VDM Verlag Through the Pupils: Girls and Boys Learning Science

Gianello (1988) argued that: ¿Science is speculative, creative and absorbing!¿ In contrast Bruner (1996) argued that for most pupils: ¿Science has come to seem inhuman and uncaring and offputting ¿ despite first class efforts of science teachers¿ Which of these descriptions most closely matches the experience of learners? The learners in this study frequently felt they had not been given autonomy or responsibility for their own learning. This had a negative impact on their feelings of agency, their achievements and their future study choices. The analysis explores the role of personal ¿agency¿ in learners¿ experience of school science. It addresses gender issues, as well as individual challenges in science learning. This book will be useful to educational professionals, particularly science educators, as well as to gender researchers. Freeman Dyson argued that science is a human activity and the best way to understand it is to understand the individual beings who practise it. This commitment to the learners is the major focus of this book. When it comes to improving science education - the learners are not the problem! About the Author Gaynor Sharp, MA, PhD: Studied environmental sciences at Sussex University. Career in school and university teaching at undergraduate and post graduate level. Research Manager at a UK Government agency, Coventry, England