Pupils' lack of interest in science has become a problem in many countries around the world. Decrease in interest towards science is strongly connected with attitudes towards school science that an individual develops during education. Attitudes are a complex combination of personality, beliefs, values, behavior and motivation. They are formed based on feelings of the individual and can be positive or negative. Formation of attitudes is the result of learning, imitating others and direct experiences with people and situations.
Interest in science and biology as school subjects in Slovenia is decreasing. Pupils negative attitude towards biology is increasing. However a few research papers have shown that said attitude is positive. Researches to date are showing different results.
The results of the existing research relate mainly to 8th and 9th grade students. In addition to these two grades, we also included 7th grade students in our research, whose attitudes in this regard have not yet been tested. We verified their attitudes towards biological content and compared the results of different classes and genders. We carried out research at one of the primary schools in Slovenia. 185 pupils of 7th, 8th and 9th grade participated in the study. The method with an anonymous questionnaire was used to collect data. Questionnaire contained demographic questions (gender, grade) and 53 claims for which pupils expressed their opinions on biological content, biological content lessons, internal motivation and self-efficacy. Two more claims about understanding the questionnaire and participating in the study followed. The level of agreement with claims was assessed by pupils using a five-point Likert scale.
Pupils showed a positive attitude towards biological content. They have a positive attitude towards biological content lessons as well. The majority of pupils have an internal motivation for school science. They highly assessed their self-efficacy. We found no differences in attitudes towards biological content among pupils of different ages and genders.
|