Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 11, Issue 1, Article 1 (Jun., 2010) Hakan AKCAY, Robert E. YAGER, Srini M. ISKANDER, & Halil TURGUT Change in student beliefs about attitudes toward science in grades 6-9 Contents Next

Change in student beliefs about attitudes toward science in grades 6-9

 

Hakan AKCAY¹, Robert E. YAGER², Srini M. ISKANDER³, & Halil TURGUT¹

¹Marmara University
Istanbul, TURKEY
E-mail: hakanakcay@gmail.com

²University of Iowa, USA
E-mail: robert-yager@uiowa.edu

³State University of Malang, INDONESIA
E-mail: iskandar.srini@yahoo.com

Received 19 Nov., 2009
Revised 11 Jun., 2010

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Contents

• Abstract
• Introduction
• The Iowa Chautauqua Program
• Research Questions
• Instrumentation
• Data Collection Procedures
• Result of study
• Discussion and Implications
• Conclusions
• References

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Abstract

The study reports on an investigation of the impact of a Science-Technology-Society (STS) approach in promoting more positive student attitudes toward science that are recommended by current reform documents. A total of 609 students from grades six through nine were selected for a survey of attitudes in two class sections assigned as either experimental (STS oriented class) or control group (textbook oriented class). The results indicate that students in classes taught with an STS approach develop more positive attitudes toward science when compared to students in classes taught with a textbook-oriented approach. The STS approach to science teaching works equally well for male and female students regarding student attitudes toward science. Significant differences were not found between male and female students in terms of improving positive attitudes concerning science study.