A Meta-analysis of Researches on Secondary School Student's Attitude to and Achievement in Science Subjects
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Date
2013-08
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Volume Title
Publisher
Department of Science Education, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria
Abstract
Results from studies on secondary school students’ attitude to science subjects are varied and there is need to aggregate their outcomes and identify its direction. A meta-analysis of studies on Nigerian secondary school students’ attitude to science subjects were carried out to find out whether they generally have positive or negative attitude to science subjects. Gender influences on students’ attitude and relationship existing between their attitude to and achievements in science subjects were also studied. Out of 78 published research reports as well as supervised dissertations and theses on attitude to and achievement in science subjects reviewed, the survey method was adopted to purposively sample 18 research reports. These summarized and meta-analyzed with the use of percentage, t-test and Pearson Product Moment Correlation coefficient to answer the three research questions raised. It was found that more than 50% of Nigerian secondary school students have negative attitude to science subjects while a greater percentage of male students demonstrated positive attitude to these subjects than their female counterparts. The result also revealed a mean Pearson’s correlation coefficient of 0.71 between respondents’ attitude to and achievement in science subjects. Based on these findings, it was recommended that teachers should demonstrate greater resourcefulness in science teaching while parents and teachers should be encouraged to be more aware of the importance of the attitude of students toward science subjects with the aim of promoting positive attitude.
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Keywords
Meta-analysis, Students’ attitude, Science achievement