A chara, - According to the article "Appliance of Science" (Education and Living, October 5th), many students regard chemistry and physics as "boring subjects, boringly taught". Why are so many students bored in science classes? Are some students more easily bored than others? Why do some students (an apparent minority), find science subjects very interesting and stimulating? Maybe the subject "boredom" needs to be examined and not the subject "science". What exactly is boredom, and why do so many students suffer from it? Is it a learned behaviour, and, most of all, is there a cure?
The unfortunate science teacher is faced daily with this epidemic and is often unfairly judged on classroom performance. The basic laws of science do not change and trying to adapt them to make them "easier" or "more entertaining" will prove difficult. Maybe science graduates should have to do a course in the performing arts to qualify as a teacher, but the more talented would no doubt be lured into the entertainment industry.
A certain standard is required at third level, which is internationally regulated. If we are to develop as a knowledge and technology-based society we need more students who enjoy the challenge of problem-solving and who have the will to extend the frontiers of knowledge.
Maybe "boredom management" is an area to be developed in the curriculum. Are some people more susceptible than others? Some students are surprised to find later on that some jobs are even more boring than school, so maybe "boring" classes are a preparation for the "real world"!
Many students suffer from an inability to concentrate their minds on any subject for any reasonable length of time. Is this what they mean by "boring"? Of its nature, scientific study is progressive, building on and developing previously discovered concepts and laws. It demands sequential organised thinking. Is this what is lacking among students? A generation ago science teaching in many schools was less practical and more theoretical and definitely less "entertaining" than today, yet the percentage of students taking science subjects was higher then, and "boredom" never seemed a problem.
Today there are more opportunities in Science and Technology than ever before in the history of this State. The problem today is not the students who can't do Science, but those who won't. - Yours, etc.,
Mary Curry, BSc, HDE, Birr Road, Kilcormac, Co Offaly.