Students' scientific habits of mind from the perspective of educational levels and gender

Abstract

This descriptive study with a quantitative approach aims to compare the Scientific Habits of Mind (SHOM) of undergraduate chemistry education students and postgraduate chemistry education students on Socio-Scientific Issues (SSI) based on gender and education level. A total of 164 students of chemistry education consisting of 69 undergraduate students (12 males and 57 females) and 95 masters students (28 males and 67 females) participated in this study using a simple random sampling technique. Data were collected with 28 items through a seven-factor SHOM scale survey. Data from student SHOM measurement results were analyzed using inferential statistical techniques, namely the Two-Way ANOVA test to determine differences in education level and gender and independent t-test to determine differences in each factor analyzed using SPSS IBM 25 with a significance level of 5%. The results of the Two-Way ANOVA test showed that there was a statistically significant difference in SHOM between undergraduate and postgraduate students in chemistry education (p<0.05) and there was no significant difference between male and female chemistry education students (p>0.05). The results of the independent t-test showed that there were differences in the factors of scepticism, rationality, and objectivity at the level of undergraduate students and postgraduate students, while based on gender, there were differences in the factors of curiosity and objectivity. The existence of this research is able to provide insight into how scientists think and encourage students' critical attitudes so that students are able to make decisions in the right way regarding SSI. This research is expected to encourage further research on the importance of training SHOM in learning to overcome various complex problems related to science.