A Study of Affective Objectives in the Teaching of Chemistry

Hadden, Robert A (1975) A Study of Affective Objectives in the Teaching of Chemistry. MSc(R) thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

An examination of certain proposed affective objectives of Chemistry education has been carried out, particularly with the intention of determining whether these objectives are being attained by Scottish pupils following S. C. E. courses in Chemistry at Secondary Schools. A critical survey of Attitude concept and theory has been made, together with an account of measurement procedures which have been devised for attitude assessment and which have been reported in the literature. Results of research have also been reported, particularly in the area of the affective component of attitude to science education. Current opinions on the formulation of desirable affective objectives in education have been included, and critical comment on those proposed for current science syllabuses in Scotland has been made. Questionnaires have been devised employing various attitude measurement techniques in an attempt to measure the attitudes of both pupils and teachers to education in Chemistry. A pre-test has been done in a small number of schools and, after modification, the questionnaires have been circulated to over thirty schools throughout the country. Twenty eight schools cooperated and over thirteen hundred pupils and one hundred science teachers completed questionnaires. A computer programme was prepared to process the data which emerged and to apply statistical analysis procedures. The results from various categories of pupils have been compared and findings have been reported. Pupils who had not included science subjects in their course were used as control groups. A comparison of results obtained by three distinct methods of analysing the data has been carried out, and an attempt to demonstrate that one of these is clearly more appropriate in assessing attitudes has been made. Results from individual schools have been discussed, and a detailed survey of five schools has been made in an attempt to relate the results from pupils in these schools to the attitudes of their teachers and to their school environment. Suggestions for further work in this field have been proposed which are considered not only to be relevant to the teaching of Chemistry, but essential if Chemistry is to make its fullest contribution to the educational process.

• Item Type: Thesis (MSc(R))
• Qualification Level: Masters
• Keywords: Science education, Curriculum development
• Date of Award: 1975
• Depositing User: Enlighten Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:1975-78702
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 30 Jan 2020 15:00
• Last Modified: 30 Jan 2020 15:00
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/78702