Factors Affecting Junior High School Students’ Interest in Physics1

We report the results of a study on students’ interest in physics at the end of their compulsory schooling in Israel carried out in the framework of the ROSE Project. Factors studied were their opinions about science classes, their out-of-school experiences in physics, and their attitudes toward science and technology. Students’ overall interest in physics was “neutral” (neither positive nor negative), with boys showing a higher interest than girls. We found a strong correlation between students’ “neutral” interest in physics and their negative opinions about science classes. These findings raise serious questions about the implementation of changes made in the Israeli science curriculum in primary and junior high school, especially if the goal is to prepare the young generation for life in a scientific-technological era. A more in-depth analysis of the results led us to formulate curricular, behavioral, and organizational changes needed to reach this goal.