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Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 17, Issue 1, Article 10 (Jun., 2016) |
Middle school students’ attitudes toward science, scientists, science teachers and classes
Hasan Özgür KAPICI
Yildiz Technical University, Faculty of Education, Istanbul, TURKEY
E-mail: hokapici@yildiz.edu.trHakan AKÇAY
Yildiz Technical University, Faculty of Education, Istanbul, TURKEY
E-mail: hakcay@yildiz.edu.trReceived 20 Jan., 2016
Revised 17 Jun., 2016
It is indispensable fact that having positive attitude towards science is one of the important factors that promotes students for studying in science. The study is a kind of national study that aims to investigate middle school students’, from different regions of Turkey, attitudes toward science, scientists and science classes. The study was done with 2063 students from fourth grade to eighth grade from all regions of Turkey. The Assessing Attitudes and Preferences in Science (AAPS) instrument was used in the current study. The findings showed that students from western regions of Turkey have more positive attitudes toward science and the other related concepts. Furthermore it was reached that girls have more positive attitudes toward these concepts than boys. It was also found students’ attitudes toward science decreases with respect to grade level (or age). Lastly, possible reasons of such results were discussed.
Keywords: age; attitude; gender; science; students
