for third grade students over 80% of the time. The percentage of students with such a perception drops below half for seventh graders and even lower for eleventh graders. This drop between seventh and eleventh grade does not occur in the Cedar Rapids sample as it does in the other three instances. Science classes are reported to be less interesting the longer students remain in school.

The information concerning student perception of their science classes as exciting is also interesting. Over half report their classes as such in the third grade. However, this assessment drops to less than half for seventh graders and increases once again to nearly half for eleventh graders. The Cedar Rapids sample is the exception in all categories; few seventh and eleventh grade students in Cedar Rapids report science classes to be exciting.

Few elementary students report science classes to be boring (only 5%). However, the number reporting such a situation increases to a number over one-fourth for seventh graders and to one-third for eleventh graders. Science classes are classified as boring by significantly more students in the secondary school than in the elementary school.

Scienct classes do not make third grade students feel uncomfortable. However, the number of seventh graders with such a perception increases noticeably and even more so for eleventh graders. Science classes make more students feel uncomfortable the longer they remain in school.


Nine Year Old

NAEP IOWA PERCEPTIONS 82 a2 CR

A. Useful Now in Daily Living 74 65 67 62

Future 94 94 92 a4 B. Useful in the

C. Generally Useful 74 75 7: 73

Thirteen Year Seventeen Year O l d Old

NAEP IOWA NAEP IOWA 77 a2 02 CR 77 82 82 CR

58 57 74 39 53 58 79 57

74 74 74 39 6 5 74 67 53

76 75 67 70 80 85 67 70

Science classes make well over half of the third grade students feel successful. Unfortunately, this figure decreases to one-third of the secondary students. Eleventh grade students feel only slightly less successful with their science classes than do seventh graders.

Science classes are perceived as places where about half the students are made to feel curious. The number of students reporting such a perception does not change appreciably across grade levels. However, there is a general decrease indicating that the typical school science program tends to make students less curious the longer they are enrolled.

Table 111 includes information concerning student perceptions of the usefulness of science studies. About two-thirds of the third grade samples report their science study to be useful in their daily lives. This number-although there is a slight de- cline-remains high as a perception for seventh and eleventh grade students. Inter- estingly, the number who believe that their science study will be useful to them in the future is much greater. Over 90% of the third graders have such a perception; this figure remains at nearly 74% for seventh graders and is also reported such for two- thirds of eleventh graders in the four studies. (The results with the Cedar Rapids sample again provide exceptions to the trends observed in the other studies.) However, it is fair to generalize that school science is perceived as useful-both now and in the future-by most students. The school is successful in imparting the perception of the . usefulness of science study.

Table IV provides information concerning student perceptions of what it is like to be a scientist. Significant numbers of students perceive that being a scientist would be fun. However, such perceptions are at about 60% for third graders, decrease to just under 50% for seventh graders, and are only slightly less for eleventh graders. The Cedar Rapids sample again provides the exception to the general trend where the percentage of third graders is much lower; it more than doubles for seventh graders; and then it decreases to a percentage less than for the third grade sample for eleventh graders.

Relatively few students feel that being a scientist will make them rich. However, the numbers with such perceptions increase in the secondary schools with little dif- ference between the seventh and eleventh grade students. Many elementary students

354 YAGER AND YAGER

NAEP IOWA

TABLE IV Student Perceptions of What It Would Be Like Being a Scientista

i

Nine Year Thirteen Year Seventeen Year O l d I O l d I Old

NAEP IOWA NAEP IOWA

Be Fun 64 60 37 20

Make You Rich 18 17 15 14

Be too much Work 60 67 1 1 25

Be Boring 67 72 12 43

Make You Important 68 66 27 32

Be Lonely 73 77 56 54

49 52 41 44 43 47 28 16

23 24 23 38 24 23 21 14

22 30 20 26 27 30 31 38

53 54 19 29 41 50 33 47

38 40 32 55 28 37 33 36

39 61 45 52 54 56 47 46 ~~~~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~

"All figures represent local percentage of the four samples ( N = 2500 at each level for NAEP; N = 1700 for Iowa follow-up; N = 450 for Cedar Rapids study).

perceive that being a scientist would be too much work; such an assessment is reported by about a fifth of the seventh graders and nearly a third of the eleventh graders.

