Vilken kurs är mest intressant?

: Gymnasieelevers inställning till Biologi 2 och Kemi 2 med fokus på ämnesomsättning

Abstract

As a future teacher in biology and chemistry in high-school it’s interesting to investigate students' attitude towards these courses. Is there a parallel between students' interest in a course and what they experience is a difficult course? To make a comparison, the study has been done based on the metabolism in Biology 2 and Chemistry 2. The purpose has been to find out what influences the high schoolers' interest in Biology 2 and Chemistry 2, and what course they find most difficult. It has also been to investigate how students describe the metabolism in both courses. The study corporate what teachers think that the students have answered on these questions. The study has been conducted through individual qualitative interviews with 20 high-school students and two teachers from a science program. The result showed that 94% of the students felt that Chemistry 2 was difficult and uninteresting. Chemistry included parts that students had difficult to relate to and to connect to their everyday lives. Biology 2 was described as more interesting as the course easier connected to their everyday life. The students' descriptions of the metabolism in both courses differed. The students described the area from the digestion of nutrients in biology, but from the respiration in chemistry. The study has given new knowledge of high-school students attitudes towards Biology 2 and Chemistry 2. To find out why the students have described the metabolism differently in both courses and why Chemistry 2 is considered a difficult course, further research is required.