This study explored the classroom learning environment in science among kindergarten students. In particular, I investigated both students' and their parents' perceptions of both preferred and actual learning environments. Additionally, I explored associations between student outcomes (achievement and attitudes toward science) and the nature of the classroom learning environment (as perceived by students and by their parents). The study involved the construction and validation of a learning environment questionnaire that was used by both parents and kindergarten students. Although the questionnaire was validated for use with five- and six-year-old kindergarten students, the same format was used for both parents and students. Prior learning environment studies (Fraser, 1998a) typically have involved the use of questionnaires neither by parents (with a notable exception being the recent study by Allen and Fraser, 2002) or by such young students. There is little doubt that, in just two decades, the field of classroom learning environment has progressed enormously (Fraser, 1998a) and that research involving qualitative methods and research involving quantitative methods each have made outstanding contributions to this overall progress (Tobin & Fraser, 1998). A historical look at the field of learning environments over the past few decades shows that a striking feature is the availability of a variety of economical, valid and widely applicable questionnaires for assessing student perceptions of classroom environments (Fraser, 1998b). This learning environment study is significant not only because it involves very young students (kindergarten) and their parents, but also a classroom learning environment questionnaire was developed and validated in Spanish, for both students and parents. / The design of the study involved a sample of 172 kindergarteners from six classes and 78 parents of the same students from the same six classes. The ethnic make-up for this group of 172 students was 11.8% White, 49% Black, 33.6% Hispanic, and 5.6% of other nationalities. The gender breakdown was 40.4% boys and 59.6% girls. Approximately 45% of the kindergarten student population was made up of English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) students. The instruments used included modified versions in English and Spanish of the What Is Happening In This Class (WIHIC)? questionnaire and of the Test of Science-Related Attitudes (TOSRA). A major finding of the study was that the modified version of the What Is Happening In This Class? (WIHIC) questionnaire in the English and Spanish languages displayed satisfactory factorial validity and internal consistency reliability when used with kindergarten students and their parents. Secondly, parents perceived a more favorable actual classroom environment than did kindergarten students, but students preferred a much more favorable classroom environment than did their parents. The magnitudes of differences between students and parents are greater for the preferred form than the actual form. Finally, statistically significant associations were found between kindergarten students' perceptions of the. classroom environment and the outcomes of achievement and attitudes to science.

In a case study of over three hundred students in one Canberra high school, the attitudes to science of boys and girls in Years 7-10 were investigated using the Test of Science-Related Attitudes (TOSRA). From this survey population, forty students were selected and interviewed to explore in more detail students' attitudes to science. Parents of the interviewed students were also surveyed to explore possible relationships between students' attitudes and parental expectations and aspirations. For the seven areas of attitudes investigated, students had positive attitudes to science in the areas of social implications of science, normality of scientists, attitudes to scientific enquiry and adoption of scientific attitudes. They displayed neutral to negative attitudes in the areas of enjoyment of science lessons, leisure interest in science and career interest in science. There was a significant difference between boys and girls in two of the seven areas with girls being more negative than boys to a leisure interest in science, and girls more positive than boys towards the normality of scientists. When analysed for year at school and achievement in science, the data indicates that older students and those with higher grades in science generally have a more positive or less negative attitude to science. However, as a group, Year 8 girls were more negative than other groups about the enjoyment of their science lessons, about a leisure interest in science and about a career interest in science. The interviews with students revealed that in general, they liked science and their science teachers but that they would not choose science for leisure activities or for a career. Parents are shown to have high aspirations and somewhat lower expectations for the career prospects of their children. Both parents and students display stereotypical views about certain careers based on gender. Strategies to improve the attitude to science of boys and girls are suggested. These strategies focus on activities for teachers, parents and the students themselves.

The purpose of my study is to determine students’ attitudes to the Natural Science subject. I want to contribute to scientific discourse about different learning styles that can respond to childrens’ requirements in teaching as well as to determine the student’s experience of learning styles. The studies were carried out at an upper secondary school in Stockholm (spring term 2011) for three different classes. I have used qualitative interviews to determine student's experiences and quantitative analysis of student's evaluations of science subjects they have been taught. In my research I concluded that pupils’ attitudes to science are quite common. I also suggest that students with negative attitudes to science have a basis in the student's difficulties with science learning. I also found that the students have different ways of learning. By making the students aware of their best way to learn they can develop individual strategies for attaining new information. The traditional teaching methods that exist in today's education system impart knowledge in the form of finished facts. This can lead to pupils having difficulties in learning. Therefore teachers must adapt their teaching styles and methods to a way that fits all of the students’ different ways of processing information and learning. Schools need to find different approaches to the teaching of its pupils. My conclusion is that if teachers adjust their methods of teaching the Natural science subjects to suit each student learning - styles, this can increase their ability to learn and therefore increase their comprehension of the subjects.

The National Strategy for Science was progressively introduced from 2002 with the intention of providing a clear structure for improved delivery of the subject in secondary schools. Through a series of scripted training events, supported by printed resources, the intention was to provide science teachers with a clear framework for sequential teaching of key themes through the use of pedagogy intended to involve the students in their own learning. After several years, the nature of the National Strategy shifted to concentrate on the support of subject leaders, and the Strategy is planned to end in 2011. The current school cohorts have all experienced the teaching of science since the introduction of the Strategy, and should therefore have benefitted from the improved delivery, intended to create improved outcomes and more positive attitudes towards science. By means of a case study investigation in 2008 in a single school, the impact of the National Strategy was explored. By means of a range of qualitative methods, including questionnaires, interviews and lesson observations, it was possible to investigate the extent to which National Strategy ideas had become embedded in the daily routines of the science teachers, and the extent to which students viewed science positively. The study focused on Y7 (soon after entry to the school), Y9 (prior to the SATs examinations) and Y11 (during the run-up to GCSE). An initial study four years previously was used to provide an indication of changes during the life of the Strategy, and to indicate trends. In addition, sampling in other schools was used to determine whether the questionnaire results were atypical. The results showed that the Strategy had largely failed to become embedded in normal classroom practice, with little evidence of teachers making good use of the pedagogy or the structured delivery that was central to the Strategy message. The reasons for this failure were: • The expectation that centrally-delivered training would be effectively cascaded by one individual to other teachers in the school, • The failure to concentrate on a few simple messages or themes, repeatedly delivered and reinforced in subsequent training, • The introduction of a plethora of other initiatives, each demanding teacher time, and diluting efforts to focus attention on the National Strategy themes. As a result, the science teachers in 2008 showed less understanding of the Strategy than teachers in 2004, and their use of techniques such as the three-part lesson and enquiry-based learning were less evident. The Strategy was to be a mechanism to improve examination results and to improve student attitudes to science. The examination results are shown to be largely stagnant over this period 2003-2008, and the attitudes of students towards science are shown to become less positive during their time in secondary school. The key finding, therefore, is that the Strategy failed in its aims because it failed to listen to its own message. It failed to recognise that teachers, just as much as students, need simple messages, repeatedly delivered in innovative ways, in order to learn and fully internalise these ideas.