Attitudes about science and conceptual physics learning in university introductory physics courses

Marina Milner-Bolotin,Andrea Noack,Anna Petrov,Tetyana Antimirova

doi:10.1103/physrevstper.7.020107

Abstract

This paper examines the results of the repeated administration of the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS) in a large introductory physics course at a midsize, metropolitan Canadian university. We compare the results to those obtained previously in comparable courses at the University of British Columbia (Canada) and the University of Colorado (U.S.). Atypically, students in this study exhibited a positive shift in their attitudes about science over the semester. The change in students' attitudes across the term appears to be moderated by their educational background---specifically, whether they had taken grade 12 physics or not. The correlation between students' attitudes and their conceptual knowledge also appears to be influenced by students' educational background. The results have pedagogical implications for instructors of introductory college and university physics and potentially for other science courses.

Highlights

During the past 50 years Western societies have become substantially more reliant on science and technology
This paper examines the results of the repeated administration of the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS) in a large introductory physics course at a midsize, metropolitan Canadian university
Students’ negative attitudes about physics and limited interest in science more generally have translated into low student enrollments in high school and in university physics courses leading toward degrees in physical sciences

Summary

INTRODUCTION

During the past 50 years Western societies have become substantially more reliant on science and technology. Students’ attitudes about science are shaped by their real-world experiences, their parents, peers, teachers, and the media These attitudes are often well established long before students enroll in postsecondary science courses [19,20,21]. Studies of the relationships between students’ attitudes about science and their academic achievement are not limited to high school or undergraduate student populations. We investigate the relationship between undergraduate first year science students’ attitudes about science, their conceptual physics learning, and the change in these characteristics across a semester when the students were enrolled in an introductory calculus-based physics course for science majors in a midsize, metropolitan Canadian university with very diverse student population

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Changing attitudes about science

Effect of grade 12 physics on students’ attitudes about science

Relationship between attitudes about science and conceptual understanding

CONCLUSIONS