Sei sulla pagina 1di 7

Contemporary Educational Researches Journal

1 (2012) 8-14

Attitude of prospective teachers towards research: implications for teacher education in Pakistan
Fariha Bibi a, Hafiz Muhammad Lqbal b*, Nadia Majid c
b a

University of Modern Languages, Islamabad Institute of Education and Research, University of the Punjab, Lahore c College of Art and Design, University of the Punjab, Lahore-Pakistan

Abstract An instrument, attitude to research (ATR) developed by Papanastasiou (2005) and having alpha reliability value of 0.948 was administered to 277 graduate students enrolled in different programmes to validate the instrument and also measure their attitude. Out of 277 respondents, 40 were males and 237 females. The results of the study validated the factor structure of ATR scale as developed by Papanastasiou. Out of the 32 items in the original scale 3 items were rejected due to low correlation and two statements were rejected due to low factors loading. The final scale comprised of 27 items with five sub scales. The t-test and One Way ANOVA was used to find out the difference in attitude of respondents toward research. The results indicated that male and female students have almost same level of attitude toward research. However, the significant differences in attitude toward research were found among the prospective teachers enrolled in different programmes of study. Keywords: Attitude, Attitude toward Research, Gender, Teacher education programmes, Confirmatory factor analysis, Reliability; Selection and peer review under responsibility of Prof. Dr. Gulsun A. Baskan 2012 Academic World Education & Research Center. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction A course on research methods is essential component of teacher education curricula around the world. The basic purpose of research methods course in teacher education programme is to enhance the capabilities and capacities of prospective teachers and to promote interest and positive attitude toward research. However, despite studying the research methods course during their initial or subsequent year of teacher education programmes, majority of the graduates of teacher education
* ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE: Hafiz Muhammad, Lqbal, City and Postcode, Country Institute of Education and Research,

University of the Punjab, Lahore E-mail address: drhmiqbal@gmail.com/Tel.: +92 300 9455 296

Hafiz Muhammad Lqbal et all. / Contemporary Educational Researches Journal (2012) 08-14

programme neither like this course nor feel competent in this area of human endeavor. This paper tries to investigate prospective teachers attitudes towards research with the view to enable teacher. educators to adopt remedial measures to improve students performance in this area of vital importance and enable them to become good researcher during their career as teacher. 2. Attitudes Towards Reserach A number of studies document negative attitude of students and educational practitioners toward educational research (Isakson & Ellsworth, 1978; Levine, 2007). The negative attitudes of students not only affect their learning (Wise, 1985: Simpson & Oliver, 1990; Greenfield, 1996) but also their performance in the subject they study (Koballa, Crawley & Shrigley, 1990; Elmore & Lewis, 1991, Zaidner, 1991). Studies indicate that a significant relationship exists between attitude and success (Hough & Piper, 1982; Schibeci & Riley, 1986; Koballa, 1988; German, 1988). While some other studies (Cannon & Simpson, 1985; Keeves & Morgenstern, 1992) mentioned that attitude affects achievement and achievement affects attitude. This scenario calls for a comprehensive study to be conducted to measure the attitude of prospective teachers toward research. 3. Effect of attitude on performance Studies have consistently shown attitudes are impacting not only pupils participation and interest in the subjects they engaging (Simpson & Oliver, 1990; Koballa, Crawley & Shrigley 1990; Weinburgh, 1995; Greenfield, 1996) but also their performance (Linn, 1992:). Moreover, Wilson (1983), Oliver and Simpson (1988), Rana (2002),Papanastasiou and Zembylas, (2004) reported a high correlation between positive attitudes and achievement in science. Levin, Sabar and Libman (1991) reported a positive effect of attitude on students academic success. Similarly, while conducting research on English Class Students of University Level, Hose and Prison (1998) also reported a positive correlation between attitude and academic success but in contrast, Oliver and Simson (1988) did not find strong relationship between the two variables. Some other studies depict positive correlations between success and attitude (Hough & Piper, 1982; Fleming & Malone, 1983) while some more studies (Weinburgh, 1995; Keeves & Aikenhead, 1995) reported that success affects attitudes and attitudes affect success. This study was conducted to validate the attitude towards research (ATR) scale developed by Papanastasiou (2005), to see whether the factor structure of the original scale holds true in Pakistani perspective. Additionally, the difference in attitude towards research of male and female students and that of students enrolled in different teacher education programme was also investigated. 4. Method and procedure 4.1 Sample The sample of the study consists of 277 prospective teachers, 237 females and 40 males, studying at two Public Sector Universities in Pakistan, enrolled in 4th semester that have completed a course on Research Methods in Education during the previous semester. These two universities were selected from two metropolitan areas of Punjab, a relatively populous and prosperous province of Pakistan. 4.2 Instrument In order to measure respondents attitude, Attitude toward Research (ATR) scale was adapted for this study. This instrument developed by Papanastasiou (2005) and was designed on a five point likert scale. This instrument is organized into five sub-scales, that is, usefulness of research, research 9

