Teaching geology in primary and secondary schools in the Czech Republic - professional and lay public opinion survey

The objective of the thesis was to perform a research about opinions of professional and general public on teaching geology in Czech elementary and secondary schools using paper and electronic questionnaires. The purpose was to evaluate the current state of education based on personal experience of those who learned geology at school and also to bring ideas about its possible future form. In introduction the work sums up history of teaching geology in our country and describes the current state and ongoing reform of education. The main part deals with the actual research and assessment of replies gained from the questionnaires. Respondents' experience with teaching geology is also included, i.e. evaluation of their geology education and use of acquired knowledge and requirements for teaching. The research results show that knowledge of geology related sciences is considered a part of general education and that teaching geology has its own position in elementary and grammar schools. Respondents' assessments indicate quite high quality of present education, however, some respondents from professional and general public agree on specific imperfection of education. Teaching geology should get higher quality through presentation of more useful practical knowledge, including a bigger part of field geology..