Research over the past decades in different countries has shown that primary school pupils do not find biology lessons interesting or useful for their daily lives. The present Master’s thesis explores the opinions of Slovenian primary school pupils about biology lessons, focusing on whether they see how the materials relate to their daily lives. Our aim was to identify topics that are interesting to pupils and therefore worthwhile for study. Additionally, we wanted to determine the teaching methods that best equip pupils with practical biology knowledge they are able to use even after they finish schooling. For the purposes of the present Master's thesis, we surveyed 217 pupils in years 7 to 9, using a questionnaire. We have found that biology and science are among the least favourite subjects, but pupils tend to enjoy learning about things like the human body and animals. We have noticed that how interesting and useful the pupils find a certain topic, affects their grades. Finally, the results have been compared based on gender, year level, and the final grade in the previous school year. Year level or age only showed limited statistically significant differences in the results, as opposed to gender and final grade where the most differences have been shown. The survey gave an insight into the current situation among Slovenian primary school pupils. The questionnaire is designed in such a way that it can be used by other researchers in the future. Our research is particularly relevant for teachers of biology and science, and can help them in designing lessons to make the materials more accessible to pupils. They will be more efficient in teaching pupils about topics they do not find interesting, if they include different teaching methods such as practical work and working with organisms.
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