What Are the Reasons Why Students Are Uninterested in Social Studies Course? A Pareto Analysis Example*

Abstract

The study aimed to evaluate what the underlying reasons were for the low level of interest among lower secondary school pupils in the social studies course. The phenomenology was adopted in the research. The study group of the research consisted of academics, teachers, and parents of lower secondary school pupils. Pareto analysis was used to assessment the data. In accordance with academics’ views, the research found that 80% of the reasons of the low level of pupil interest in the social studies course were as follows: the uniform/conventional methods and techniques used in the course, and irrelevance of subjects to daily life. While the teachers stated that the abstract content was the main reason for the low level of interest that needed to be tackled as the first priority, the most frequently addressed reason for the low level of interest by the parents was the intense course content.