Attitude Measurements in Science Education: Classic and Contemporary Approaches

321 Pages·2015·1.15 MB·English

by  Dr. Myint Swe Khine

Attitude Measurements
in Science Education
Classic and Contemporary Approaches

Attitude Measurements
in Science Education
Classic and Contemporary Approaches
Edited by
Myint Swe Khine
Emirates College for Advanced Education
United Arab Emirates
INFORMATION AGE PUBLISHING, INC.
Charlotte, NC • www.infoagepub.com
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ISBN: 978-1-68123-084-9 (Paperback)
978-1-68123-085-6 (Hardcover)
978-1-68123-086-3 (ebook)
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CONTENTS
PART I
INSTRUMENTS AND MEASURING SCIENCE ATTITUDE
1 Attitude Research in Science Education .............................................3
Norman Reid
2 New Approaches to the Study of Students’ Response to Science ....47
Lars Brian Krogh
3 Development and Test of an Instrument That Investigates
Teachers’ Beliefs, Attitudes and Intentions Concerning the
Educational Use of Simulations .........................................................83
Zacharias C. Zacharia, Ioanna Rotsaka, and Tasos Hovardas
4 Defending Attitude Scales .................................................................119
Per Kind and Patrick Barmby
5 The Multiple Response Model for the “Views on Science-
Technology-Society” (VOSTS) Instrument: An Empirical
Application in the Context of the Electronic Waste Issue..............139
Yuqing Yu and Felicia Moore Mensah
6 Tailoring Information to Change Attitudes:
A Meta-Structural Approach ............................................................179
Ya Hui Michelle See and Bernice L. Z. Khoo
7 Assessment Practices for Understanding Science-Related
Attitudes .............................................................................................203
Carina M. Rebello, Stephen B. Witzig, Marcelle A. Siegel,
and Sharyn K. Freyermuth
v
vi  Contents
8 The Influence of Experiential Learning on Indigenous
New Zealanders’ Attitude Towards Science: Enculturation into
Science by Means of Legitimate Peripheral Participation .............223
Richard K. Coll and Levinia Paku
PART II
SCIENCE ATTITUDE AND SOCIO-SCIENTIFIC ISSUES
9 Relationship of Students’ Attitudes Toward Science
and Academic Achievement .............................................................245
Ernest Afari
10 Student Attitudes Toward Scientists .................................................263
Anita Welch and Douglas Huffman
11 Attitudes towards Science and Scientific Methodology within a
Specific Professional Culture ...........................................................283
Darko Hren
12 Use of Test of Science Related Attitudes (TOSRA) in Korea:
Stream Differences and Associations with Constructivist
Classroom Environments ..................................................................293
Barry J. Fraser and Seon Uk Lee
13 Affective Variables and Education: The Role of Attitudes
in Science Learning ..........................................................................309
Myint Swe Khine
PART I
INSTRUMENTS AND MEASURING SCIENCE ATTITUDE

CHAPTER 1
ATTITUDE RESEARCH
IN SCIENCE EDUCATION
Norman Reid
University of Glasgow
United Kingdom
HISTORY OF ATTITUDES
The word attitude has a very vague range of meanings in normal day to day
language. We often use the word to interpret almost any kind of behavior
that is regarded as unusual or unacceptable. Indeed, attitudes may under-
pin many aspects of behavior and that is why the study of attitudes is so im-
portant. However, in the world of social psychology, it took decades for the
concept of attitude to crystallize into any kind of agreed meaning.
Herbert Spencer (1862, quoted by Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980) offered one
of the first descriptions of attitudes when he spoke of, ‘‘arriving at correct
judgements on disputed questions much depends on the attitude of mind
we preserve while listening to, or taking part in, the controversy” (p. 13).
Perhaps Spencer was unfortunate in implying that there are “correct” judg-
ments but his idea of judgment is important.
The problem is that attitudes cannot be seen or observed directly. They
exist in the brain. For many decades in the early 20th century, the domi-
nance of behaviorist thought in the world of psychology meant that it was
not thought acceptable to seek to measure what could only be deduced by
Attitude Measurements in Science Education, pages 3–46
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