Attitudes towards science among senior secondary students in Fiji
- Naiker, Mani, Sharma, Bibhya, Wakeling, Lara, Johnson, Joel, Mani, Janice
- Authors: Naiker, Mani , Sharma, Bibhya , Wakeling, Lara , Johnson, Joel , Mani, Janice
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Waikato Journal of Education Vol. 25, no. 1 (2020), p. 57-72
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: In order to investigate gender and ethnicity-based differences in scientific attitudes among Fijian students, the widely studied Test of Scientific Related Attitudes (TOSRA) was administered to 1401 senior secondary Fijian students (Years 11–13; approximately 15–18 years of age). Students generally had a positive attitude towards science overall in Years 11–13, with females showing a more positive attitude than males. By Year 13, the attitudes of females towards science had become more negative. The attitude of iTaukei students towards science started out lower than other ethnicities in Year 11 and increased during Year 12, before falling to below the starting attitude levels in Year 13. Fijian students of Indian descent generally had a positive attitude towards science that remained consistent throughout Years 11–13, with an increase in leisure and career interest in science in Year 13. A strong correlation was found between the ethnicity of a student and their first language. Continued science outreach programmes, particularly in Year 12, are important to achieve and retain scientific interest and attitudes among Fijian secondary students. © 2020, Wilf Malcolm Institute of Educational Research. All rights reserved.
- Authors: Naiker, Mani , Sharma, Bibhya , Wakeling, Lara , Johnson, Joel , Mani, Janice
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Waikato Journal of Education Vol. 25, no. 1 (2020), p. 57-72
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: In order to investigate gender and ethnicity-based differences in scientific attitudes among Fijian students, the widely studied Test of Scientific Related Attitudes (TOSRA) was administered to 1401 senior secondary Fijian students (Years 11–13; approximately 15–18 years of age). Students generally had a positive attitude towards science overall in Years 11–13, with females showing a more positive attitude than males. By Year 13, the attitudes of females towards science had become more negative. The attitude of iTaukei students towards science started out lower than other ethnicities in Year 11 and increased during Year 12, before falling to below the starting attitude levels in Year 13. Fijian students of Indian descent generally had a positive attitude towards science that remained consistent throughout Years 11–13, with an increase in leisure and career interest in science in Year 13. A strong correlation was found between the ethnicity of a student and their first language. Continued science outreach programmes, particularly in Year 12, are important to achieve and retain scientific interest and attitudes among Fijian secondary students. © 2020, Wilf Malcolm Institute of Educational Research. All rights reserved.
Attitude and achievement of first-year chemistry undergraduate students at the university of the South Pacific
- Johnson, Joel, Reddy, Pritika, Sharma, Sushita, Wakeling, Lara, Mani, Janice, Benveniste, Tessa, Naiker, Mani, Brown, Stephen
- Authors: Johnson, Joel , Reddy, Pritika , Sharma, Sushita , Wakeling, Lara , Mani, Janice , Benveniste, Tessa , Naiker, Mani , Brown, Stephen
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Frontiers in Education Vol. 7, no. (2022), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Student attitude toward chemistry may influence engagement and achievement in chemistry-related courses, however, equivocal results in studies conducted in Western countries to date indicate this relationship requires further investigation. In this study, we investigated the correlation between attitude toward chemistry and achievement amongst a cohort of first-year undergraduate students from The University of the South Pacific (USP). A cluster analysis was used to identify low- and high-achieving groups of students to further explore potential correlations. There was a positive correlation between the cognitive and affective components of attitude among low-achieving students, but not among high-achieving students. The cognitive component of attitude did not appear to be strongly correlated with achievement in students from either group, although the affective component was positively correlated with achievement. The single item most strongly correlated with student achievement was their response on the Worthless-Beneficial scale. One of the notable findings was the differences in the attitude-achievement relationship between low-achieving and high-achieving students, suggesting that combining these clusters of students into a single group for analysis may obscure underlying correlations. Chemistry educators should continue to target their teaching styles to cater to different learning styles and achievement levels of students, including cognitive and non-cognitive learning styles. Copyright © 2022 Johnson, Reddy, Sharma, Wakeling, Mani, Benveniste, Naiker and Brown.
- Authors: Johnson, Joel , Reddy, Pritika , Sharma, Sushita , Wakeling, Lara , Mani, Janice , Benveniste, Tessa , Naiker, Mani , Brown, Stephen
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Frontiers in Education Vol. 7, no. (2022), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Student attitude toward chemistry may influence engagement and achievement in chemistry-related courses, however, equivocal results in studies conducted in Western countries to date indicate this relationship requires further investigation. In this study, we investigated the correlation between attitude toward chemistry and achievement amongst a cohort of first-year undergraduate students from The University of the South Pacific (USP). A cluster analysis was used to identify low- and high-achieving groups of students to further explore potential correlations. There was a positive correlation between the cognitive and affective components of attitude among low-achieving students, but not among high-achieving students. The cognitive component of attitude did not appear to be strongly correlated with achievement in students from either group, although the affective component was positively correlated with achievement. The single item most strongly correlated with student achievement was their response on the Worthless-Beneficial scale. One of the notable findings was the differences in the attitude-achievement relationship between low-achieving and high-achieving students, suggesting that combining these clusters of students into a single group for analysis may obscure underlying correlations. Chemistry educators should continue to target their teaching styles to cater to different learning styles and achievement levels of students, including cognitive and non-cognitive learning styles. Copyright © 2022 Johnson, Reddy, Sharma, Wakeling, Mani, Benveniste, Naiker and Brown.
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