Student experience of school science and its relationship to post-16 science take-up Shaista Maryam Shirazi Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds, School of Education August 2013 ii The candidate confirms that the work submitted is her own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. © 2013 The University of Leeds and Shaista Maryam Shirazi The right of Shaista Maryam Shirazi to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. iii Acknowledgements I am deeply grateful to the teachers and students of the research study schools who all contributed equally to this research. Thank you for letting me hear your voice and report it in this thesis. Heartfelt thanks to Professor Jim Donnelly and Dr Stuart Bevins who believed in my capability and spent their valuable time looking at drafts of material. Your advice and support is much appreciated. Special thanks to Matt Homer who helped make sense of the data. Thank you to family and friends for your support – it made the journey easier. I am grateful for the funding provided by the White Rose project. iv Abstract This study investigated the experience of school science and its relationship to take-up of science amongst post-16 students in England. The empirical work was based on a two-phased mixed methods approach. The first phase consisted of survey questionnaires involving the ‘storyline’ method in which students in Year 12 (ages 16- 17) indicated the high and low points of their experience of school science covering Years 6 - 11. They were also asked to complete survey items to explain the factors that influenced their decisions to take science or not post-16. The second phase consisted of interviews of a sample of surveyed students in which they detailed aspects of their school science experiences and decisions to take science or not after GCSE. The results showed that the average pattern of graph trajectory became increasingly positive for scientists while the pattern for non-scientists remained the same as slightly positive throughout their years in secondary school. Students in this study tended to make their science choices later in Year 11. Three main factors - interest in school science, success in science and the utility value of science (mainly for careers) mediate a network of influences that includes experience of school science and these drive the decision to take up science or not. The main conclusion is that school experience of science does play a role in post-16 science take-up. Science choice is based on a rational model of decision making in which interest, success and value of science are the key factors determining the outcome. This has implications for practice suggesting that uptake of science can be increased by improving the quality of student school experience of school science. v Contents Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... iii Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... iv List of tables ................................................................................................................................... x List of figures ................................................................................................................................. xi List of abbreviations ..................................................................................................................... xii Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Rationale ............................................................................................................................. 2 1.2 Research aims and objectives ............................................................................................. 4 1.3 School experiences of science: defining the focus of the thesis......................................... 6 1.3.1 Defining school science ................................................................................................ 7 1.3.2 Current models of the choice process ......................................................................... 8 1.3.3 Perceptions, views and experience of school science ................................................. 9 1.4 Terminology ...................................................................................................................... 10 1.5 Structure of the thesis ...................................................................................................... 10 Chapter 2: Literature review ....................................................................................................... 12 2.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 12 2.2 School influences .............................................................................................................. 12 2.2.1. School ethos, leadership and management.............................................................. 13 2.2.2. Science curriculum .................................................................................................... 15 2.2.3. Teacher influence ...................................................................................................... 17 2.3 Individual influences ......................................................................................................... 22 2.3.1. Age ............................................................................................................................ 22 2.3.2. Gender ...................................................................................................................... 24 2.3.3 Attainment ................................................................................................................. 26 2.3.4 Self-efficacy ................................................................................................................ 26 2.3.5 Student identity ......................................................................................................... 27 2.3.6 Interest and enjoyment ............................................................................................. 29 2.3.7 Attitude to science ..................................................................................................... 30 2.3.8 Motivation .................................................................................................................. 31 2.4 Wider social and cultural influences ................................................................................. 32 2.4.1. The influence of families on educational outcomes ................................................. 32 2.4.2. Family and peer influences on science subject choice ............................................. 36 2.4.3. Peer influence ........................................................................................................... 37 vi 2.5 Instrumental influences on subject choice ....................................................................... 38 2.6 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 40 Chapter 3: Research questions ................................................................................................... 41 3.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 41 3.2 Research Question 1 ......................................................................................................... 42 3.3 Research Question 2 ......................................................................................................... 43 3.4 Research Question 3 ......................................................................................................... 44 Chapter 4 Methodology .............................................................................................................. 46 4.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 46 4.2 Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 46 4.2.1 Mixed methods .......................................................................................................... 47 4.3 Research design ................................................................................................................ 48 4.3.1 Setting up a two-phased study .................................................................................. 50 4.4 The pilot ............................................................................................................................ 63 4.5 Sampling ............................................................................................................................ 65 4.5.1 The schools ................................................................................................................