Natural Science Education as Seen by First-Year Students

Straipsnyje analizuojamas pirmo kurso studentų – būsimųjų pradinių klasių mokytojų požiūris į gamtamokslinį ugdymą vidurinėje bendrojo lavinimo mokykloje ir universitete. Siekiama atskleisti priežastis, lemiančias mažėjantį susidomėjimą gamtos mokslais bei nepakankamą visuomenės gamtamokslinį – technologinį raštingumą.Natural science training is one of the most important areas of general education which includes education of children of all ages. Trying to satisfy requirements of the society and all learners it is necessary to modernize the training of natural science pedagogues. Natural sciences are of great importance in helping students to form the concept of the world based on the knowledge of modern natural research, emphasizing the link between nature and society, as well as between nature and culture. It is necessary to increase and to improve the content of course curricula of primary school teacher training in the aspects of science. The paper presents research material. The investigation was carried out in three universities in different places of Lithuania – Šiauliai University, Vilnius Pedagogical University and Klaipėda University. All subjects (167) are going to acquire primary school teachers diploma. Summarizing the findings, the following conclusions can be made. In the 21st century one of the main problems of natural science education is the scientific-technological literacy of the society. According to the opinion of the students, they liked Biology and didn’t like Physics at school. The students, who had chosen primary education, distinguish themselves by a low natural science motivation. The respondents became more acquainted with Lithuania fauna than with flora or inanimate nature. The students understand the importance of integrated natural science education. 35.3% agreed that they needed the integrated natural science course at the university