An attempt to survey the attitude to science of pupils who have followed the programme of integrated science cource for four years

Abstract

One important expected outcome of the teaching of integrated science was to develop a favourable attitude towards science. The purpose of t h i s research i s to investigate the attitude of students who had followed the integrated science course for four years. The changes made i n the Junior School Science Curriculum i n most countries and the changes made i n S r i Lanka were discussed. The objectives of the new. integrated science curriculum are defined. I n i t i a l l y a survey of research l i t e r a t u r e related to the attitudes towards science was. undertaken. These were discussed under the sub-headings school l e v e l, higher l e v e l and school and higher l e v e l studies. I t was observed that the attitude to science WQLS more favourable i n the elementary school but declined through the junior school. For the purpose of t h i s research a L i k e r t Type attitude scale was constructed. F i r s t a p i l o t study was done. The responses were studied and the f i n a l form of the L i k e r t type scale consisting of t h i r t y four statements was prepared. This was administered to a random sample consisting of four boys* ,two g i r l s * and six mixed schools. The questionnaire was scored and analysed by the Data General Computer at the S t a t i s t i c a l Unit of the University of Colombo. Factor Analysis was done using p r i n c i p a l component method. Four factors emerged i n t h i s analysis. They were named as i ) Motivation to learn science, i i ) Reaction to learning science, i i i ) S c i e n t i f i c knowledge, and i v ) U t i l i t y value of science. These were compared with the objectives of the integrated science Curriculum of S r i Lanka, Suggestions for Curriculum Development and Science Teaching were made on the basis of the findings.