TAKE-HOME-EXPERIMENT: ENHANCING STUDENTS’ SCIENTIFIC ATTITUDE

Abstract

One classic problem in science education that is still happening today is the lack of learners’ involvement in scientific activity. This may lead to not instilling positive scientific attitudes and the fostering of positive attitudes towards science is an important aspect that could promote greater interest towards science. The Take-Home-Experiment strategy is an attempt to implement an alternative strategy to ascertain whether its implementation promotes a positive attitude towards science among lower secondary school students. A quasi-experimental design was used to determine the effect of the T-H-E strategy on students' scientific attitudes. A total of 151 students in Form 2 from a lower secondary school at Pekanbaru Indonesia were divided into three groups: T-H-E group, Laboratory-Experimental group and Conventional group. The research used a questionnaire instrument on scientific attitude which consisted of 31 items with a Cronbach alpha reliability index of 0.68. The result of a one-way ANOVA shows that there was a significant difference in scientific attitude of students among these 3 groups. The mean score (mean = 3.21) for scientific attitude of the T-H-E group was higher compared to both the laboratory-experimental group (mean = 3.07) and the conventional group (mean = 2.91). This research found that the use of the Take-Home-Experiment strategy in teaching science has the potential to enhance lower secondary school students’ scientific attitude. Keywords: scientific approach, teaching science, scientific attitude, Take-Home-Experiment.