Planet issue 19
2
January 2008
Planet issue 19
3
January 2008
were provided with guidelines for administration
of the questionnaire). The responses are likely
to be the school students’ immediate thoughts
on the subjects and may not represent fully
considered opinions. In addition, differences in
writing ability / speed may also have affected
the range of responses. The data should be
considered, therefore, as ‘food for thought’ and
to provide indicators for further, more rigorous
research rather than as definitive descriptors of
the students’ understandings of the subjects.
(NB: It should be noted that the term ‘Geology’
was used rather than ‘Earth Science’ or
‘Geoscience’ as this is the title of GCSE and A-level
courses. It was considered that students would be
less familiar with the latter two terms. For this part
of the GEES community, it would be interesting
to explore these concepts further to ascertain
the best terminology to use when marketing the
subject. Although academics may be able identify a
distinction between the three terms, it is probable
that school students may not. Indeed, it could be
conjectured that the Geological Society’s ‘Careers
in Geoscience’ publication may not be attractive
to students browsing through careers libraries
if they are simply not familiar with the term.)
Influences on A-level Subject Choice
Other studies have suggested that perceived
career opportunities, closely followed by current
ability and performance, have the strongest
influence on A-level students’ choice of subject for
study at University (Maringe 2006 and references
therein). It follows, therefore, that there may be a
relationship (albeit somewhat complex) between
choice of A-levels and choice of subjects to study
at HE. (NB There are as many different stories
regarding subject choice at University as there are
students – just ask any of your colleagues how
they chose their degree – interestingly, however,
there has been relatively little formal research in
this area. M