Students’ Attitudes Towards School Subjects With A Special Focus On Physics: The Case Of Poland

This work presents the results of research on over 5,000 students aged 14–15 that focuses on their attitudes towards school subjects with special regard to physics. It describes the mathematical relationships between an interest in physics and students’ school grades, their plans to choose a profession in which knowledge in physics is needed, an opinion on the usefulness of physics for society and an assessment of the usefulness of the most important formulas from the school curriculum. The average declared interest in school physics, the assessment of its social usefulness and the willingness to choose a profession relating to physics were relatively low. Of the 16 most important formulas taught in physics during the last three years of learning, only 3 formulas were considered useful by the students. The work also presents the ranking of the persons in the history of physics with the greatest impact on the fate of humanity, according to students.