Hafiz Muhammad Lqbal et all. / Contemporary Educational Researches Journal (2012) 08-14

anxiety, positive attitudes, life relevancy of research to the students daily lives, and difficulty of research. 4.2Procedure The tool was administered to 277 students and the reliability and item analysis was calculated. Item analysis was also conducted to determine the discrimination index (referred to as item to total correlation) and quality of each item in the scale. Reliability of the scale was found 0.837. However, based on further analysis, three items (16, 19, 24) were rejected because their reliability was very low and they were not discriminating between the groups. As described by Dinnel and Thompson (2000): Dunn-Rankin, (1983) and McIver and Carmines (1981), if a statement has zero or low correlation it should not be retained. Further analysis was carried out with the remaining 29 items. The reliability of the 29-item scale was calculated as 0.873. 5. Results 5.1 Confirmatory Factor Analysis The confirmatory factor analysis of the 29 items in the ATR instrument demonstrates a strong factor structure. Majority of the items have a factor loading of at least .40 on their own scales and less than .40 on all the other scales (Aldridge & Fraser, 2000; Aldridge, Fraser, & Huang, 2000; Zandvliet & Man, 2003). Items 15 and 29 have factor loadings of less than 0.40 both on their respective positive attitude scale so these items were not retained. The final version of the ATR consists of 27 items and 5 sub-scales with reliability of total scale as 0.873.
Table 1 : Factor Loadings for the Attitude toward Research Scale (ATR) Factor Loadings F3 positive F4 relevance attitudes to life

Item No. Q2 Q8 Q 14 Q 17 Q 20 Q 21 Q 22 Q 27 Q1 Q6 Q7 Q18 Q25 Q28 Q32 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q12 Q13

F1 research usefulness 0.50 0.73 0.68 0.62 0.74 0.70 0.61 0.63

F2 research anxiety

F5 difficulty of research

0.48 0.43 0.60 0.61 0.58 0.71 0.65 0.82 0.79 0.79 0.75 0.79

10

Hafiz Muhammad Lqbal et all. / Contemporary Educational Researches Journal (2012) 08-14

Q30 Q23 Q26 Q31 Q9 Q10 Q11

0.62 0.73 0.79 0.54 0.51 0.50 0.57

Table 2 : Reliability Level Value for Final ATR Factors TOSRA Factors F1 research usefulness F2 research anxiety F3 positive attitudes F4 relevance to life F5 difficulty of research Number of Items 8 7 6 3 3 Mean 31.68 18.70 20.58 9.98 8.15 SD 5.22 4.65 5.33 2.35 2.50 Cronbach Alpha 0.80 0.68 0.86 0.46 0.63

Table 3 : Comparison of Male and Female Students Attitude toward Research Gender Male
*

N 40

Mean 88.56

SD 13.823

df 273

t 0.327*

p 0.744

p>0.05

The above table reflects that t value (0.327) with df (273) was not significant at p>0.05, It is clear that that male respondents (M=88.56, SD=13.823) and female respondents (M=89.33, SD=13.731) did not differ significantly in their attitude towards research.
Table 4 : One Way ANOVA on Achievement Scores of All Respondents among Levels of Attitude Sum of Squares Between Groups Within Groups Total 5725.124 50347.878 56073.002 7 817.88 4.37 0.000 df Mean Square F p

* p<0.01

11

Hafiz Muhammad Lqbal et all. / Contemporary Educational Researches Journal (2012) 08-14

The F value (4.37) for all respondents was significant at p<0.01. It is evident that attitude scores were significantly different among respondents of eight programmes. It is clear from the table below that the highest mean score (93.86) on attitude scale is of M.A Educational Research and Assessment students and lowest mean score (82.02) is of M.A Early Childhood Education. For further details the mean attitude scores of all the programmes are given below.
Table 5 : Mean and Standard Deviation on Attitude Scale of All Respondents Programmes M.A Educational Research and Assessment M.A Business Education M.A ELTL M.A Technology Education M.A Elementary Education M.A Islamic education M.A Secondary Education M.A Early Childhood Education N 52 47 46 52 11 25 19 25 Mean 93.86 93.05 92.9 85.8 85.06 85.01 82.9 82.02 SD 15.171 15.845 10.833 9.867 20.366 10.864 20.332 9.984

