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High School Science Course-Taking Patterns: National and Local Data USC Rossier School of Education CTSE 508:Philosophy of Science for Science Educators November 20, 1997
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Science has been a part of the school curriculum since the mid-1700's, when it was included for its perceived practical and utilitarian nature, and has remained ever since for its ability to develop the faculties of reasoning, observation, concentration and sensory training, for its value in developing citizenship and stewardship qualities, as preparation for college courses, for reasons of national security and international competitiveness, because it is intellectually stimulating and aesthetically pleasurable, or for the development of scientific literacy (Lacy, 1966; DeBoer, 1991). Current reasons for the inclusion of science in the curriculum include learning about "the application of science to everyday life, the integration of science and society, the acquisition of scientific knowledge, followed by career awareness in the sciences." (Leyden, 1984). But at the level of teacher objectives for a science course, the objective of preparing students for more advanced science courses holds a prominent place (Leyden, 1984). However, many students never actually take the next course: Statistics published as part of the " 1990 The Science Report Card," a component of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), as reported in Popular Science (Leyden, 1992), indicated that over 50 percent of high school students stop taking science courses as soon as they can, that only 40 percent take chemistry, and that only 19 percent take physics. The NAEP statistics are based on a test given to approximately 20,000 students in grades 4, 8, and 12. These statistics were published in an article in Popular Science in 1992 entitled "Crisis in Education Part I: Math and Science " ( Fisher, 1992). The tone of the article is negative, providing information decrying the abysmal state of science knowledge and education in the United States and supporting the author’s contention of a crisis in science education. Is the picture really as bad as Fisher paints it? To answer this question, I located the most recent report from NAEP (U.S. Department of Education, 1995) and I also surveyed 61 high school seniors about the courses they had taken and their attitudes about science. The NAEP statistics I located did not report on student attitudes but did break down the course-taking patterns according to specific courses and gender. Table 1 presents the NAEP data on science course-taking patterns for the years 1882, 1987, 1990, and 1992 as published in the U. S. Department of Education report "High school mathematics and science course-taking patterns (1995). (Mathematics course-taking patterns were presented in the NAEP report, but I have not reproduced them here). In Table 2, I combined the data on percentage of students taking honors and AP courses with the percentage of those taking the basic course to get an overall feel for the percent of students taking any biology, chemistry or physics course. I also combined the data on engineering, astronomy and geology into an "other sciences" category on the assumption that they represented elective courses, which tend to change over time according to fashion or expertise of a particular science teacher at a particular school. Table 3 shows the data for the percent of students, male and female, taking any science course, biology, chemistry or physics, and the combinations biology and chemistry and biology, chemistry and physics because these are the courses either recommended or required for admission to many four-year colleges (Dever, personal communication, November 8, 1997). These data indicate that at least 98 percent of high school graduates took at least one science course in the years 1982, 1987, 1990, and 1992. The percentage of students taking biology increased from about 78 percent in 1982 to 93 percent in 1992, with females showing a slightly higher percentage. This is not really surprising, since biology tends to be the dominant required science course in most high school science curricula. Interestingly, the numbers of students taking chemistry increased from 31 percent in 1982 to over 60 percent (Table 2, combined chemistry percents) in 1992, with males showing a slightly higher percentage in 1982 and 1987 but females a slightly higher percentage in the latter two surveys. More males than females took honors or advanced chemistry courses, however. The percent of students taking chemistry in 1990 was also higher than that of 40 percent reported by Fisher (1992) from the same data source. Perhaps he merely rounded the 49.6 percent down to 40 percent, attempting to support his position that a minority of high school students take chemistry. The percent of high school students taking physics rose from 11 percent in 1982 to 19 percent in 1992. However, the percentage taking physics reached 23 percent in 1990, the year for which Fisher reported that only 19 percent of high school graduated had taken physics. The percent of males taking physics was about 10 percent higher than that for girls in all years reported. Fisher does not mention the percentage of students taking other science classes, but in general, the numbers increased from about 11 percent in 1982 to 16 percent in 1987, peaked at about 26 percent in 1990 and fell to about 19 percent in the 1992 survey. In 1982 only about 28 percent of high school graduates had taken both biology and chemistry and less that 10 percent had taken biology, chemistry and physics. These percentages rose to about 54 percent for both biology and chemistry and about 21 percent for all three courses in 1992, a substantial gain in "core" science class enrollment. Table 4 shows the science course-taking patterns and attitude toward science of the current senior class (n = 61) at Mary Star of the Sea High School, a small Catholic school of approximately 425 students located in San Pedro, California. Science requirements at the school are 5 semesters of science, one of which must be physical science, two of which must be biology, and two of which are elective. The data indicate that over 90 percent of all seniors have taken a physical science, a course not sampled in the NAEP study, 95 percent have taken biology, data similar to the NAEP data for 1992 study and not unsurprising since biology as well as introduction to physical science are the required courses. Of interest is that 75 percent of the seniors have taken chemistry. This value, while substantially higher than that from the NAEP 1992 data, may be due to the small sample size or to the fact that the college counselor "strongly" suggests the class to all students contemplating applying to a four year college (Dever, personal communication, November 8, 1997). Similarly, a relatively high percentage of seniors will have taken physics. Also interesting is the higher percentage of female students taking physics; again, a small sample size of 39 male and 22 female students do affect the percentages. Overall, the data do support an increase in science course-taking, not only in "core" science classes but also in electives. The electives offered at Mary Star include, not necessarily each year, marine science, anatomy and physiology, global science and environmental science; at least 82 percent of the seniors take these classes. This may be due to interest in the science or lack of desire to take a social studies, English or art elective, however. Indeed, the marine science class is very popular among the surfers, especially since the teacher emphasized the "science of waves" in his class. That the students take the elective courses out of interest may be supported by the 74 percent that report a positive attitude toward science. Table 5 shows the total number of semesters of science courses that the seniors in this school will have taken by the time they graduate. All students take the required four to five semesters. Some students may have taken only four semesters because they transferred in during the tenth grade or later. Seventy-seven percent take two semesters or more beyond the required minimum and 15 percent actually manage to at least 8 semesters, some even taking two full years of science in their senior year. The data from a small school such as Mary Star of the Sea High School may be anecdotal and not representative, but they do support the evidence for a pattern of increased science-course taking reported in the national sample. Several more years of data or retrospective data from this school would paint a clearer picture and aid in science curriculum planning. |
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Table 1: High School Science Course-Taking Patterns~National Data* Table 2: High School Science Course-Taking Patterns~National Data* Table 3: High School Science Course-Taking Patterns~National Data* Table 4: Mary Star of the Sea High School~Science Course Taking Patterns~Class of 1988 * Table 5: Mary Star of the Sea High School~Science Course-Taking Patterns~Class of 1998 *
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DeBoer, G. (1991). A history of ideas in science education. New York: Teachers College Press. Fisher, A. (1992). Crisis in education: Part I: Science and mathematics. Popular Science, (August, 1992). Leyden, M. B. (1984). You graduate more criminals than scientists. The Science Teacher 51:26-30. Lacy, A .L. (1966). The foundations of science teaching. From Guide to science teaching in secondary schools. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co. U. S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, High School and Beyond Transcript Study, 1987 and 1990; NAEP High School Transcript Studies & National Education Longitudinal Study Transcripts, 1992. (COE95: High school mathematics and science course-taking patterns (http:nces.ed.gov/pubsold/Coe95/26txt.html) |
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