Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T06:06:21.470Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Science Teachers’ and Senior Secondary Schools Students’ Perceptions of Earth and Environmental Science Topics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2014

Vaille Dawson*
Affiliation:
Science and Mathematics Education Centre, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Katherine Carson
Affiliation:
Science and Mathematics Education Centre, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
*
Address for correspondence: Professor Vaille Dawson, Science and Mathematics Education Centre, Curtin University, Hayman Rd, Bentley WA 6102, Australia. Email: [email protected]

Abstract

This article presents an evaluation of a new upper secondary Earth and Environmental Science (EES) course in Western Australia. Twenty-seven EES teachers were interviewed and 243 students were surveyed about the degree of difficulty, relevance and interest of EES topics in the course. The impact of the course on students’ views about EES topics was also explored. It was found that more than two thirds of the students chose to study EES because of personal interest. However, students perceived that some Earth science topics were difficult, boring or irrelevant. A lack of content knowledge from lower secondary science contributed to these perceptions. Nevertheless, teachers and students perceived that their understanding and attitudes towards environmental science topics such as climate change was improved. With the advent of a new Australian senior secondary science curriculum that includes EES, the implications of the findings for curriculum development and teacher professional development are discussed.

Type
Feature Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allen, P., & Bennett, K. (2008). SPSS for the health and behavioural sciences. Melbourne, Australia: Thomson.Google Scholar
Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2013). The senior secondary Australian Curriculum. Retrieved December 30, 2013 from http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/Senior_Secondary_Info_Sheet_-_KW.pdfGoogle Scholar
Ballantyne, R., Fien, J., & Packer, J. (2001). School environmental education programme impacts upon student and family learning: A case study analysis. Environmental Education Research, 7 (1), 2337.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ballantyne, R., & Packer, J. (1996). Teaching and learning in environmental education: Developing environmental conceptions. Journal of Environmental Education, 27 (2), 2532.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boyle, A., Maguire, S., Martin, A., Milsom, C., Nash, R., Rawlinson, S., Turner, A., Wurthman, S., & Conchie, S. (2007). Fieldwork is good: The student perception and affective domain. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 31 (2), 299317.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradley, J., Waliczek, T., & Zajicek, J. (1999). Relationship between environmental knowledge and environmental attitude of high school students. Journal of Environmental Education, 30 (3), 1721.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burg, K. (2003). Earth and Environmental Science: Where to from here? Science Education News, 52 (2), 6166.Google Scholar
Chang, C.Y., Chang, Y.H., & Yang, F.Y. (2009). Exploring secondary science teachers’ perceptions on the goals of science education in Taiwan. International Journal of Science Education, 31 (17), 23152334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chang, C.Y., & Weng, Y.H. (2002). An exploratory study in students’ problem-solving ability in earth science. International Journal of Science Education, 24 (5), 441451.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chapman, D.J. (2011). Environmental education and the politics of curriculum: A national case study. Journal of Environmental Education, 42 (3), 193202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Conservation International. (2007). Biodiversity hotspots. Retrieved December 30, 2013, from http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/Pages/default.aspxGoogle Scholar
Corbin, J., & Strauss, A. (2008). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Creswell, J.W. (2008). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (3rd ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.Google Scholar
Curriculum Council of Western Australia. (1998). Curriculum framework for kindergarten to Year 12 education in Western Australia. Perth, Australia: Curriculum Council of Western Australia.Google Scholar
Dawson, V.M., & Moore, L. (2011). Teachers’ perspectives of the new Earth and Environmental Science course: Lessons for the Australian curriculum. Teaching Science, 57 (1), 1927.Google Scholar
Elkins, J.T., & Elkins, N.M.L. (2007). Teaching geology in the field: Significant geoscience concept gains in entirely field-based introductory geology courses. Journal of Geoscience Education, 55 (2), 126152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jenkins, E.W. (2000). The impact of the national curriculum on secondary school science teaching in England and Wales. International Journal of Science Education, 22, 325336.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jenson, B. (2002). Knowledge, action and pro-environmental behaviour. Environmental Education Research, 8 (3), 325334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, C. (2001). The response of teachers to new subject areas in a national science curriculum: The case of the earth science component. Science Education, 85 (6), 636664.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Littledyke, M., Taylor, N., & Eames, C. (2009). Education for sustainability in the primary curriculum. Melbourne, Australia: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Mayer, V.J., & Armstrong, R.E. (1990). What every 17-year-old should know about Planet Earth: The report of a conference of educators and geoscientists. Science Education, 74 (2), 155165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merriam, S.B. (2009). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Metz, D., McMillan, B., Maxwell, M., & Tetrault, A. (2010). Securing the place of educating for sustainable development within existing curriculum frameworks: A reflective analysis. Canadian Journal of Environmental Education, 15, 150169.Google Scholar
Mittermeier, R.A., Robles-Gil, P., & Mittermeier, C.G. (Eds.). (1997). Megadiversity: Earth's biologically wealthiest nations. Mexico City: CEMEX.Google Scholar
Stake, R.E. (2000). Case studies. In Denzin, N.K. & Lincoln, Y.S. (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 134164). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Stevenson, R. (2007). Schooling and environmental education: Contradictions in purpose and practice. Environmental Education Research, 13 (2), 139153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, S. (2012). Drivers and blockers: Embedding education for sustainability (EfS) in primary teacher education. Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 28 (1), 4256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar