Student voice on education in KS4 Science

This paper considers what students thought encouraged or discouraged their engagement with Science education. It is based on a small-scale study of students’ and teachers’ views on what they liked and disliked about science education in school and the impact of science on their daily lives. It was carried out in two schools, InnerCity and SmallTown, in the Midlands of England in 2010-11. The study used a linked case studies design to collect quantitative and qualitative data by online questionnaires and face to face semi-structured interviews from 83 14-16 year old male and female students and their science teachers. Quantitative data was analysed manually by simple descriptive statistics. Qualitative data was analysed thematically manually. Students’ identified four main factors that encouraged their engagement with science education: working with friends and socialising, learning new and interesting things in interesting ways, and working with supportive and enthusiastic teachers encouraged by the school. The last was supplemented by the encouragement of peers and families. Future job opportunities offered extrinsic, if aspirational rewards for engagement with learning. The factors fit loosely into two main categories, that related to the construction of knowledge and that connected with interpersonal relationships.