Large numbers of the third grade students (over two-thirds) in the NAEP samples reported that being a scientist would be boring. Such numbers in the Iowa follow-up study and the Cedar Rapids sample were much lower. The numbers with such perceptions dropped to just over half for seventh graders and under half for eleventh graders in the NAEP samples and did not change dramatically in the Iowa samples. The numbers reporting on the degree that being a scientist would be boring present a confusing picture for the other samples.

Student perceptions concerning a scientific career making them feel important also produce some differences among the studies. In the NAEP studies third grade students frequently report such a perception (two-thirds of the time). The number of seventh graders with such a perception reduces to 40% and just over 30% for eleventh graders. Only about a third of the third graders in the other studies reported that they felt being a scientist would make them feel important. This percentage remains more constant across grade levels for these samples.

Many students reported that they felt being a scientist would be a lonely occu- pation. The number of third graders with such a perception was three-fourths in the NAEP samples-and over 50% for the other samples. These figures dropped foi seventh and eleventh grade students. However, all figures in all four studies remained at the 50% level for seventh and eleventh grade students.

General Synthesis. A review of the four studies and the four sets of data concerning student perceptions of their science teachers, science classes, the usefulness of science study, and what it is like to be a scientist across nine years of schooling provides some generalizations, some patterns, some concerns for science education. These include:

Science teachers are perceived as question askers; however, this perception decreases slightly as students progress from grade three through grade eleven. Similarly, teachers are perceived by their students as liking students to raise questions in classes.


Such a perception is fairly stable over the span of grade levels studied. Students also perceive their teachers (third, seventh, and eleventh grade levels) as liking them to share their own ideas in science classes.

Over 75% of secondary school students perceive that their teachers really like science (except for seventh grade teachers in the Cedar Rapids sample). Only a third of the teachers of nine year olds have such a perception.

Science teachers are perceived as making science exciting. The number of students with such a perception is greatest at the third grade; the number decreases for seventh grade students and falls below half for eleventh grade students.

Science teachers are perceived to know much about science. The number of students with such perceptions is 60% at the third grade, 65% at the seventh grade, and 80% at the eleventh grade.

Well over 40% of the third grade science teachers are perceived as willing to admit not knowing answers to science questions. This figure falls to just over 20% for seventh grade teachers and well below 20% for eleventh grade teachers. Secondary science teachers rarely admit to not knowing science content.

Science classes are seen as fun, interesting, and exciting for significant numbers of third grade students. The number of seventh and eleventh grade students reporting science classes to be fun and exciting drops dramatically-to well below half. In the case of designating science classes as exciting there are fewer dramatic changes in perception across grade levels.

Few third grade students report science classes to be boring. The number with such an assessment increases to over one-fourth among seventh graders and to nearly one-third among eleventh graders.

Few third graders report that science classes make them feel uncomfortable. Although there are few differences between the perceptions of seventh and eleventh graders, the number reporting science classes as making them uncomfortable is much greater than for third graders.

Third graders report that their science classes make them feel successful quite frequently (nearly 60% of the time); the number of seventh and eleventh graders with such perceptions declines dramatically.

The number of students at all grade levels who report that science classes make them feel curious is rather steady across grade levels. The number with such perceptions is about half.

Students generally perceive that their study of science in school is useful (about two-thirds with such a perception). Even more feel that their study of science will be useful in the future (about three-fourths with such a perception). School science is perceived by students to be very worthwhile.

The student perceptions of what it would be like to be a scientist present a mixed picture. There is no strong evidence that the school program affects such views. More third graders perceive a career in science to be fun than do secondary students. Al- though numbers are relatively small, more secondary students feel that being a scientist would make them rich when compared to third grade students. More elementary students feel that being a scientist would be too much work in the two NAEP studies than do secondary school students. The picture is equally mixed for student perception of scientific careers being boring and/or providing one with a feeling of importance. Significant numbers of students perceive science careers as lonely; over half of the students at all grade levels have such perceptions.

356 YAGERANDYAGER

There is little evidence that school science affects student attitude about science, science classes, science teachers, and science careers in any positive ways. There is some evidence that the school produces negative views; some of the situations where student perceptions become more negative over time include the following:

(1) teachers making science exciting, (2) teachers knowing the answers to all questions, (3) science classes being fun and interesting, (4) science classes making students feel successful and curious, ( 5 ) being a scientist perceived as a rewarding experience, (6) being a scientist seen as social enterprise.

Some areas where the school program is successful include:

( I ) encouraging student questions; (2) encouraging students to share their own ideas; (3) convincing students of the value of science study

(a) for better daily living, (b) for the future, and (c) in general.

