Middle school students’ attitudes toward science, scientists, science teachers and classes

The descriptive analysis of regions of the students for the subscales of Assessing Attitudes and Preferences in Science (AAPS) are reported in Table 2. The mean scores reported in Table 2 indicate that while the subscale of Science Classes (SC) resulted in highest mean score, the perceptions of being a scientist (PBS) resulted in the lowest mean score among the AAPS subscales. Moreover, the Aegean region resulted in the highest mean score and the Middle Anatolia region has the lowest mean score among the regions in terms of the AAPS subscales.

Table 2. Descriptive statistics for students’ attitudes toward science teachers, science classes, usefulness of science study and perceptions of being a scientist in terms of regions

Region	N	*Science Teachers*		*Science Classes*		*Usefulness of Science Study*		*Perceptions of Being a Scientist*
Region	N	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	Mean	SD
Marmara	238	4.17	0.69	4.28	0.57	3.64	0.54	3.27	0.57
Aegean	150	4.41	0.53	4.46	0.54	3.86	0.51	3.53	0.60
Middle Anatolia	610	4.04	0.83	4.03	0.80	3.57	0.65	3.27	0.63
Black Sea	216	4.10	0.71	4.14	0.70	3.66	0.63	3.22	0.59
East Anatolia	181	4.18	0.81	4.05	0.81	3.67	0.57	3.33	0.56
South Anatolia	198	4.21	0.80	4.26	0.68	3.74	0.66	3.37	0.51
Mediterranean	90	4.37	0.74	4.38	0.59	3.92	0.50	3.31	0.62
Total	1683	4.12	0.78	4.14	0.73	3.64	0.61	3.30	0.59

Comparisons were also done for the subscales of AAPS in terms of regions. The results, which are given on Table 3, indicate that there are meaningful differences among regions for the subscales of SC, ST, USS and PBS.

Table 3. One-way ANOVA test for comparisons among regions

		*Sum of Squares*	df	*Mean Square*	F	*Sig.*
Science Teachers	Between Group	46.271	8	5.784	9.76	.000*
	Within Groups	1217.201	2054	.593
	Total	1263.472	2062
Science Classes	Between Group	68.467	8	8.558	16.704	.000*
	Within Groups	1052.368	2054	.512
	Total	1120.835	2062
Usefulness of Science	Between Group	31.850	8	3.981	10.774	.000*
	Within Groups	758.990	2054	.370
	Total	790.840	2062
Perceptions of Being a Scientist	Between Group	11.415	8	1.427	4.087	.000*
	Within Groups	717.196	2054	.349
	Total	728.611	2062

In order to reveal in which regions there are meaningful differences with respect to each category, post hoc (Tukey) test was implemented. The result of multiple comparisons among regions for the category of ST was given on Table 4, which indicates that there are significant differences between students from Southeast Anatolia and all the other regions. In addition, it was also found that there are meaningfully different results between Aegean and Central Anatolia and Aegean and Black Sea regions.

Table 4.Comparisons among regions concerning of the subscale of science teachers

Science Teachers		Mean Diff.	Std. Err.	Sig.
Southeast Anatolia
	Aegean	-.6343	.0853	.000*
	Black Sea	-.3290	.0779	.001*
	Marmara	-.3932	.0762	.000*
	Central Anatolia	-.2707	.0655	.001*
	Eastern Anatolia	-.4014	.0812	.000*
	Mediterranean	-.5950	.0995	.000*
Aegean
	Black Sea	.3053	.0818	.006*
	Central Anatolia	.3636	.0701	.000*

For attitudes toward SC, meaningful differences were found again between students from Southeast Anatolia and all the other regions. Furthermore other significant differences were reached between students from Central Anatolia and Aegean, Central Anatolia and Marmara, Central Anatolia and Mediterranean regions. Lastly, it was found that there are meaningfully different results between students from Eastern Anatolia and Aegean, and Eastern Anatolia and Marmara regions, which are shown on Table 5.

