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This study was conducted to examine students' attitude towards science. The sample of the study consisted of 3526 students of 10,h grade (Boys = 1914, Girls = 1612) and were from urban (η = 2304) and rural (η = 1222) localities of Pakistan. The instrument administered was "Test of Science Related Attitudes" (TOSRA) developed by Fraser (1981). Results of the study depicted a significant effect of gender and locale on students' attitude towards science. Girls had significantly higher attitude towards science than boys on total scale and on all sub-scales of TOSRA with only one exception of Career Interest in Science subscale on which boys were slightly high than girls but it was not significant. Locality wise results showed rural students to score significantly higher on the total scale and on the subscales of Social Implication and Career Interest in Science than the urban respondents, while the urban respondents scored significantly higher on the subscale of Adoption of Scientific Attitudes than the rural respondents. There was no significant variation between the rural and urban respondents in their Attitude towards Scientific Inquiry, Enjoyment of Science Lessons and Leisure Interest in Science. This study has wide implications for educationists.
Keywords: attitude, science, gender, locale
Advancement in science and technology has created a greater demand for more people to study science and this is particularly pertinent in Pakistan which is struggling for a respectable status among international community and where the number of scientists and engineers are very small as compared to developed countries. To ensure the influx of new scientists, it is important to view how science is taught in schools and how this approach affects students willingness to take an active role in their science learning. Research has consistently shown attitudes as an important component of science education (Gardner, 1975; Joyce & Farenga, 2000; Osborne, Simon, & Collins, 2003; Schibeci & Riley, 1986) impacting not only pupils participation and interest (Greenfield, 1996; Koballa, Crawley, & Shrigley, 1990; Simpson & Oliver, 1990; Weinburgh, 1995), but also their performance in science (Linn, 1992). Moreover, Wilson (1983), Oliver and Simpson (1988), Rana (2002), and Papanastasiou and Zembylas (2004) reported a high correlation between positive attitude towards science and achievement in science. Numerous studies document that students attitude...