Science Attitudes of Selected Middle School Students in China: A Preliminary Investigation of Similarities and Differences as a Function of Gender

Abstract

Evaluating the attitudes of science students is important for teachers, curriculum developers, and those working with preservice teachers. Although in the United States a great deal of attitudinal research has been conducted with regard to science education, in the People's Republic of China very little work concerning science attitudes has been completed. This study will report on an evaluation of Chinese boys' and girls' attitudes toward selected science topics. Students attended a middle school in the city of Shanghai. Analysis indicated that when the male and female Chinese students differ in their response patterns, females select more intense responses (“strongly agree” as opposed to “agree,”“strongly disagree” as opposed to “disagree”). Furthermore, the surveyed females often selected responses suggesting that they were more interested in the science topics and issues presented in the survey.

Indonesian Primary School and Middle School Students’ Attitudes Toward Science: Focus on Gender and Academic Level

“…A more current report by several authors (Jones, Howe, & Rua, 2000;Miller, Blessing, & Schwartz, 2006) also indicated that male students had a higher science attitude than females, even though there were also big gaps of in certain subjects, such as physics and biology. Contrasting results have also been found in several studies, indicating that female students had more positive attitudes or equal proportions of positive attitudes toward science as male students (Boone, 1997;Harwell, 2000;Murphy & Beggs, 2003;Said, Summers, Abd-El-Khalick, & Wang, 2016). According to Koballa and Glynn (2013), sociological reasons for gender inequality in science students might be the result of different cultural expectations of the genders by people close to the students (i.e., parents, peers, and teachers) and their experiences in science.…”

Ten years of national curriculum primary science in Northern Ireland: A study of children's attitudes

“…These results concur with those from many studies, including Johnston et al (1999) who found that girls were significantly more positive than boys about doing science in the classroom, Woodward arid Woodward (1998) reported that girls showed a higher preference than boys for health education although the reverse was true for electricity. Boone (1997), who carried out a study in China, concluded that girls were more "pro-science" in their attitudes than boys. We feel that teachers need to be aware of, and cater for, gender differences in their science teaching.…”

Ortaokul Öğrencilerinin Fen Ve Teknoloji Dersi İle Fen Deneylerine Yönelik Tutumlarının Araştırılması (Muğla İli Örneği)

“…Araştırmacı, araştırmasında kız ve erkek öğrencilerin tümünün fenin zor olduğu yönünde benzer bir tutuma sahip olduğu sonucuna ulaşmıştır. Boone (1997) Çin'deki ortaokul öğrencilerinin Fen ve Teknoloji dersine yönelik tutumlarını cinsiyet faktörüne göre araştırmıştır. Araştırmacı çalışmasında, Çinli kız ve erkek öğrencilerin Fen ve Teknoloji dersine yönelik tutumlarını Fen ve Teknoloji konularını içeren likert tipinde ölçme aracı kullanarak belirlemiştir.…”