The Science and Technology Courses that Choose the Preservice Teachers during their Studies in Greece

Abstract

Education has as its fundamental goal the cultivation, socialization, and smooth integration of individuals into the needs of modern society. The goals of education include the understanding of the content of the Physical Sciences (P.E.) course, which is analyzed at all educational levels, as well as the necessity of the modern teacher to know Physical Sciences. The present work has as its object of study the investigation of the preference of the elective courses of Physical Sciences, Technology, Environment, and Mathematics. 140 students of the Undergraduate Study Program of the Department of Primary Education of the University of Ioannina (DPE) participated in the research carried out. The questionnaire, completed by the students, consists of 33 multiple-choice, closed, and open-type questions. A descriptive analysis of the responses for each question and the correlation of student preference with Gender and High School Orientation Group was performed. According to the results, it seems that students generally choose more Physical Sciences and Environment courses than Technology and Mathematics. Regarding the comparison between Gender, for all four years of study, females seem to prefer these electives more than males. Regarding the Orientation Group, the students coming from the Humanities Studies show, with a small difference, a greater preference than those from the Sciences Studies and Economics and Computer Studies. Of particular interest are the results regarding how courses are selected and, in general, with the existing curriculum related to Gender.