The main aim of the study “Laboratory of Thinking - Diagnosis of Science Education in Poland” is to provide information on the level of scientific knowledge of ‘gimnazjum’ (middle school) graduates taught according to the new curriculum. The study makes the assumption that the level of pupils’ knowledge is connected with the reception and interpretation of the syllabus by their teacher, appropriate selection of forms and methods for the teaching aims outlined in the curriculum and the development of gimnazjum pupils’ skills of scientific understanding.
.Standardized testing tools for diagnosing actual results of the implementation of the new curriculum will be used, as well as pupil questionnaires concerning, among other things, the forms and methods used in sciences lessons by teachers working at gimnazjum.
The study will be carried out in four cycles - in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014, and 7 200 pupils from around 180 schools will be involved every year.
The results of the study will also be used in work on the preparation of tools to support teachers in their preparation of pupils for the new gimnazjum exam, which pupils will sit for the first time in 2012.
The study will be carried out by Millward Brown SMG/KRC, which was chosen by public tender.