ATTITUDES TOWARD SCIENCE OF STUDENTS ENROLLED IN INTRODUCTORY LEVEL SCIENCE COURSES AT UW—LA CROSSE

1. ATTITUDES TOWARD SCIENCE OF STUDENTS ENROLLED IN INTRODUCTORY LEVEL SCIENCE COURSES AT UW—LA CROSSE Dana Craker (Dr. Abdulaziz Elfessi), Department of Mathematics University of Wisconsin—La Crosse, La Crosse, WI Abstract This study measured students’ attitudes toward science in four areas (personal confidence, usefulness of the subject, perception of subject as a male domain, and perception of teacher’s attitude) using a 47-statement Modified Fennema-Sherman Attitude Scale. Data from the scale and self-reported demographic information were coded and entered into the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) for analysis. Males were found to have more confidence in science courses and women more often perceived science as a male domain. Students at a senior or higher grade level and students who declared a major in a science related field had the highest attitudes, indicating that increased exposure to science can lead to a better attitude. Results • Conclusions • Based on the results of this study, following are some key conclusions: • Similar to previous studies, males had more confidence in the subject matter of science than females and females tended to perceive science as a male domain more than males did. • Since Senior/Other level students and students with majors in SAH had higher attitudes, it appears that increased experience to the subject matter can raise attitudes toward the material. This conclusion is also supported by the fact that students who took three or more science courses in high school had higher attitudes. • As can easily be assumed, students who expected to do well in their respective course held higher attitudes toward science than those who expected to do poorly. It seems logical that students with good attitudes toward science would expect to do well in a science course. • Students in PHY 104 were found to have the highest attitudes; CHM 103 and BIO 105 students were found to have the next highest attitudes. However, students in MIC 100 and ESC 101 consistently had the lowest attitudes. These results could be due to the fact that, while all the courses are choices for general education requirements, MIC and ESC are more often taken by students not majoring in a science-related field. • It is interesting to notice that the number of math courses taken in high school only had significance with the usefulness of the subject, especially since much of science is based on basic levels of math. • The conclusion that the type of high school attended has no significance could be biased by the fact that only 5.5% of the students surveyed attended a private school. Location of significance from MANOVA tests: • Introduction • Extensive research has shown that a person’s attitudes are learned, as opposed to being inherited. The impact of a student’s attitude toward science is incredibly important, as studies report that the number of students preparing for science related careers is on the decline. Several factors can effect a student’s attitude toward science, including gender, previous experience, and expected achievement. This study sought to analyze these factors by answering three questions: • Do women have more negative attitudes toward science than men in the areas of confidence, usefulness, teacher perception, and male dominance? • Does a correlation exist between a student’s expected achievement in a science course and a student’s attitude toward science? • Does the type of high school attended, either public or private, and the number of science and math courses taken in high school have any correlation with a student’s attitude toward science? • After finding significance from the MANOVA tests, ANOVA tests and multiple comparisons found the following significant differences among the variables(xbar = mean difference): • Males have more confidence than females (xbar =2.356, p=.023) • Females perceive science as a male domain more that males do (xbar=5.712, p=.000) • Students enrolled in PHY 104 have the highest attitudes in the areas of confidence, usefulness, and perception of teacher than students enrolled in any of the other courses • Students expecting to earn an A in their respective course hold the highest attitudes on the scales of confidence, usefulness, and perception of teacher • Senior/Other level students exude the highest attitudes on the scales of confidence, usefulness, and perception of teacher • On the scales of confidence, usefulness and perception of teacher, students with majors in the college of Science and Allied Health (SAH) have the highest attitudes • On the scale of perception of subject as male dominated, students with majors in the college of Liberal Studies have the highest attitudes (see the field as male dominated) • Students having more than three science courses in high school have higher attitudes in the areas of confidence, usefulness, and perception of teacher • Students having more than three math courses in high school have higher attitudes on the scale of usefulness • The type of high school attended (public or private) has no significance with the dependent variables Methods Data was gathered with a 47-statement Modified Fennema-Sherman Attitude Scale; within the scale were four subscales measuring personal confidence about the subject matter, usefulness of the subject’s content, if the subject is perceived as a male domain, and perception of teacher’s attitudes. Overall scores were calculated for each subscale and these scores were used as the dependent variables. Demographic information was collected and used as the independent variables. Students participating in the survey were enrolled in one or more of the following introductory level general education science courses: BIOLOGY 105, CHEMISTRY 103, PHYSICS 104, MICROBIOLOGY 100, or EARTH SCIENCE 101. Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was conducted for each independent variable with the four dependent variables. The results were analyzed for significance with Wilks’ Lambda using an alpha value of .05. One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used on those tests having significance, and multiple comparisons were then used to find the source of the differences and significance. Future Plans In future studies, it may help to collect the actual grade obtained by each student that completed the survey so comparisons could be made between actual grade and expected grade. In addition, students in general education science courses that are not preparatory classes for science majors could be surveyed. The data could also possibly be used for regression analysis to find if student attitudes’ could be used to predict expected achievement or if the demographic information obtained can predict attitudes. Acknowledgements Thank you to all the students who took the time to participate in this research and the faculty members who allowed the survey to be administered during their class time. In addition, thank you to the College of Science and Allied Health’s Dean’s Distinguished Undergraduate Research Fellowship for the funding and opportunity to complete this research.