Abstract
We conducted two surveys in our research. One was for the 9th to 11th graders (N=307), and the other was for 10th & 11th graders (N=503). The aims of both surveys were as follows: (1) To determine under the influence of what kind of factors, and in which year at school, do college bound students decide when to take an arts or science course. (2) To discover which unit and/or field of junior high school science is problematic for those undertaking arts to learn. Our main findings were that more students make a course choice in the period between the 9th and 10th grades, and the degree to which they succeed in subjects affects their future course choices of either arts or science. In particular, both students’ learning and understanding of Mathematics and Science at the junior high school stage seemed to be significant in their course choices. In comparing the two courses that students made their course choices of either arts or science, we additionally found that most of the students who took arts decided their future course later. Furthermore, it became clear that the discrepancy in the bias between the favorite subject and the weaker subject was striking; especially among the students who took science. Finally, it became obvious that those students who favor arts have several problems in understanding basic science rationales and concepts such as the concrete calculation of ratios and the existence of invisible phenomena.