Table 5. Comparisons among regions concerning of the subscale of science classes

Science Classes		Mean Diff.	Std. Err.	Sig.
Southeast Anatolia
	Aegean	-.7347	.0793	.000*
	Black Sea	-.4133	.0724	.000*
	Marmara	-.5548	.0709	.000*
	Central Anatolia	-.3101	.0609	.000*
	Eastern Anatolia	-.3271	.0755	.001*
	Mediterranean	-.6507	.0925	.000*
Central Anatolia
	Aegean	.4246	.0652	.000*
	Marmara	.2446	.0547	.000*
	Mediterranean	-.3406	.0808	.001*
Eastern Anatolia
	Aegean	-.4076	.0790	.000*
	Marmara	-.2276	.0705	.035*

For the attitudes toward USS, similarly there are meaningful differences between students from Southeast Anatolia and all the other regions. Moreover students from Aegean and Black Sea, Aegean and Marmara, and also Aegean and Middle Anatolia regions are the other regions, which have meaningfully different results that are given on Table 6.

Table 6. Comparisons among regions concerning of the subscale of usefulness of science study

*Usefulness of Science Study*		Mean Diff.	Std. Err.	Sig.
Southeast Anatolia
	Aegean	-.5187	.0673	.000*
	Black Sea	-.3133	.0615	.000
	Marmara	-.2948	.0602	.000*
	Central Anatolia	-.2232	.0517	.001*
	Eastern Anatolia	-.3201	.0641	.000*
	Mediterranean	-.4738	.0786	.000*
Aegean
	Black Sea	.2054	.0646	.040*
	Marmara	.2239	.0633	.012*
	Central Anatolia	.2955	.0554	.000*

Lastly, the results for PBS are shown on Table 7 for which there are meaningful differences between Aegean and the other regions without Eastern Anatolia and Mediterranean.

Table 7. Comparisons among regions concerning of the subscale of perceptions of being a scientist

*Perceptions of Being a Scientist*		Mean Diff.	Std. Err.	Sig.
Aegean
	Black Sea	.3105	.0628	.000*
	Marmara	.2590	.0616	.001*
	Central Anatolia	.2625	.0538	.000*
	South-East Anatolia	.2504	.0654	.004*

All the results mentioned above reveal that students from Southeast Anatolia usually have lower attitudes toward science and other related concepts. On the other hand, students from Aegean have more positive attitudes toward those concepts than students from the other regions.

Gender differences were also analyzed in this study. Descriptive analysis for subscales of AAPS in terms of gender (female vs. male) can be seen in Table 8, which indicates that female students have higher mean scores than male students concerning all the AAPS subscales. For both male and female students, whereas the subscale of ST resulted in the highest mean score, the subscale of PBS resulted in the lowest mean scores among the AAPS subscales. Furthermore comparisons between male and female students were also done for each subscale of AAPS and it was reached that there is meaningful difference just for one subscale of AAPS, which is ST. Female students hold more positive attitudes toward science teachers than male students.

Table 8. Descriptive statistics for students’ attitudes toward subscales of AAPS in terms of gender

Gender	N	Science Teachers		Science Classes		Usefulness of Science Study		Perceptions of Being a Scientist
Gender	N	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	Mean	SD
Male	1073	4.05	0.79	4.13	0.72	3.59	0.59	3.21	0.58
Female	990	4.20	0.75	4.16	0.75	3.70	0.64	3.40	0.60
Total	2063	4.12	0.78	4.14	0.73	3.64	0.62	3.31	0.59

Grade levels were other variable which was investigated in the study. Descriptive analysis for the subscales of AAPS in terms of grade levels (grades 4 to 8) can be seen in Table 9. For all grade levels, the subscale of ST resulted in the highest mean score again, and similarly, the scale of PBS resulted in the lowest mean scores among the AAPS subscales. Table 9 also indicates that fourth graders have highest mean scores and eighth graders have lowest mean scores concerning attitudes toward ST, SC, USS and PBS.

Comparisons were also done for each AAPS subscale in terms of grade levels. The result is shown on Table 10. According to the findings, there are meaningful differences among grade levels for all the AAPS subscales. In order to interpret the findings on Table 10, post hoc test (Tukey) was implemented for each grade level.

