Measuring students’ interest in physics ‐ design and results of a cross‐sectional study in the Federal Republic of Germany

Abstract

A test to determine students’ interest in physics was developed on the basis of a curricular model of physics education with three dimensions: topic, context and activity. It was administered to about 4000 students in the 11‐16 age range attending different types of school in the Federal Republic. The results suggest that context is by far the most dominating dimension; the interest structure is independent of the type of school; the gap in interest between boys and girls may be closed if physics is treated not solely as a scientific enterprise but also in its connection to our society as a whole, including controversial issues.