A cross-age study of science student teachers' chemistry attitudes

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of some variables (gender and year of study) on science student teachers' (SSTs) chemistry attitudes. An adapted version of Chemistry Attitudes and Experiences Questionnaire was administered to 983 SSTs drawn from four different universities in the region of Eastern Black Sea, Turkey. Significant differences between genders' mean scores of the CAEQ indicate that the females somewhat develop stronger positive attitudes towards chemistry than do the males. Furthermore, because the first year of the study generally had the highest mean scores of the three subscales of the CAEQ, it can be deduced that tertiary education lacks improving the SSTs' positive chemistry attitudes to a satisfied level and/or a large effect size. Hence, its attitudinal quality should be intimately inquired.