References
Aldridge, J. M. & Fraser, B. J. (2000). A cross-cultural study of classroom learning environments in Australia and Taiwan. Learning Environment Research: An International Journal, 3, 101-134. Baron, R. & Byrne, D. (2004). Social psychology (10th ed.) New Delhi: Prentice Hall of India. Belson, W. A. (1986). Validity in Survey Research. Aldershot: Gower. Quoted in Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K. (2007). Research methods in education. (6th ed.) Routledge. Cannon, R. K. & Simpson, R. D. (1985). Relationships among attitude, motivation, and achievement of ability grouped, seventh-grade, life science students. Science Education, 69, 2, 121-138. Cheung, D. (2009). Students attitudes toward chemistry lessons. Research in Science Education. (2009) 39:75 -91 Dhindsa, H. S., & Chung, G. (2003). Attitude and achievement of Bruneian science students. International Journal of Science Education, 25(8), 907-922. Dinnel, D. L., & Thompson, T. (2000). A validation and reliability study of the Self-Worth Protection Scale. A poster presented at Self-Concept Theory, Research, and Practice: Advances for the New Millennium, Medlow Bath, NSW, Australia. Dunn-Rankine, P. (1983). Scaling methods. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Elmore, P. B., & Lewis, E. L. (1991). Statistics and computer attitudes and achievement of students enrolled in applied statistics: Effect of computer laboratory. Paper presented at theannual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL. Flemming, M. L. & Malone, M. R. (1983). The relationship of student characteristics and student performance asviewed by meta-analysis research. Journal of Research in science teaching, 20, 481-495. Fraser, B. J. (1981). Test of Science-Related Attitude (TOSRA). Melbourne, Victoria: Australian Council for Educational Research. Gardner, P. L. (1975). Attitude to science: A review. Studies in Science Education. 2. 1-41. Gardner, P. L. (1995). Measuring attitudes to science. Research in Science Education, 25, 283 289. Germann, P. J. (1988). Development of the attitude toward science in school assessment and its use to investigate the relationships between science achievement and attitude toward science in school . Journal of Research in Science Teaching. 25(8). 689-703. Geisinger, K. F. (1994). Cross-Cultural Normative Assessment: Translation and Adaptation Issues Influencing the Normative Interpretation of Assessment Instruments. Psychological Assessment. 6(4), 304-312

12

Hafiz Muhammad Lqbal et all. / Contemporary Educational Researches Journal (2012) 08-14

