Science Interest: Review of Related Literature
Hasni (2015) studied “Student’s Interest in Science and Technology and its Relationships
with Teaching Methods, Family Context and Self-Efficacy”. In order to explore students’ interest
towards S&T, we developed and validated a questionnaire that simultaneously takes into account 18
components (general interest in school-S&T, utility of school-S&T, teaching methods preferences,
perceived importance and preference for school-S&T with respect to other school subjects, etc.).
The questionnaire was administered to 1,882 students from grades 5 through 11 (seven grade
levels). Findings indicate that: a) students show a high general interest in S&T and a preference for
student-centred teaching methods rather than teacher-centred ones; however, few of them
perceive the utility of school-S&T for everyday life, want to spend more time doing S&T in school or
intend to pursue S&T related studies or careers. Grade level differences appear to be important
while gender differences are weak; b) in terms of school subjects, perceived importance and
preference order, S&T seem to occupy an intermediate position; the preference order is not,
however, similar to the perceived importance order. The latter, and therefore the role of S&T in
school, appear to be strongly influenced by its status or its social value given in the curriculum; c) the
analysis based on correlations and regressions propose some important predictors of general
interest towards S&T. The results highlight, among other things, the importance for school to
intervene on certain factors that promote the development of students’ interest in S&T. For
instance, 1) to affirm the importance of S&T right from the beginning of elementary school, 2) to use
teaching methods that allow students to establish links between what they learn in school and their
lives, as well as methods centered on students’ development of inquiry processes, 3) to promote
cultural activities related to S&T, and 4) to promote a positive development of self-concept through
quality schooling.
Toli & kallery(2021) studied “Enhancing Student Interest to Promote Learning in Science:
The Case of the Concept of Energy”. This paper presents an intervention aiming to promote
students’ learning by enhancing their interest in the concept of energy. Junior high school students’
learning and interest is evaluated after engaging in activities on work and energy. The intervention
integrated hands-on and simulated experiments included a structured series of guided investigative
tasks and whole-class discussions. The intervention was delivered to an experimental group
consisting of 110 junior high school students. The control group consisted of 96 students of the same
grade level, where students were taught about energy in the traditional sense, i.e., via the standard
textbook. Written tests were then handed to all students to assess their learning outcomes. The
results showed that the learning outcomes of students in the experimental group were significantly
better than those of students in the control group. A notable increase in interest from students in
the experimental group compared to that of the control group was also observed. Findings also
showed a significant positive correlation between interest and academic achievement. This study
reconfirms that enhancing interest could lead to better learning outcomes and its evidence-based
methodology can be equally applied when introducing students to other difficult concepts of
science.
Darlington(2017) studied “Understanding and Developing Student Interest in Science: An
Investigation of 14-16 year-old Students in England”. The aim of this research was to investigate
what can be done to develop student interest in GCSE science lessons. Mixed methods were used to
develop an understanding, and allow comparison, of the views of groups of students and teachers.
Students were asked what they believed to be the purpose of learning science between the ages of
14-16, how interested they were, and what they believed could increase their interest, in science
lessons. A questionnaire was completed by 475 students and 11 teachers from four statemaintained
schools, in England, in the summer before the students started their GCSE studies. Lesson
observations and focus group interviews were carried out in one school over a period of two years.
Two classes of students completed a second questionnaire at the end of their GCSE studies to assess
their interest level. Student responses to the question generated six Interest Factors and four
Purpose Factors. There were minimal differences between the strength of agreement with these
factors from male and female students but significant differences in the responses of students from
different ability sets, a trend seen in all schools. There is a mismatch between the beliefs of teachers
and students as teacher responses mirror those of the students from the highest ability set only. The
findings also suggest a strong relationship between students’ levels of interest in science lessons and
their relationships with teachers. There are clear relationships between the level of interest a
student has and where they see the influence and responsibility for developing that interest lies,
whether with the student themself or with the teacher. Through subtle but significant changes to
pedagogy which incorporated the Interest and Purpose Factors, generated as part of this research, it
was possible to increase student interest in science lessons during the two years of study.
JIDESJÖ & DANIELSSON (2016) studied “Student experience and interest in science:
Connections and relations with further education”. Students’ problems with learning science in
school are well documented. Earlier studies report on differences in students’ interest in and
attitudes towards science due to gender and age. However, fewer studies have focused on relations
with experience and recruitment on a detailed content level. Present paper presents a statistical
analysis of student interest in specific content areas and combines this with student experience of
science and science-related activities outside school. The result shows that patterns of interest and
experience can be identified. These patterns showed differences in gender and also relate to student
preferences of upper secondary education. The results are presented on both a detailed content and
an experience level. The results are discussed in relation to the purpose of compulsory science
education. The study contributes to the discussion about a more relevant science education by
presenting concrete content and experience dimensions from a student perspective.
Krapp &Prenzel (2012) studied “Research on Interest in Science: Theories, Methods and
Findings” This article presents an overview of interest research and describes the theoretical and
methodological background for the assessment of interest in science in large-scale assessments like
the “Programme for International Student Assessment” (PISA). The paper starts with a short
retrospective on the history of interest, bringing out theoretical roots that help to understand recent
discussions on interest in science education. As interest is a widely used concept with manifold
facets, it is essential to discuss different ways of modelling the relationship between a person and a
comprehensive object like science with all of its different aspects, including wide ranges of content
as well as contexts. Models that can be used for describing the content structure of science interest
and the process of interest development are presented. Based on an overview of typical methods for
assessing interests, exemplary findings on students’ interest in science are presented which play an
important role in the current scientific debate. Finally, challenges for future research on interest in
science education are discussed.