UPPER SECONDARY STUDENTS` SELF-PERCEPTIONS OF BOTH THEIR COMPETENCE IN PROBLEM SOLVING, DECISION MAKING AND REASONING WITHIN SCIENCE SUBJECTS AND THEIR FUTURE CAREERS

Science education is expected to play a major role in developing abilities of students and in conjunction with meaningful learning in science lessons, its impacting on students' future careers. A three part instrument was composed, based on a review of relevant international literature plus competences emphasised in the Estonian curriculum, related to process operational thinking, gathering students' perceptions of the science provision offered and students' future career preferences. The study was carried out in November 2011 on grade 10 students (N=2217) and in April 2012 on grade 11 students (N=1821) from the same set of schools. Findings indicated that students' perceived competence, despite grade, gender or school average examination results, was similar. Even more, students felt that Biology and Geography subjects focused more on skills development than Physics and Chemistry. As in previous studies, conducted at the lower secondary (grade 9) level, students indicated they were not interested in science related careers and preferred to seek employment in the field of social science.