Abstract

VAZQUEZ, Ángel  and  MANASSERO, María Antonia. La química y el contexto de los estudiantes: el género y la primera elección de ciencias. Educ. quím [online]. 2008, vol.19, n.4, pp.295-302. ISSN 0187-893X.

The students' negative attitudes, scarce interest and low election rate toward science are part of the current context in the school science. This study analyzes the preferences and interests toward chemistry in Spanish compulsory secondary students through some questions, in the framework of other scientific disciplines, the students' sex and the first choice of a science subject in the school. The diverse chemistry questions raise students' varied interests and differences between groups; boys and the students who have chosen a school science subject show grater interest toward chemistry than their counterparts, the girls and those who have not chosen science. Compared to other scientific disciplines, chemistry has a low status in the students' preferences. Finally, the consequences of these results for the chemistry teaching in the school are discussed.

Keywords : science education; interest toward chemistry; sex differences; science choice differences; science subject differences.