In many respects the students have better perceptions concerning science, science classes, science teachers, the value of science, and what it is like to be a scientist in grade three than when they are in grade eleven. Some serious study and experimen- tation with curriculum, instruction, and goals are suggested by this study-the synthesis of four studies across nine grade levels dealing with science and the affective domain.

Some Analysis and Speculation. Elementary teachers often feel inadequate to approach science teaching in a similar manner to that which they experienced as students and hence prefer not to teach science at all. However, they are equipped to handle student enthusiasm, student questions, and student curiosity. They are often eager to seek out expert advice and information in response to student questions. Such actions are far better responses to student interest than following the curriculum outline-more often the textbook-as if it represents science. Secondary teachers of science have experienced more formal science instruction and are perceived as experts; however, they feel imprisoned with this experience and feel uncomfortable in any realm where they do not know the answers and/or have the knowledge needed to respond to student questions. Such dependence on previous experiencelknowledgel college courses/textbooks may be the primary cause for the negative affective outcomes reported in all of the studies analyzed in this report.

Perhaps success in college science courses merely provides boundaries for the study of science on the part of secondary students. The boundaries become the information a teacher knows or that which helshe learns from the textbooks selected for student use. Experience with college science provides secondary teachers with knowledge to present, enough knowledge for teachers to communicate “knowing much,” and the inability to admit not “knowing all” to handle student questions and curiosity.

Formal science instruction in high school and college tends to focus on information and understanding in the traditional disciplines. It is rare for any science class to encourage students to explore nature, to expand natural curiosity, to practice for-


mulating explanations of the questionshonconformities encountered, to devise tests concerning the validity of one’s explanations. Science content is almost always set by the course outline, the textbook, and/or the instructor’s lectures.. Successful students are often not the curious ones; instead they are the ones that master the information included on examinations. Examinations traditionally focus upon basic understand- ings, information per se, or simple operations. Teachers who experience success with science in such a way have no experience except to present science in similar ways to their own students. Such a system may be appropriate as students with the most and best knowledge are identified and encouraged to study science in more depth. However, it seems most inappropriate for helping all students understand the nature of science as they prepare for more effective roles in society generally. It rarely does anything to help teachers understand technology, its value to society, and its inter- dependence with science.

Teacher education programs need to be altered dramatically if the situation is to be remedied. There needs to be more focus upon the tentativeness of scientific knowledge, more focus upon the use of scientific knowledge, more stress upon the basic and multiple dimensions of science. A teacher education program too often consists only of experiences with an abundance of typical college science courses, a methods course which focuses on instructional and administrative trivia, and an internship in a school where the emphasis is upon mimicking a master teacher-one tied to successful practices with the age-old system of teaching those who aspire to science careers, i.e., those who learn the game of success with school science and those who will be encouraged to pursue such study further.

A successful science teacher at all levels may need to understand the basic features of science as a human enterprise better than many practicing scientists and/or college science instructors. Perhaps the elementary teacher who likes science may be closer to such understanding than the secondary teacher who has experienced many more traditional science courses but who has never thought beyond the courses, i.e., the information transmitted and the examinations used to assess success. Often the college science student who completes the standard curriculum-but who is not encouraged to pursue graduate training and a career in science-is “counseled” into teaching. After all they have “had” basic courses and what better use of the experience than transmitting it to high school students! Perhaps a program of pre- and inservice teacher education is needed that defines the discipline of science education broadly and focuses upon the general education function of the K-12 schools as opposed to the vocational one, that of preparing more scientists and engineers in as short a time as possible. Perhaps science teachers are needed who want first to be teachers-not persons who have experienced science courses less successfully than others and who are looking for some way of using their knowledge and experience.

The NAEP affective results and the related follow-up studies all suggest that typical science instruction as viewed by large representative samples of third, seventh, and eleventh grade students is in need of serious attention. No one can be pleased with student views of science teachers, classes, the value of school science, or what it is like to be a scientist. The school program does little to improve such views; often it seems to worsen student impressions. Much of the renewed interest in and support for K-12 science education should focus upon the problems with the affective outcomes of instruction that are so depressing. If instruction were improved and if the affective outcomes could be improved, more persons might elect to pursue formal

358 YAGERANDYAGER

study of science with more interest, understanding, and commitment than the current system produces. Such new directions could produce graduates from secondary schools better prepared for citizenship in a technological/scientific age as well as for entrance into collegiate programs leading some to careers in science and technology.

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