Lower secondary school pupils’ perception of chemistry

Vol.22,No.1(2012)

M. Kubiatko K. Švandová J. Šibor J. Škoda

https://doi.org/10.5817/PedOr2012-1-82

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Abstract
There are a small number of research studies investigating lower secondary school pupils´ attitudes toward chemistry. Existing studies focus mainly on the influence of gender on the attitudes toward chemistry. In this paper we present an investigation of the influence of gender, grade and, class and favourite subject and also an overall index of attitudes toward chemistry. The sample consisted of 379 pupils from eight lower secondary schools. The number of boys and girls was approximately similar; there were more pupils from the 8th grade and 102 pupils with chemistry as favourite subject. The measurement tool was a questionnaire with 25 Likert type items. After applying factor analysis, the items were distributed into four dimensions: The interest in chemistry, The relevance of chemistry, The future life and chemistry and The chemical experiments. The independent two-sample t-test was used for determining the diff erences among groups of categorical variables. A significant diff erence was found only in the dimension favourite subject. Pupils with chemistry as favourite subject achieved more positive attitudes. Girls achieved higher score in comparison with boys. The pupils from both grades achieved almost similar scores. Possibilities of further investigations are suggested in the conclusion.

Keywords:
attitudes toward chemistry; questionnaire with scale items; Czech lower secondary school pupils
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