MAXIMISING ACADEMIC ATTAINMENT AND PROMOTING POSITIVE ATTITUDES TOWARDS GCSE SCIENCE

STEVEN DAWSON

CONTEXT

HISTORICAL DATA – A LEVEL UPTAKE

Data for numbers of students examined in physics, chemistry and biology from 1990 to 2000 in England and Wales at A-level (Data provided by UK Examination Boards and HMSO.) Figure presented in Osborne et al. (2010)

HISTORICAL DATA - ATTAINMENT

Highlights the change in the percentage of students that pass science GCSE’s over a 20 year period. Data taken from JCQ

Moor et al. (2006)

Science Related Degree

Biology Degree

Chemistry Degree

Physics Degree No Science Degree

Science Teacher's Qualifications

EFFECTIVE SCIENCE TEACHERSLarge scale study involving 132 heads of science and 1210 sixth formers concluded that good teachers had;• High level of subject loyalty• Specialist knowledge in the discipline• Able to set scientific concepts into everyday contexts

Woolnough (1994)

It is only possible to develop an effective Pedagogical Content Knowledge once the teacher has acquired a strong Subject Content Knowledge

Child and McNicholl (2007)Teachers with lower Subject Content Knowledge tended to asked more closed questions at a lower cognitive ability

Hasweh (1987)

DELIVERY OF THE GCSE

Teacher Teaching Preference Term 1 Term 2 Term 3

A Biology Biology Biology/Physics Physics/revision

B Chemistry Chemistry Chemistry/Physics Physics/revision

Teaching begin the year by delivering their preferred subject before changing to their less preferred subject

The Department5 biology, 4 chemistry, 3 physics

6 groups set by ability

RESEARCH QUESTIONSPremise - An effective science teacher should foster positive attitudes towards science and maximise academic attainment

Q1) To what extent are the students’ attitudes towards each of the science’s influenced by their teachers’ preferred discipline?

Q2) To what extent is the students’ academic attainment in the external exams related to their teachers’ preferred discipline?

METHODOLOGY (MIXED-METHODS CASE

STUDY)

KEY CONCEPT - ATTITUDE

Observed Inferred Observed

Attitude is best viewed as a set of affective reactions towards the attitude object, derived from concepts of beliefs that the individual has concerning the object, and predisposing the individual to behave in a certain manner towards the object

Ramsden (1998)

QUESTIONNAIRES

Section B - Cognitive

Biol

ogy

Chem

istr

y

Phys

ics

1. This subject the most enjoyable

2. This subject is the most interesting

3. This subject is the most relevant

4. This subject is the easiest

5. This subject is the most fun

Section A - Affective

FINDINGS(ATTITUDES)

STUDENTS ATTITUDES

STUDENT’S RESPONSES“there is too much biology. We had 5 lessons a week”

Student A (GCSE)

“Biology was a joke. It was so much fun (teacher) showed us this video and it was awesome……. I am scared about the exams though sir. Will you teach me biology”

Student B (GCSE)

“I don’t think the teacher’s went beyond the syllabus but that’s fine…….. it’s so close the exams it’s more important to prepare for them”

Student C (AS level)

“It’s more about covering the syllabus in term 2.” “We learned it like a script”

Student D (AS level)

A LEVEL RETENTION

LocationNumber of students studying subject

Biology Chemistry Physics

National 63939 51818 35569

National

(scaled)19 15 11

School 19 10 14

FINDINGS(ATTAINMENT)

CONCLUSIONS

CONCLUSIONSQ1) To what extent are the students’ attitudes towards each of the science’s influenced by their teachers’ preferred discipline?

- Intrinsic resilient preference (affective and behavioural) towards biology rather than physics or chemistry

- Curriculum more relevant? - More options post 16?- Seen as easier?- More Biology present outside of school?

Q2)To what extent is the students’ academic attainment in the external exams related to their teachers’ preferred discipline?

- No significant link- Teaching pedagogy influenced by proximity to examinations

FURTHER RESEARCH• What can physics teachers learn from biology teachers to

enhance retention onto A level courses?

• How can biology and chemistry teachers better embed recall knowledge within their students?

• Comparative investigation into the experiences of the fast track triple and regular triple award science students

REFERENCES• Eagly, A. H., and Chaiken, S. (1993) The psychology of attitudes: Wadsworth Cengage

Learning• Hasweh, M. Z. (1987) Effects of subject-matter knowledge in the teaching of biology and

physics, Teaching and Teacher Education, 3(2), 109-120.• Kind, V. (2009) A Conflict in your Head: An exploration if trainee science teachers’

subject knowledge development and its impact on teacher self-confidence, International Journal of Science Education, 31:11, 1529-1562.

• Moor, H., Jones, M., Johnson, F., Martin, K., Cowell, E., and Bojke, C. (2006) Mathematics and science in secondary schools The deployment of teachers and support staff to deliver the curriculum (Department for Education and Skills Research Report No 708). Slough, UK: National Foundation for Education Research. Website: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/RR708.pdf. (Accessed: 4th November 2013)

• Gardner, P. L. (1975) Attitudes to science, Studies in Science Education, 2: 1-41.• Osborne, J., Simon, S., and Collins, S. (2003) Attitudes towards science: A review of the

literature and its implication. International Journal of Science Education, 23(8), 847-862• Woolnough, B. E. (1994) Effective Science Teaching, Open University Press,

Buckingham, Philadelphia

THANK YOU FOR

LISTENING

TEACHERS RESPONSES“I like teaching about temperature. I bring in my pots and pans from home and show them how I cook my dinner”

Teacher A

“The human body section of biology is really easy to teach. The kids can relate to the subject and we can have fun with it”

Teacher B

“I don’t mind teaching any of the sciences, I just need more time to plan my lessons”

Teacher C

Gender is probably the most significant variable related to pupils’ attitudes to science

(Gardner, 1975, p.22)Children need to be taught by specialist [science] teachers. Teachers’ qualifications predict teaching quality and are the second greatest predictor of performance in physics after pupil ability. (Campaign for Science and Engineering in the UK Opinion Forum cited in Kind 2009, p.3)

KEY CONCEPT - ATTAINMENT

Measured by student performance in standardised external examinations in biology, chemistry and physics.

More narrower concept that achievement but allows for objective data to be gathered

THE CHANGING FACE OF SCIENCEDeclining popularity of studying physics, biology and chemistry

Gender bias towards females studying biology and males studying physics

National Curriculum“Broad and balanced curriculum”

Education reform act 1988

Science

BiologyChemistryPhysics

CHALLENGES OF DEFINING AN ATTITUDE TOWARDS SCIENCEAttitude is not directly observable but contributes to by many sub-constructs with varying weighting (Gardner 1975)

• The perception of the science teacher• The value of science• Enjoyment of science• Disposition towards scientific careers• Science outside of school

Kind et al. (2007)

ATTITUDE AND ATTAINMENTInfluenced by contextual factors;• Gender• Social class• Ethnicity• Parental profession

Smith (2003)

Gender is probably the most significant variable related to pupils’ attitudes to science

Gardner (1975)

The best milk comes from the most contented cowsFraser (1982)