Roller Coaster or Skateboard? The Role of Real-World Contexts for Engaging Students in Physics

• In Event: Moscone Center North Roundtable Session 7
  In Roundtable Session: Secondary Science Learning

Abstract

Research indicates that students’ interest in science decreases substantially over middle school and high school. Therefore, the number of students choosing science related subjects, especially female students, in higher grades is low. In order to ensure a sufficiently large work-force skilled in science, it is important to identify aspects of science engaging for students. In this study, students’ rating of interest and relevance of selected real-world contexts as one important factor to promote students’ engagement in science are analyzed. Results suggest that interest domains and types identified for former generations of physics students may no longer be representative and point to significant differences between female and male students that should be considered choosing real-world contexts for curricula.

Authors

• Daniel Laumann, University of Münster

• Julian Alexander Fischer, Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education

• Susanne Wessnigk, University Hannover

• Knut Hartmut Neumann, Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education