One of the oldest challenges in the teaching profession is keeping students interested in maths and science - this is as true in Australian schools as it is in German ones, according to researchers in a new study aimed at boosting kids’ interest in the art of arithmetic.

Earlier studies have shown that many students lose their enthusiasm for physics, chemistry and maths somewhere around grade eight or nine. A new study has sought to find out if this is inevitable, and if not, how teachers can steer a different course.

“Studies have shown that most math and science teachers use a rigid style of communication to get their subject across,” says education researcher Professor Tina Seidel.

“Their teaching methods involve closed questions and they hardly ever encourage discussion among the pupils. Furthermore, they rarely give feedback,” she said.

To teach teachers how to better recognise and correct these pattern of behaviour, the German team linked with a group from Stanford University to develop a 20-hour training program.

Running over the course of one year, the course saw a group of maths and physics taught how to open up classroom dialog and engage with as many pupils as possible, while also giving individual attention.

Participants said the most valuable part of the course was the use of actual footage of them teaching in their classrooms, which were played back to analyse behaviours and methods.

“By the end of the course, the teachers were comfortable relaxing control, even on difficult topics,” Prof Seidel said.

“They were also able to tell pupils during the lesson where they were doing well and the areas they needed to work on.”

A control group attended traditional professional development training on the same topic at the same time, with the pupils of the participating teachers interviewed by researchers as well.

Pupils were asked about their basic interest and perceived strength in each subject at the start and end of the year, they were also asked how motivated and competent they felt at the end of each class.

The research showed that interest in the subject, motivation and perceived competence level all increased in the majority of the pupils whose teachers had participated in the trial professional development program. For most of the pupils whose teachers belonged to the control group, however, interest and motivation levels dropped, as is typically the case among school-goers in these grades.

“In our view, one of the key success factors was the fact that the group worked together on a topic over a longer period of time and was able to apply their learnings to a concrete classroom situation,” Seidel said.

“This was a lot more effective than isolated one-day workshops every couple of months, the content of which is quickly forgotten given the daily pressures of a teaching environment.”