The Investigation of Czech Lower Secondary School Pupils Toward Science Subjects

KUBIATKO, Milan. The Investigation of Czech Lower Secondary School Pupils Toward Science Subjects. Journal of Educational and Social Research. 2012, vol. 2, No 8, p. 11-17. ISSN 2239-978X.

Basic information

• Original name: The Investigation of Czech Lower Secondary School Pupils Toward Science Subjects
• Authors: KUBIATKO, Milan (703 Slovakia, guarantor, belonging to the institution).
• Edition: Journal of Educational and Social Research, 2012, 2239-978X.

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Article in a journal
• Field of Study: 50300 5.3 Education
• Country of publisher: Italy
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• RIV identification code: RIV/00216224:14410/12:00068762
• Organization unit: Faculty of Education
• Keywords in English: attitudes; lower secondary school pupils; questionnaire; science subjects
• Tags: International impact, Reviewed

Abstract

The contribution is focused on the investigation of the Czech lower secondary school pupils toward science subjects (biology, chemistry, physics and geography). The curriculum of the Czech Republic included these subjects in the group call “Man and Nature”. The published studies showed, the pupils’ attitudes toward science subjects are relatively negative. This kind of subjects belongs among the least favorite. The physics and chemistry ranked very often at as the least favorite. In or study was the questionnaire with 25 Likert type items used. Only for the subject geography was used 27 items. It is due to the position of geography, this subject is standing between science and social subjects, so the character of several items was different from the items for other science subjects. The construct validity was established by factor analysis, which divided items into 4 (geography, chemistry and physics) or 3 (biology) dimensions. The dimension are not homogenous, some items are in other dimension in one subject and in other dimension in second subject. The pupils perceived the biology as the most positive and chemistry and physics are perceived as the least favorite subjects. The conclusion contains implications for further research.