Natural Science teachers' attitude towards Natural Science Olympiad in Italy

About 400 teachers per year are involved in the Italian Natural Science Olympiad selection aimed at 14-19 years old students. In this paper we report the results of an investigation carried out on a number of teachers enrolling their students to this competition, with the aim to understand how the natural science teachers prepare and select their students and what they think is the main impact of this activity. A survey was administered to teachers involved in the competition from all over Italy and the feedback was analyzed. The average teacher is female, with a biology degree and long school experience. The teachers select students mainly with an institute test using Olympiads tests and in general the students get prepared to the competition by themselves, with the teachers giving them study materials. The survey evidenced that the competition is considered very important by the school headmasters and families. The teachers think that the main impact in participating in Olympiad is the improvement of students’ performance in school and an increased emphasis on the importance of natural science discipline.