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The Relationship Between the Frequency of Hands-On Experimentation and Student Attitudes Toward Science

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Identifier	Diss 1
Author	Ornstein, Avi
Title	The Relationship Between the Frequency of Hands-On Experimentation and Student Attitudes Toward Science
Publisher	Central Connecticut State University
Date	2005
Resource Type	Dissertation
Notes	How well students perform in academic science courses over the long run is not as important as their understanding of broad science concepts and their attitudes toward science. As adults, these factors will influence their reaction to issues that affect them and society, plus whether they support or oppose proposed political decisions. Scientific literacy enables citizens to play an active part in society, but that in itself does not say how they will use this ability. It is therefore imperative that educational systems recognize the important role played by student attitudes and seek actions that will achieve a positive view. As Novodvorsky (1993) pointed out, positive attitudes toward science increase the likelihood that students will become "scientifically literate adults who will then be able to make rational decisions about science-related issues" (p. 27). Roth, McGinn, & Bowen (1996) likewise noted how "schools are not only gatekeepers that select future generations of scientists but they also close the door on developing scientifically literate citizens" (p. 460). Hands-on laboratory activities, inquiry, and direct observation are an integral component of good science classes (Begley, 1990; Costenson & Lawson, 1986; Edwards, 1997; Pugliese, 1973; Stohr-Hunt, 1996) and, therefore, should play a part in influencing student attitudes (Ayers & Price, 1975; Freedman, 1997; Osborne, 2003; Starr, 1972). If such is the case, these activities may be as important as teaching students the fundamental concepts that make up the core of science curricula. Science education normally centers on three goals: • Scientific literacy • Understanding and using the scientific method • Developing a positive attitude toward science. Far more attention has been focused on the first two goals than on the third, even though the third is fundamental in achieving the others (Ayers & Price, 1975; Doty, 1985; Kreitler & Kreitler, 1974). An example arises in the science component of the tenth grade Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT). When that test was designed over a decade ago, it was first conceived as being an open-ended laboratory experiment, using inquiry-based learning and aimed at the second goal, using the scientific method. It was intended to also encourage more hands-on laboratory activities in middle schools with the objectives of building up both scientific method skills and a positive attitude toward science. The test was drastically redesigned, resulting in a written test to measure student scientific literacy and an open-ended laboratory that is only graded locally and does not directly influence the CAPT score. This reflects the general ordering of the aforementioned goals. While many factors influence student attitudes, such as school and home environments, age, teacher (personality and teaching style), peers, past experiences, and media messages, I believe that hands-on laboratory activities have a critical influence that interacts with the other factors. Previous studies (Atwater, Wiggins, & Gardner, 1995; Doty, 1985; Simpson & Oliver, 1990; Wick & Yager, 1966) have looked at a broader picture, making it difficult to draw specific conclusions about the relationships of hands-on laboratory activities and student attitudes. At the same time, it is important to recognize that looking at only this component of the full field will introduce an unavoidable degree of uncertainty that may make it difficult to draw clear conclusions. Nonetheless, looking at this single issue may help clarify a complex subject. Even so, posing a single question to students would not be meaningful. Moore and Sutman (1970) stressed that "using several items to assess each attitude should give a more reliable estimate of the extent to which the attitude is accepted or rejected" and that students should be able to express levels of accepting or rejecting each statement (p. 85). While the Scientific Attitude Inventory (SAI), developed by Moore and Sutman, has been used in many studies, Smist (1996) noted that a review has raised questions regarding the reliability of the SAI (p. 36). These points regarding attitudinal studies influenced the initiation of this study. I agree with Linn & Gronlund, (1995) that an effective method of measuring student attitude entails using a Likert scale with even quantities of positive and negative questions, later reversing the responses appropriately to make them consistent for carrying out the quantitative analysis. This would offer a fuller, more honest source of raw data and would make it possible to measure whether a significant difference did or did not exist in student attitude toward science between classes with regular hands-on laboratory activities and those that lacked them. The intended significance of this study was to offer supportive evidence strengthening the rationale and purpose of including hands-on laboratory activities in all science courses. Hypotheses As a result of this consideration, the following two hypotheses were generated from the statement of the problem: 1) Students in science classrooms that use hands-on laboratory activities on a regular basis will have more positive attitudes toward science than students in classrooms where hands-on laboratory activities are not used regularly. 2) Students in science classrooms that use a higher level of inquiry will have more positive attitudes toward science than those in classrooms with lower levels of inquiry.
Subject	Science -- Attitudes Active learning Learning by discovery
Department	Department of Educational Leadership
Advisor	Arends, Richard
Type	Text
Digital Format	application/pdf
Language	eng
OCLC number	713734070
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