. v.” I 3' . ‘ ‘ 1‘. - ~ 7 'n: ‘.‘.‘\‘.V'l(§'q'ij..'.,‘ ...' pm, , - aim; ....... "‘i .»“'.'.' ....... ......... ,,,,,,,,, 31 mm or mmmmrzs Macaw-m ammm SCHOOL mums-mm mm: SSEENGE‘ ‘ ‘ 4-4 ,, + Mfirmeegrmmn ' """" figeWflSTAE-Ufim 2: _.::5 |\\\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ \\ M\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\I 3 1293 10495 4015 LIBR‘ARY Michigan State UniVCI‘SltY (P. ’ This is to certify that the thesis entitled A STUDY OF THE ATTITUDES OF PROSPECTIVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS TOWARD BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE presented by Donald Albert Snitgen has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for Ph .D . degree in Education ”1/24”” Major professor 5'9‘7/ Date 0-7639 ABSTRACT A STUDY OF THE ATTITUDES OF PROSPECTIVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS TOWARD BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE By Donald Albert Snitgen A number of science educators have shown concern for the effect teacher education courses have on the attitudes of prospective elementary school teachers toward science. Studies were reported in the literature which dealt with attitude toward science in general and some which included the development of attitude measuring instruments designed to assess attitudes toward science. However, there have been no investigations dealing with attitudes toward biological science specifically nor have any instruments been constructed with which to measure these attitudes. The investigative purpose of this research was to de- termine the effect a biological science course, taught by a combination lecture and auto-tutorial technique, had on prOSpective elementary school teachers' attitudes toward biological science. The Biological Science Attitude Scale was constructed by the investigator in order to measure these attitudes. The study was conducted in the Science and Mathematics Teaching Center at Michigan State University. The subjects consisted of experimental groups comprised of elementary Donald Albert Snitgen education majors enrolled in Biological Science 202 during winter and spring terms, 1970. The control groups were com- prised of elementary education majors who had never taken Biological Science 202. The controls were selected from elementary education majors enrolled in Mathematics 201 during winter and spring terms, 1970. The treatment of major interest was the Biological Science 202 course, and the statistical procedures for this investigation were one- way analyses of covariance with pretest scores serving as covariables. The Biological Science Attitude Scale was constructed according to the Thurstone equal-appearing intervals tech- nique. Test-retest reliability was computed and found to be r - 0.633. Split-half test reliability was calculated and was found to be rtt . 0.86. Validity of the instrument was assumed as a consequence of the process by which the attitude statements were subjected to judgment by a panel of staff members and graduate assistants in the Science and Mathematics Teaching Center and a sample of elementary edu- cation majors enrolled in Biological Science 202. The F-ratios obtained after subjecting the data to a one-way analysis of covariance was found to be less than the values necessary to show a significant difference at the 0.05 level. As a consequence, none of the hypotheses tested were rejected. Based on these data it was concluded Donald Albert Snitgen that completion of the Biological Science 202 course, by elementary education majors did not change their attitudes toward biological science. Although the students' atti- tudes toward biological science were not significantly in- creased, neither were they significantly decreased. As measured by the Biological Science Attitude Scale, the stu- dents entered the Biological Science 202 course with positive attitudes toward biological science and these attitudes were not decreased as a consequence of having taken the course. Based upon the data obtained in this investigation, the Biological Science 202 course seems to have maintained the positive attitudes toward biological science with which the students entered the course. A STUDY OF THE ATTITUDES 0F PROSPECTIVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS TOWARD BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE By Donald Albert Snitgen A THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Secondary Education and Curriculum 1971 X) (J3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author wishes to thank the members of his doctoral committee: Dr. Charles Blackman, Dr. Julian Brandon, and Dr. Fred Stehr. He eSpecially wants to thank his doctoral committee chairman, Dr. John Mason, for his advice, encouragement, and friendship. Finally, he wishes to acknowledge the fact that without the love and patience of Mary, Jeanne, James, and John Snitgen this dissertation could not have been completed. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Need for the study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 The study. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Purposes of the study. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Statement of hypotheses. . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Definition of terms. . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Assumptions basic to the study . . . . . . . . . 12 Delimitations of the study . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Summary and overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE . . . . . . . . . . 18 Background and definitions of attitude . . . . . 18 Importance of attitudes in science education . . 22 Elementary teachers' or prOSpective teachers' attitudes toward science or science teaching. 28 Effect of biological science courses on attitudes.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 III. DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Background of the study. . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Design of the study. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Subjects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 BiOIOgical Science 202, winter term, 1970. . . . 45 General Assembly Session, winter term, 1970. . . 46 Independent Study Session, winter term, 1970 . . 46 Small Assembly Session, winter term, 1970. . . . 