Which Skills Do High School Students See as Improving Thanks to Chemistry

The research has been focused on feelings, attitudes and usefulness of Chemistry for life for students in their last year of learning Chemistry. The study was done at an eight-year "common" grammar school. The group of 102 (18-19 years old) students from six different classes got a questionnaire with 21 statements and 33 open questions. By using 11-point Likert scale, they indicated their progress or regress in skills and competencies in Chemistry during last three years. Open questions gave students an opportunity to comment the marks they made on the Likert scale. Students were taught by four teachers with different teaching styles (two of them using teacher-centered model while the other two student-focused model with elements of active learning). The questionnaires were analyzed using common statistical methods to reveal differences between groups. The paired t-test accompanied by qualitative explanation showed significant differences between two educational styles. Unlike the teacher-centered education, the student-focused active learning has resulted in increased self-confidence in case of all 21 statements among the respondents.