Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemFactors affecting student choice of environmental science and outdoor and environmental studies as senior secondary school subjects within Victoria( 2008)The purpose of this study was to explore whether gender, ethnic, socioeconomic, and aspiration differences could be found among Year 10 students who chose and did not choose the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) subjects Environmental Science (ES) and Outdoor and Environmental Studies (OES) for Year 11. This study also sought to explore whether differences in levels of environmental concern could be detected among those selecting and those not selecting these subjects, and what the major reasons for students' choices were. Descriptive statistical procedures were employed to answer the research questions on the convenience sample that was obtained, which was composed of 126 students from eight different secondary schools (seven government and one Catholic) in 2007. Specifically, quantitative and qualitative methods of data analysis were used. Boys, in comparison with girls, were found to be more likely to enrol in ES and OES. Similarly, students from English speaking backgrounds were found to be more likely to enrol in these subjects than students from non-English speaking backgrounds. Students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds were shown to be more likely to enrol in ES than those from higher socioeconomic backgrounds, and students with aspirations to higher education (as opposed to those without such aspirations) and middle status occupations (as opposed to those aiming for lower and higher status occupations) were more likely to enrol in OES. It was also found that, within the sample, students had similar levels of environmental concern regardless of what subjects they had chosen, suggesting that students' choice of ES and OES was influenced by other factors. Finally, the major reasons students believed they chose or did not choose ES and OES were explored using qualitative techniques. It was found that the major reasons for choosing ES were: the perception that the subject would be interesting/enjoyable, a desire to learn about the environment, a desire to care for the environment, a love of animals and the perceived career value of the subject (consecutively). Conversely, the major reasons for not choosing ES were (in order): the perception that ES would be uninteresting/boring, the perceived lack of career value of the subject, a preference for other subjects, a dislike of science, and a lack of care for the environment. The major reasons that sampled students claimed to choose OES were, in descending order: love of the outdoors and physical activity, the perception that OES would be interesting/enjoyable, the perception that OES would be different to traditional VCE subjects, a desire to learn about the environment, and a desire to care for the environment. On the other hand, the biggest reasons for not choosing this subject were: the perceived lack of career value of the subject, a preference for other subjects, the perception that OES would be uninteresting/boring, a professed ignorance about OES, and a dislike of science (consecutively). This study addressed a gap in knowledge regarding the factors that affect students' choice of environmental subjects when these courses are made available, contributing to the already significant body of literature on both the student voice in EE, and subject selection. A model of participation was built up for each subject based on the results of this analysis, that could serve as a practical guide for educators of ES and OES in terms of improving the marketing of their subjects, and that could potentially help turn around the worryingly low enrolments in both these courses at VCE. Recommendations for the direction of further research into EE were also made.