Science attitudes of selected middle school students in China: A preliminary investigation of similarities and differences as a function of gender

School Science and Mathematics, Feb 1997 by Boone, William J

Evaluating the attitudes of science students is important for teachers, curriculum developers, and those working with preservice teachers. Although in the United States a great deal of attitudinal research has been conducted with regard to science education, in the People's Republic of China very little work concerning science attitudes has been completed. This study will report on an evaluation of Chinese boys' and girls' attitudes toward selected science topics. Students attended a middle school in the city of Shanghai. Analysis indicated that when the male and female Chinese students differ in their response patterns, females select more intense responses ("strongly agree" as opposed to "agree," "strongly disagree" as opposed to "disagree"). Furthermore, the surveyed females often selected responses suggesting that they were more interested in the science topics and issues presented in the survey.

In many western countries issues of science attitude and gender have been explored through qualitative and quantitative studies. Presently in the United States, textbook companies, teacher training programs, and testing agencies take into account gender differences in science as teachers are trained, texts revised, and test items authored. Many believe that if more students are to pursue science successfully, then investigations regarding students' attitudes toward science, and how these attitudes differ as a function of gender, are critical. In many non-western countries such as the People's Republic of China, the issue of gender and science attitude has yet to be explored fully. In China, which has undergone dramatic economic growth in recent years, issues pertaining to science and gender are especially important. The need for qualified male and female scientists in that country is ever increasing, as is the pressure to define, refine, and reform science education. So that an evaluation of differences in science attitude as a function of gender might be investigated among Chinese students, an attitudinal survey developed by Misiti, Shrigley, and Hanson (1991) for middle school students was administered to 170 eighth grade students from the city of Shanghai. This paper provides an overview of past studies involving issues pertinent to China and presents a summary and analysis of the collected attitudinal data.

Education and Science Education in China

A variety of authors have described and discussed broad education and science education issues with regard to China. Herzig (1984) and Elias (1988) provide thorough overviews of the educational system. Furthermore, a number of UNESCO and United States Department of Education documents provide details of formal and informal science education within the geographic region that includes China. For instance, UNESCO's Division of Science, Technical and Environmental Education (1986) has considered the social needs and the teaching of mathematics, science and technology in primary and secondary schools. Two other UNESCO documents (1982a, 1982b) discuss out-of-school science education in Asia and the Pacific region. A more recent document from the U.S. Department of Education (1993) presents statements of a Chinese education representative attending a meeting concerned with education standards for the 21st century.

A number of reports have discussed specific details of science education within China. Cheng (1984) has outlined physics education in China while Hurd (1982) and Gardner and Yager (1983) have provided details of science education within China. Strassenburg (1983), although concentrating on science education at the college level, has outlined aspects of the precollege science experience in China. A number of studies have been published that specifically consider science in Chinese middle schools (Hang, 1988; Murray, 1992; Wellington,1992). Interestingly, these three studies all involve physics in the middle school. Finally, a paper titled "Precollege Science Education in the People's Republic of China" (Hurd, 1985) supplies a summary for those exploring science education practices in China.

Middle School Students' Attitudes Toward Science

The science attitudes of middle school students have been evaluated by a number of authors using a range of assessment techniques. Bohardt (1975) examined changes in attitudes of children in grades 4-8. In that study, positive attitudes toward science decreased with grade for both boys and girls. Cannon and Simpson (1985) reported on their study of seventh graders in a life science class. They evaluated the relationship among attitude, motivation, and achievement of ability-grouped, seventh grade life science students in North Carolina. The Simpson-Troost Attitude Questionnaire was developed for their project. The collected attitudinal data suggested that science attitudes were higher for both males and females at the beginning of the year. Students in grades 7-10 were studied by Simpson and Oliver (1985). In their study a sevenitem attitude toward science scale was used to measure male and female attitudes. They concluded that males had more positive attitudes toward science, but that females were more highly motivated to achieve in science than males.