OPINION ON BIOLOGY LESSONS IN SECONDARY SCHOOL EXPRESSED BY THE STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MARIBOR

Diplomsko delo Mnenje študentov Univerze v Mariboru o pouku biologije v srednji šoli je sestavljeno iz teoretičnega in empiričnega dela. V teoretičnem delu predstavljamo pomen znanja biologije na družbo in posameznika, ter pomanjkanje interesa zanimanja za naravoslovje oz. biologijo, kar predstavlja poglavitno težavo v izobraževanju biologije v Sloveniji. Podrobneje predstavljamo odkritja številnih raziskovalcev, ki podajajo vzroke za upad zanimanja za biologijo in predstavljamo dejstva, zaradi katerih je v Sloveniji potrebno spremeniti in dodelati izobraževalni proces biologije. V empiričnem delu diplomskega dela, ki predstavlja jedro naloge, podrobneje predstavljamo mnenja o načinu poučevanja biologije v srednji šoli in predstavljamo povezave med posameznimi dejavniki. Predstavljamo osebne podatke anketirancev, vključno s podatki o njihovi naklonjenosti do področij, ki so povezane z biologijopodatke o njihovem dosedanjem izobraževanju in izobrazbi njihovih staršev ter njihov socialno ekonomski položaj. Predstavljamo priljubljenost in zahtevnost posameznih šolskih predmetov, učne navade anketirancev in vzroke za priljubljenost oz. nepriljubljenost in zahtevnost oz. nezahtevnost, do posameznih šolskih predmetov. Predstavljamo notranjo motivacijo in individualni interes za učenje biologije, ter mnenje o načinu poučevanja biologije v srednji šoli. Ugotavljamo priljubljenost oz. nepriljubljenost in zahtevnost oz. nezahtevnost učnih vsebin ter podajamo nekaj predlogov za izboljšanje trenutnega izobraževalnega sistema biologije. V diplomskem delu ugotavljamo, da so anketiranci (predvsem fantje) nenaklonjeni aktivnostim, ki so povezane z biologijo, kljub temu, pa je predmet biologija v srednji šoli zelo priljubljen in hkrati tudi zahteven šolski predmet. V primerjavi z ostalimi naravoslovnimi predmeti (matematiko, kemijo in fiziko), je biologija najbolj priljubljen naravoslovni predmet, anketiranci pa ji namenijo tudi veliko časa za učenje, zaradi zanimivih učnih vsebin. Ugotavljamo, da anketiranci kažejo pozitivno notranjo motivacijo za učenje biologije, pozitiven individualni interes do biologije in pozitivno mnenje o načinu poučevanja biologije v srednji šoli. Ta odnos je še posebej izrazit pri anketirancih, ki prihajajo iz Savinjske regije. V raziskavi smo ugotovili, da si anketiranci pri pouku biologije želijo več življenjsko pomembnih snovi (npr.: kontracepcija, spolnost, razvoj otroka, motnje hranjenja idr.), samostojnega, praktičnega in laboratorijskega dela. Ugotavljamo, da izobrazba staršev ne vpliva na mnenje anketirancev o priljubljenosti in zahtevnosti biologije, hkrati pa smo prišli do zanimivih spoznanj, da sta priljubljenost in zahtevnost tako učnih vsebin, kot šolskih predmetov v tesni medsebojni povezavi. Bolj kot je predmet ali učna snov zahteven/-na, manj je priljubljen/-a ipd. Ugotavljamo, da ima velik vpliv na priljubljenost in zahtevnost biologije v srednji šoli, tudi zadnja zaključena ocena in število let pouka biologije v srednji šoli.The diploma thesis entitled Opinion on Biology Lessons in secondary School Expressed by the Students of the University of Maribor has a theoretical and empirical section. The importance of educating oneself in the field of biology for society and the individual, and the lack of interest for obtaining knowledge on the topic of biology, which is the prime problem in teaching it in Slovenia, are discussed in the theoretical section. Findings of several researchers pertaining to reasons of popularity decline in biology lessons are also presented in this section, along with facts, which indicate that the process of teaching biology in Slovenia needs changes and improvements. The opinions on teaching biology in high school and the connections between individual factors are presented in the empirical section, which is also the core part of the thesis. Data on the participants, like their fondness of areas connected to biology, their prior education and their parent’s education, as well as their socio-economic status, are also presented in this section. Further on are data on the popularity and difficulty of individual school subjects, the study patterns of the participants, the reasons for popularity and difficulty of the mentioned subjects, intrinsic motivation and individual interest in studying biology and their opinion on the way biology is taught in high school. The aim was to find out how popular/unpopular and difficult/easy the taught topics are deemed to be and to give some suggestions for improving the existing teaching patterns in biology class. The thesis has revealed that the participants (predominantly male) are not in favour of activities connected to biology, although biology has proven to be a popular and difficult high school subject. Compared to other science subjects (mathematics, chemistry, physics), biology is the most popular subject and the participants invest a lot of time in studying it, because of the interesting topics taught in class. It became evident that the participants have a positive intrinsic motivation and personal interest in learning biology, as well as a good opinion on the teaching methods used in high school biology classes. This attitude is most evident in the participants coming from the Savinjska region. The study also reviled that the participants would like to learn more topics that they deem important for everyday life (for example: birth control, sexuality, children’s development, eating disorders, etc.), they would like to do more independent, practical and laboratory related work. The parent’s education did not seem to have any effects on the participant’s opinions connected to popularity and difficulty of biology, there was however an interesting correlation between popularity and difficulty of a subject and its topicsthe more difficult the subject is considered to be, the less popular it is and vice versa. Important factors that influence the opinion on popularity and difficulty of biology taught in high school are also the last final grade they got in biology and how many years they have studied it in high school