Syftet med studien är undersöka lärares uppfattningar om syftena med laborativt arbete i naturvetenskap. Frågeställningar som besvaras i arbetet är hur yrkesverksamma NO-lärare uppfattar syftena med laborativt arbete och hur lärarna uppfattar att deras elever blir involverade i laborationens syfte. Metoden som användes var av fenomenografisk karaktär där fyra lärare intervjuades. Resultatet som framkom visar bland annat att lärares uppfattningar om syftena är att ”labbvana” och koppling mellan teori är viktiga syften för laborativt arbete. Vidare framkom även en avsaknad av ”undersökande arbetssätt” som annars bör vara en central del av laborativt arbete. Enligt lärarnas uppfattningar så var det genom tydlighet från lärare som fick eleverna involverade i lärarnas syfte. I Diskussionen problematiseras resultatet och vad det kan innebära för kommande studier.

Science and technology are important parts of culture. Thus today there is a need for a science education which promotes ‘science for all’ and ‘scientific literacy’ in order to prepare students for citizenship. Earlier studies indicate that many students find it hard to learn science and technology in school. They lack interest in it and have negative attitudes toward science and technology. There are also differences between the interests of girls and boys, as has been known for a long time.

Recent research indicates that the concepts used in discussions of how to promote scientific literacy are too broad and underdeveloped. Science has mainly been taught for the purpose of preparing a few for further studies and has neglected the task of preparing all for citizenship. There has also been too little consideration of the relation of science literacy to specific science content. Historically, almost the same science content has been taught as is taught today. Science in society has been separated from science in school.

Commonly used concepts like ‘science’, ‘school subjects’, ‘students’, ‘interest’ and ‘attitudes’ are too broad to be used in meaningful discussion. Research results show a need for a stronger connection between specific content and students’ experiences outside school. In addition, there is a need to understand societal development and the mechanisms of media and modernity.

This thesis investigates student perspectives on science and technology within the affective domain of science education. The work has been carried out as part of Swedish participation in the worldwide Relevance of Science Education (ROSE) project. The empirical work presented in this thesis is extensive, and also takes into account teachers’ perspectives, the age of students, and a social theory of media.

The results show that students do have an interest in science and technology, with age and sex affecting their interest in specific content. However, broad concepts like ‘science’ or ‘girls’ and ‘boys’ obscure the differences that emerge from a content level analysis. Students are different and their interest is content specific. Furthermore, the results show that student interest is not in line with what their teachers say they present for instruction. Teachers’ selection of science content and their encounters with students are discussed as important elements in science education research. In addition, the results indicate that students’ interests are more in line with the science presented in the media. Experiences outside school were shown to be related to different science content, which has an effect on choices for upper secondary education.

These results are related to an overall purpose in which a social theory of the media is used to critically reflect on how modernity has led to mediated mechanisms affecting the content of science and technology. Mediated experiences and processes of reception are identified as important mechanisms in the way different people relate to specific content, which creates new conditions for science education.

The results are discussed in relation to societal development and different understandings of the purpose of science education. The theoretical media approach demonstrates ways that young people’s interest in science and technology becomes involved with mediated mechanisms through popularized forms of science and through the move to what is known as ‘public understanding of science’. This situation changes an individual’s options when relating to available content and creates new conditions for science education. In this thesis, critical and reflective attention is paid to the relationship between science in school and science in society. This way of portraying the results directs the existing attention to pupil’s voice in science education in another direction. An expression of a lack of interest from an individual is interpreted as if there has been a mistake in the way science is presented.

Young people’s interest in science and technology has long been an object for research. Cultural aspects and informal learning have been identified as important factors to be considered. In this study comparative content analysis is used to compare what secondary students want to learn about in science and technology with the topics covered in international popular science television. Important similarities are identified. The results are discussed from the perspective of media theory in terms of modernity affecting young people’s experience as a result of the popularization of science by communication media. The role of public understanding of science is identified and the importance of difference between science in society and science in school is elaborated on. The work has implications for future research, for interpretation and categorization of the results of such research, and for understanding student’s encounters with school science.

Students’ problems with learning science in school have been documented for a long time. Differences in student interest in and attitudes towards science due to gender and age are well documented. Fewer studies have focused on the details at a content level. This paper presents a statistical analysis of student interest in specific content areas and combines this with student experience of science and science-related activities outside school. The result shows that interest and experience are significantly linked and influence student choices for upper secondary education. The results are presented on both a detailed content and experience level, and are discussed in relation to the purpose of compulsory science education and in relation to experiences outside school. The study is an important addition to the discussion about establishing a science education curriculum that can both prepare students for future science studies and meet the need for a public understanding of science.