51 Oral Quiz Session. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Optional term projects, winter term, 1970. . . . 53 Determination of final course grades, winter term, 1970. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Biological Science 202, Spring term, 1970. . . . 54 General Assembly Session, Spring term, 1970. . . 54 Independent Learning Session, spring term, 1970. 55 Small Assembly Session, Spring term, 1970. . . . 55 Determination of final course grades, Spring term, 1970. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Order of presentation of tOpics, Spring term, 1970. . . . . . . . . 57 Administration of the Biological Science Attitude Scale, winter term, 1970 . . . . . . 57 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Chapter Page III (continued) Administration of the Biological Science Attitude Scale, Spring term, 1970 . . . . . 58 Scoring the Biological Science Attitude Scale reaponses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Treatment of the data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 IV. CONSTRUCTION OF THE BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE ATTITUDE SCALE. 0 O I C O O C O O O O O O O O I O O O O O 62 Methods of attitude scale construction . . . . . 63 Attitude scale deve10pment by the equal- appearing intervals technique . . . . . . . 65 Review of techniques for obtaining judgments of statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Procedures used in the present study for obtaining judgments of the attitude statements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Computation of S values. . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Computation of Q values. . . . . . . . 75 Selection of statements for the Biological Science Attitude Scale. . . . . . . . . . . 77 A repetition of the process of judging the attitude statements . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Computation of attitude scores for reSpondents . 90 Test- retest reliability. . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Split-half reliability.. . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Validity of the instrument . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 V. FINDINGS OF THE STUDY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Hypothesis 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hypothesis 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Hypothesis 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 VI. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Conclusions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Implications of the study. . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Recommendations for further study. . . . . . . . 110 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Chapter Page BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 APPENDICES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 A. List of Original 100 Attitude Statements with S and Q Values . . . . . . . . . . . 121 B. The Biological Science Attitude Scale as Administered to the BiOIOgical Science 202 Students. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 C. The Biological Science Attitude Scale as Administered to the Mathematics 201 Students. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 D. Raw Scores. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 E. Objectives for the Weekly Units 1—9 in the Biological Science 202 Course . . . . 148 LIST OF TABLES Table 10 10. 11. 12. Distribution of Students by Curriculum During Winter Term, 1970, Enrollment in Biological Science. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Experimental and Control Groups for Winter and Spring Terms, 1970 . . . . . . . . . . Outline of Topics Covered in Biological Science 202 Winter Term, 1970. . . . . . . . . . . . . Summary Table Showing Judgments of Statements Obtained from Twenty-five Elementary Education Students, Spring Term, 1970. . . . . . . . . List of 32 Statements Showing S and Q Values Estimate of an Average r for Experimental and Control Groups Using S Fisher r to 2 Transformation . . . . . . . . . . . . Number of Subjects, Means, and Standard Deviations for Each Experimental and Control Group. . . . Analysis of Covariance for Posttest Scores on the Biological Science Attitude Scale for Experimental Group I and Control Group 1, Winter Term . . . . Analysis of Covariance for Posttest Scores on the Biological Science Attitude Scale for Experimental Group II and Control Group II, Spring Term Analysis of Covariance for Posttest Scores on the Biological Science Attitude Scale for Experimental Group I and Experimental Group II. . . . . . . . Raw Scores for Pretest and Posttest of the Winter Term Experimental Group on the Biological Science Attitude Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Raw Scores for Pretest and Posttest of the Winter Term Control Group on the Biological Science AttitUde scale 0 O O O O O O O O O O 0 O O O O I O Page 43 45 48 83 87 92 98 99 101 102 141 144 Table 13. 14. LIST OF TABLES (continued) Page Raw Scores for Pretest and Posttest of the Spring Term Experimental Group on the Biological Science Attitude Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 Raw Scores for Pretest and Posttest of the Spring Term Control Group on the Biological Science Attitude Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 vii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The effect of instruction upon an individual's ac— quisition of knowledge and skills in Specific educational areas has been the subject of many investigations. The re— sults of such studies usually indicated significant gains which were inferred to be attributable to the instructional method employed in the particular study. There is no question that educational instruction should provide a means for increasing one's knowledge and skills. There is also ”... no Question that what we teach is often different from what we £311. Sometimes we teach the beauty and importance of a subject as well as the substance of it. Sometimes, though we teach peOple to dislike, and then to 1 This avoid, the very subject we are teaching them about." problem becomes critical if the peOple being taught a sub- ject are preparing to become elementary school teachers who will be expected to devote at least part of their time 1Robert F. Mager, DeveloPing Attitude Toward