Greenfield, T.A. (1996). Gender, ethnicity, science achievement, and attitudes. Journal of Research in Science Teaching. 33(8), 901-933. Hough L.W. and Piper M.K, (1982). The Relationship Between Science Achievement and Attitudes Toward Science When Using Residualized Scores. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 20 (1982), pp. 3338 House, J.D. & Prison S. K. (1998). Student Attitudes and Academic Background As Predictors of Achievement In College English. Journal of Instructional Media. v.25, n.1, 29-43. Isakson RL, Ellsworth R (1978). Teachers attitudes toward educational research: Its time for a change. Teacher Educator, 14(2): 8-13. Jenkins, E.W. and Pell, R.G. (2006) The Relevance of Science Education Project (ROSE) in England: a summary of findings. Centre for Studies in Science and Mathematics Education, University of Leeds Keeves, J. P, & Aikenhead, G. S. (1995). Science education in a changing world. In B.J. Fraser & H.J. Walberg (Eds.),Improving science education. Chicago: NSSE. Keeves, J. P. & Morgenstern, L. (1992). Attitudes Towards Science: Measures and Effects. In J. Keeves (Ed.), The IEA Study of Science III: Changes in Science Education and Achievement1970-1984 Pergamon, Elmsford, NY. Koballa, T. R. Jr. (1988). Attitude and related concepts in science education. Science v Education, 72, 115 126. Koballa, Jr., Crawley, F. E., & Shrigley, R. L. (1990). A summary of science education - 1988 Science Education, 74 (3). Levine A (2007). Educating researchers. Retrieved September 21, 2010, from http://www.edschools.org/EducatingResearchers/educating_researchers.pdf Levin, T., Sabar, N. and Libman, Z. (1991), Achievements and attitudinal patterns of boys and girls in science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 28(4). 315328 Linn, M. C. (1992). Science education reform: Building the research base. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 29, p.821-840. Linn, R. L. & Gronlund, N. E. (2000). Measurement and assessment in teaching (8th ed). Delhi: Pearson Education, Inc. McIver, J. P., & Carmines, E. D. (1981). Unidimensional scaling. Sage University Paper series on Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences, 07-024. Beverly Hills and London: Sage Publications. Mehrens, W. A. & Lehmann, I. J. (1980). Educational tests and measurements. 3rd ed. Holt, Rinehart and Winston (New York) Menis, J. (1983). Attitudes towards chemistry as compared with those towards mathematics, among tenth grade pupils (aged 15) in high level secondary schools in Israel, Research in Science and Technological Education, 1(2). 185-191 Myers, G. D. (2004). Social psychology (7th ed.) Boston: McGraw-Hill. Nieswandt, M. (2005). Attitudes toward science: a review of the field. In S. Alsop (Ed.). Beyond Cartesian Dualism. Encountering Affect in the Teaching and Learning of Science (pp. 41-52), Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer. Oliver, J.S. & Simpson, R.D. (1988). Influences of attitude toward science, achievement, motivation, and science self concept on achievement in science: a longitudinal study. Science Education. 72(2). 143-155. Oppenheim, A. N. (1992). Questionnaire design, interviewing and attitude measurement. London, UK: Pinter Publishers Osborne, J. F. & Collins, S. (2000). Pupils and parents views of the school science curriculum. London: Kings College London. Osborne, J. F., Simon, S., & Collins, S. (2003). Attitude towards science: a review of the literature and its implications. International Journal of Science Education , 25(9), 1049-1079. Papanastasiou, E. C. & Zembylas, M. (2004). The effect of attitudes on science achievement: a study conducted among high school pupils in Cyprus. Rana, R. A. (2002). Effect of parents, socioeconomic status, students, self-concept and gender on science-related attitudes and achievement (Doctoral Thesis). Lahore: IER, University of the Punjab. Ramsden, J. (1998). Mission impossible: Can anything be done about attitudes to science? International Journal of Science Education, 20, 125-137.

13

Hafiz Muhammad Lqbal et all. / Contemporary Educational Researches Journal (2012) 08-14

Reid, N., & Skryabina, E. A. (2002). Attitude toward physics. Research in Science and Technological Education, 20(1), 67-82. Ryan, A. G., & Aikenhead, G. S. (1992). Students preconceptions about the epistemology of s cience. Science Education, 76(6), 559580. Salta, K. & Tzougraki, C. (2004). Attitudes toward Chemistry among 11th grade students in High schools in Greece. Science Education, 88, 535-547. Schibeci, R. A., & Riley, J. P. (1986). Influence of students back ground and perceptions on science attitudes and achievement. Journal of Research in Science Teaching. 23(3), 177-187. Simpson, R. D., Koballa, Jr., Oliver, J. S. & Crawely, F. E. (1994). Research on the affective dimension of science learning. In Dorothy Gabel (Ed.), Hand Book of Research in Science Teaching and Learning. New York: Macmillan. Simpson, R. D., & Oliver, J. S. (1985). Attitude toward science and achievement motivation profiles of male and female science students in grades six through ten. Science Education, 69, 511526. Simpson, R. D. & Oliver, J.S. (1990). A summary of major influences on attitude toward and achievement in science among adolescent students. Science Education, 74(1), 1-18. Stein, S. J., & McRobbie, C. J. (1997). Students conceptions of science across years of schooling. Research in Science Education, 27(4), 611628. Thorndike, R. L. (1966). Reliability. In E. F. Lindquist (Ed) , Educational Measurement (pp. 560-619). Menasha, WI: George Banta publishing Company. Wilson, V. L. (1983), a meta-analysis of the relationship between science achievement and science attitude kindergarten through college. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 20(9), 839-850 Wise, S. L. (1985). The development and validation of a scale measuring attitudes toward statistics. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 45, 401-405. Zandvliet, D. B. and Fraser, B. J. (2003) Learning environments in IT classrooms. Technology, Pedagogy and Education. Zeidner, M. (1991). Statistics and mathematics anxiety in social science students: Some interesting parallels. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 61, 319-328.

14

Potrebbero piacerti anche