Article Title: Students’ Attitude towards Science: A Case of Pakistan
Author(s): Muhammad Anwer, Hafiz Muhammad Iqbal and Christine Harrison
Institute(s): London; University of the Punjab, Lahore, Institute of Education and Research Kings College
Journal: Pakistan Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 2012, Vol. 10, No. 1, 3-9
Correspondence Address: Muhammad Anwer, Institute of Education and Research, University of the Punjab, Lahore. Email: anwer808@hotmail.com
Abstract
This study was conducted to examine students‟ attitude towards science. The sample of the study consisted of 3526 students of 10th grade (Boys = 1914, Girls = 1612) and were from urban (n = 2304) and rural (n = 1222) localities of Pakistan. The instrument administered was „„Test of Science Related Attitudes‟‟ (TOSRA) developed by Fraser (1981). Results of the study depicted a significant effect of gender and locale on students‟ attitude towards science. Girls had significantly higher attitude towards science than boys on total scale and on all sub-scales of TOSRA with only one exception of Career Interest in Science subscale on which boys were slightly high than girls but it was not significant. Locality wise results showed rural students to score significantly higher on the total scale and on the subscales of Social Implication and Career Interest in Science than the urban respondents, while the urban respondents scored significantly higher on the subscale of Adoption of Scientific Attitudes than the rural respondents. There was no significant variation between the rural and urban respondents in their Attitude towards Scientific Inquiry, Enjoyment of Science Lessons and Leisure Interest in Science. This study has wide implications for educationists.
Keywords: attitude, science, gender, locale
