EFFECT OF TRACK POSITION ON STUDENTS’ ATTITUDE TOWARDS SCIENCE

Abstract

Attitude towards science (ATS) is major concern in science education due to its positive correlation with students’ science achievement. However, previous studies showed that students’ ATS is decreasing in many countries. Although many attempts have been taken to solve this problem, little consideration has been given to the effect of track position and students’ ATS. While cognitive aspect plays major role in tracking, affective aspect such as ATS is overlooked. It might be one of the factors that contributing to the decrease of students’ ATS. Accordingly, this paper aimed to investigate the effect of tracking on students’ ATS. A total of 450 science stream students and 299 arts stream students were involved in this study. The findings showed that among science stream students, 21 students (4.67%) prefer arts stream rather than science stream. Their ATS level is statistically significant lower than science stream students who prefer science stream and the effect size is large (Cohen’s d = 1.1028). Meanwhile, among arts stream students, 47 students (15.7%) prefer science stream rather than arts stream. Although their ATS level is higher than arts stream students who prefer arts stream, the difference is not statistically significant, with negative and small effect size (Cohen’s d = -.2271). The findings of this study would bear significant implication to enhance awareness of public and educators about the important of ATS in tracking. Moreover, this study would provides useful information for stakeholders in determining students’ stream. Key words: affective, attitude towards science, science education, tracking.