Students' Attitudes Toward Chemistry Lessons: The Interaction Effect between Grade Leveland Gender

摘要

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the interaction effectbetween grade level and gender with respect to students' attitudes toward chemistry lessonstaught in secondary schools. The sample consisted of 954 chemistry students in gradesSecondary 4-7 (approximately 16-19 years of age) in Hong Kong. Students' attitudes weresurveyed using an attitude toward chemistry lessons scale (ATCLS), and subscale scoreswere produced on four dimensions: liking for chemistry theory lessons; liking for chemistrylaboratory work; evaluative beliefs about school chemistry; and behavioral tendencies tolearn chemistry. When the ATCLS data were subjected to two-way MANOVA, theinteraction effect between grade level and gender on students' attitudes toward chemistrylessons was statistically significant. The interaction effect was attributable to scores on thetheory lessons subscale and laboratory work subscale. Male students in Secondary 4 and 5liked chemistry theory lessons more than their female counterparts. However, malestudents' liking for chemistry laboratory work declined when they progressed fromSecondary 4 to Secondary 7; no such a significant decline in attitude toward chemistrylaboratory work was found in females. Overall, both males and females were justmarginally positive about chemistry lessons during the years of secondary schooling.Implications of these findings for curriculum design are discussed.