A Study on the Selection System of Science Subjects at the Upper Grade of Gymnasium in Federal Republic of Germany : Specially on the Course Differentiation of Biology

Abstract

At the upper grade of the Gymnasium in Federal Republic of Germany one subject is differentiated into two courses 'Grundkurs' and 'Leistungskurs'. The purpose of this paper is to clarify characteristics, real conditions and problems of this course differentiation in the selection system of science subjects specially in the case of biology. This differentiation aims for the flexible education which is designed according to each student's ability, aptitude, interest and his furture course. One of characteristics of the course differentiation is that he can select any major subject in university, no matter which course and what subject he may take at the upper grade of the Gymnasium. In the case of biology the difference of these two courses is not the construction of handled themes, but the degree of their emphasis on student's experiments, practices and his independent studies. Such differentiation depends on the idea (equivalence of subjects', that is each subject is equally meaningful in the view of the preparatory education for the study in university. But the selection system of science subjects containing the course differentiation has a problem how to arrange the idea of this system according to the actual conditions of schools and students.