What is the students’ interest in biology after the biology curriculum modification?

ABSTRACT

Decreasing interest in Science among students, confirmed by several investigations, calls for the need to revise the contents of the curricula for Science subjects, including Biology. Modern Biology curricula should not only contain key biological concepts but also provide a teacher with sufficient space to develop students’ competencies of scientific work and positive attitudes to Science. When preparing the curriculum, it is necessary to consider also students’ interest in selected curriculum topics and their benefit for everyday life. The objective of our research was to identify whether the performed transformation of the Biology curriculum for elementary schools increased the students’ interest in Biology and the contents thereof. We were also investigating students’ preferences in their interest in Biology topics and their interest in selected teaching methods and approaches. Our research confirmed the positive interest in Biology among majority of students who prefer direct, active participation in the process of knowledge acquisition through the study and exploration of living organisms as well as by the execution and assessment of practicals and experiments.

KEYWORDS:

• Biology curriculum
• interest in biology

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency [grant number APVV-14-0070].

Notes on contributors

Elena Čipková

Elena Čipková, PhD – assistant professor, is currently working as a lecturer at the Department of Didactics in Science, Psychology and Pedagogy, Faculty of Natural Sciences of Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia. She lectures courses Technique and Didactics of Biology School Experiments and Digital Technologies in Education. She is an expert in curriculum design and textbook writing. Her research experiences are in the areas of biology education, educational system and education technologies.

Štefan Karolčík

Štefan Karolčík, PhD – a university teacher, head of Department of Didactics in Science, Psychology and Pedagogy, Faculty of Natural Sciences of Comenius University in Bratislava. His research experience is in the areas of educational system and education methods, specialist in digital technologies and the implementation thereof in the teaching and learning processes. The author and publisher of several original musical CD's, interactive multimedia encyclopaedias and specialised program applications. He also consulted as an expert in curriculum development, textbook writing, teacher education and development with institutions and schools in Slovakia.

Natália Dudová

Natália Dudová, Mgr – holds a Mgr in the Department of Didactics in Science, Psychology and Pedagogy, Faculty of Natural Sciences of Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia. Her research experiences are in the areas of biology education.

Soňa Nagyová

Soňa Nagyová, PhD – assistant professor, is currently working as a lecturer at the Department of Didactics in Science, Psychology and Pedagogy, Faculty of Natural Sciences of Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia. Her research experiences are in the areas of biology education.