DOHA: Many Qatari students are interested in pursuing science related university programmes and careers, say a survey.
'Qatari Students' Interest in Attitudes toward Science: the Impact of the Educational Reform on Science Education in Qatar,' a study to find major factors influencing student attitudes toward science, as well as the interest and enrolment in science subjects, reveals that students are keen in the subject.
The study by Ziad Said at College of the North Atlantic-Qatar (CNA-Q), also try to find the Qatari pre-college students' interest in, and their attitude toward, science subjects in grades 3 through 12.
Answers to this research relied on data from a comprehensive pilot study with 60 questions through 'Likert' scale survey to nearly 400 students, across grades 3-12, from 18 randomly selected independent schools in Qatar.
Also about two thirds of the students enjoy science classes at their schools; 60 percent respondents consider science subjects as the most interesting subjects and 79 percent said science as important for their future careers.
The survey also revealed that two thirds of the students prefer to study science in English despite the commonly held belief of most teachers that a language factor is one among the top barriers to students' achievement in science.
The research abstract also submitted at the Qatar Foundation Annual Research Forum further said there has been a serious decline over the last 15 years in the number of students studying mathematics and science at both secondary and tertiary levels of education in Qatar.
The positive impact of new educational reforms beginning with the 2003 'Education for a New Era' is noticeable in the reasonably positive attitude of students toward, and high interest in, science as shown by the above study (Spring 2011), as well as in recently improved international tests scores (PISA 2009).
Further the Supreme Education Council's science education aim to develop and sustain an interest in science and it applications among students, be proficient in the use of a range of scientific methods and techniques and in handling apparatus and use ICT effectively in the pursuit and communication of science.
© The Peninsula 2012
