Attitude towards biology and other science subjects of learners in primary school

Kaj sploh je odnos do predmeta, kakšne tipe odnosa poznamo, kaj vse vpliva na odnos in kako učenčev odnos do predmeta vpliva na njegovo/njeno odločitev o nadaljnjem študiju? Vse to so bila raziskovalna vprašanja, na katera smo iskali odgovore. Na odnos do predmeta lahko vplivajo številni dejavniki, kot so npr.: kontekst in težavnost učne vsebine, kakovost poučevanja (učne strategije ipd.), pred-adolescentne izkušnje, vpliv staršev, motivacija in tesnoba. Na osnovi 270 izpolnjenih vprašalnikov, pridobljenih od učencev iz devetih osnovnih šol v Sloveniji, lahko izpeljemo posamezne ugotovitve. Ugotavljamo, da biologija ni med najbolj priljubljenimi šolskimi predmeti in je redko predmet izbire za nadaljnji študij. Iz te raziskave ne moremo izpeljati trdnih zaključkov, kateri dejavniki so ključni za razvoj odnosa učencev do predmeta biologija. Ugotavljamo pa, da se vpliv staršev in sovrstnikov v naši raziskavi ni izkazal za temeljni vzrok za razvoj pozitivnega ali negativnega odnosa do biologije. Med najpomembnejšimi dejavniki je dojemanje težavnosti predmeta. Učenci predmet biologija dojemajo kot zanimiv in ne težak predmet. Predmet se praviloma izvaja v obliki predavanj. Zelo pogosto se počutijo med samimi urami sproščeno in nimajo posebnih želja glede sprememb.What does the attitude towards a school subject signify, what are the main types of attitudes, what are the main factors that influence the attitude towards a school subject and how does a pupils attitude influence their decision for further studies? All these were research questions that we tried to answer. There are many factors that influence the attitude towards a subject, such as context and the difficulty of the content being learnt, learning quality (learning strategies etc.), pre-adolescent experiences, the influence of parents, motivation and anxiety. Based on 270 questionnaires gathered from pupils from nine different primary schools in Slovenia, we derived some conclusions. Biology is not often chosen as the favourite subject and is rarely chosen for further study. Based on our research we cannot firmly conclude which factors are the key to the development of a pupils’ attitude towards Biology. We can only say for sure, that the influence of parents and peers did not show as significant for the development of a positive or negative attitude towards Biology in our research. The basic factor is pupils’ perception of the difficulty of the subject. Most pupils perceive Biology as interesting and not too hard. Biology is mostly thought through lectures. Very often pupils feel relaxed during school hours of Biology and do not show any special wishes for changes during their classes of Biology