Pupils' interest in topics of physics outside of school frames

Physics in Slovenian primary schools is considered an unpopular subject. Pupils find it uninteresting and useless. They believe that the popularity of physics is strongly influenced by the choice of topic, covered in class. They wish to learn about modern physics findings in regular physics classes. In the prospect of lifelong learning and actuality implementing modern physics findings in physics lessons makes sense. The goal of our research was to (1) find out, which topics that are not mentioned at lessons concerning physics pupils find interesting, (2) do pupils wish to learn about modern physics findings, (3) would they like to learn about modern physics findings as a part of optional subject, (4) do gender or (5) interest in natural science influences the choice of topics, which pupils find interesting and (6) what are pupils' responses on school lessons about radioactivity regarding interest and new knowledge about physics. In order to carry out our research we have designed and implemented two lessons, developed two questionnaires and a test of knowledge. 136 pupils of 8th and 9th grade pupils of a particular primary school in Slovenia took part in our survey. 16 of them participated in knowledge testing. Gathered data was statistically analyzed. Out of seven proposed topics, covering various modern physics findings radioactivity was found the most interesting. Most pupils wish to learn about modern physics findings, whereas one of three wish to partake in an optional subject regarding modern physics findings. There are differences in which topics female or male pupils find interesting. In addition, there are differences in how interesting pupils with different level of interest in natural science find topics regarding modern physics findings. Pupils found school lessons on radioactivity interesting. They made physics more interesting and improved pupils' interest in physics