According to the findings for students in fourth grade given on Table 11, there are meaningful differences between them and students from sixth, seventh, and eighth grades concerning attitudes toward ST, SC and USS. There is no significant difference between fourth graders and the other grade levels -without eighth grade students- for subscale of PBS.

Similarly, Table 12 shows that students in fifth grade are significantly different from students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades concerning attitudes toward ST. Furthermore there are also significant differences between fifth graders and seventh graders, and fifth graders and eighth graders with respect to subscales of SC and USS. For subscale of PBS, it was found that there is no significantly difference between students from fifth grade and students from the other levels. Furthermore, no significant differences were found between fourth and fifth grades students for the AAPS subscales.

It can be seen from Table 13, students from sixth grade have significantly different attitudes from seventh and eighth graders with respect to ST, SC and USS. Similarly, there is no significant difference between sixth graders and the other grade levels without eighth grade students for subscale of PBS.

*Science Teachers*		Mean Diff.	Std. Err.	Sig.	*Science Classes*		Mean Diff.	Std. Err.	Sig.
4th grade	6th grade	.2897	.0550	.000*	4th grade	6th grade	.1960	.051	.002*
	7th grade	.4276	.0534	.000*		7th grade	.3954	.050	.000*
	8th grade	.6814	.0548	.000*		8th grade	.6326	.051	.000*
Usefulness of Science		Mean Diff.	Std. Err.	Sig.	Perceptions of Being a Scientist		Mean Diff.	Std. Err.	Sig.
4th grade	6th grade	.2085	.0430	.000*	4th grade	8th grade	.1344	.043	.018*
	7th grade	.3540	.0418	.000*
	8th grade	.6160	.0428	.000*

*Science Teachers*		Mean Diff.	Std. Err.	Sig.	*Science Classes*		Mean Diff.	Std. Err.	Sig.
5th grade	6th grade	.2142	.0537	.001*	5th grade	7th grade	.3013	.049	.000*
	7th grade	.3521	.0520	.000*		8th grade	.5385	.050	.000*
	8th grade	.6060	.0535	.000*
	8th grade	.6060	.0535	.000*
Usefulness of Science		Mean Diff.	Std. Err.	Sig.	Perceptions of Being a Scientist		Mean Diff.	Std. Err.	Sig.
5th grade	7th grade	.2411	.0407	.000*	5th grade	4th grade	-.0142	.043	.998
	8th grade	.5031	.0418	.000*		6th grade	-.0005	.042	1.00
						7th grade	.0290	.041	.959
						8th grade	.1202	.042	.038

*Science Teachers*		Mean Diff.	Std. Err.	Sig.	*Science Classes*		Mean Diff.	Std. Err.	Sig.
6th grade	7th grade	.1379	.0483	.036*	6th grade	7th grade	.1993	.045	.000*
6th grade	8th grade	.3917	.0499	.000*	6th grade	8th grade	.4366	.047	.000*
Usefulness of Science		Mean Diff.	Std. Err.	Sig.	Perceptions of Being a Scientist	Mean Diff.	Std. Err.	Sig.	Mean Diff.
6th grade	7th grade	.1454	.0378	.001*	6th grade	8th grade	.1208	.039	.020*
6th grade	8th grade	.4074	.0390	.000*

Grade	N	Science Teachers		Science Classes		Usefulness of Science Study		Perceptions of Being a Scientist
Grade	N	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	Mean	SD
4th Grade	314	4.45	0.63	4.43	0.58	3.93	0.48	3.35	0.60
5th Grade	342	4.38	0.66	4.34	0.69	3.81	0.49	3.34	0.57
6th Grade	443	4.17	0.71	4.23	0.63	3.72	0.56	3.33	0.61
7th Grade	513	4.03	0.80	4.04	0.75	3.57	0.63	3.31	0.58
8th Grade	451	3.78	0.84	3.80	0.79	3.31	0.67	3.22	0.59