Learning (Palo Alto: Fearon Publishers, 1968), p. vi. teaching that subject. Mager elaborated on this problem: If one of our goals is to influence the student to think about, learn about, talk about, and do something about our subject, sometime after 6;; direct influence over him comes to an end, how can we say we have been successful if the student actively avoids any further mention of the subject? Whatever else we do in the way of influencing the student, the least we must strive to achieve is to send him away with favorable rather than un— favorable feelings about the subject or activity we teach. This might well be our minimum, and universal goal in teaching. The problem of students' attitudes toward their formal school experiences has received some attention. There appears to be a need, however, for additional studies related to the attitudes of students toward particular sub- ject matter areas. The present study was concerned with the attitudes of elementary education majors toward bio- logical science as they began a course in biological science in contrast to their attitudes at the completion of the course. The study should be of interest to educators in the field of elementary education and to teachers of bio- logical science for prospective elementary teachers. One task in preparing the proSpective elementary teacher is to maintain and, if possible, increase the trainees' attitudes toward the discipline areas which they will be called upon to teach in their professional careers. Ibid., p. 10. Need for the study. Several individuals have indi- cated a need for studies such as the present one. Schwirian pointed out: Positive attitudes toward science and its role in society are not an automatic consequence of our age---an age in—wHich the world in general and Western society in particular are enjoying the fruits of science in the form of the highest standard of living in history. Appreciation is not equivalent to understanding.... The development of_hzalthy, positive attitudes regarding the scientific enter- prise and its practicioners is one of the major reaponsibilities of science educators at all levels. Central to this task of attitude education is identification and description of the nature of the attitudes we wish to instill and the deve10pment of instruments with which we may assess these attitudes.. .3 Schwirian also emphasized the need for science educators to be concerned about the attitudes of elementary school teachers toward science. She said: Curriculum reform attempts for elementary school science are currently very noticeable, very fashion- able, often well-financed, and too often, unsuccessful. ... I suggest that a major problem lies in the atti- tudinal set of the classroom teacher. If one sees little or no value or relevance in the processes of science or the scientific enterprise, one is unlikely to devote the great quantities of time and energy required to make curriculum revision truly success- ful. 3Patricia M. Schwirian, “0n Measuring Attitudes Toward Science,” Science Education 52:172-173, March, 1968. 4Patricia M. Schwirian, "Characteristics of Elemen- tary Teachers Related to Attitudes Toward Science,“ Journal 2f Research in Science Teaching 6:203, 1969. 4 Matala and McCollum5 indicated, “Status studies have their contribution to make, but a crying need today is for the design, trial, and evaluation of better procedures for teaching science information, problem solving technics, attitudes, and appreciations.” Smithb concluded that his review showed, " a desirable tendency toward a broader spectrum of concern, but still lacking are systematic longi- tudinal studies showing the impact of varied methods and materials on student attitudes, understanding, performance and motivation.” Bruce7 said that "... it appears ... a far greater prOportion of the literature devoted to science teacher education is concerned with descriptive reporting and what might be termed 'reasoned editorializing' than with research findings that might lead to sound modifications of practice." Soy8 commented on pre-service elementary SDorothy c. Matala and Clifford c. McCollum, "Science in the Elementary Grades," Review 32 Educational Research 27:323, October, 1957. 6Herbert A. Smith, "Curriculum Deve10pment and Instructional Materials," Review pf Eddcational Research 39:409, October, 1969. 7Mathew H. Bruce, ”Teacher Education in Science,” Review 2f Educational Research 39:415, October, 1969. 8Eloise Marian SOy, "Attitudes of Prospective Elementary Teachers Toward Science as a Field of Specialty," School Science and Mathematics 67:515-516, June, 1967. 4 Matala and McCollum5 indicated, ”Status studies have their contribution to make, but a crying need today is for the design, trial, and evaluation of better procedures for teaching science information, problem solving technics, attitudes, and appreciations." Smithb concluded that his review showed, "... a desirable tendency toward a broader spectrum of concern, but still lacking are systematic longi— tudinal studies showing the impact of varied methods and materials on student attitudes, understanding, performance and motivation." Bruce7 said that ”... it appears ... a far greater prOportion of the literature devoted to science teacher education is concerned with descriptive reporting and what might be termed 'reasoned editorializing' than with research findings that might lead to sound modifications of practice." Soy8 commented on pre-service elementary SDorothy c. Matala and Clifford c. McCollum, "Science in the Elementary Grades," Review 2i Educational Research 27:323, October, 1957. 6Herbert A. Smith, "Curriculum Deve10pment and Instructional Materials," Review 25 Eddcational Research 39:409, October, 1969. 7Mathew H. Bruce, “Teacher Education in Science,” Review 23 Educational Research 39:415, October, 1969. 8Eloise Marian 80y, "Attitudes of Prospective lilementary Teachers Toward Science as a Field of £3pecia1ty," School Science and Mathematics 67:515-516, June, 1967. education by saying: As the new science programs come into being, it is time for all of us---e1ementary and junior high teachers and principals; teachers, coun- selors, and administrators at the high school and college levelS-—-to ask ourselves the question, 'What can be done to give these preservice elemen- tary teachers more satisfying experiences in science?'" Kleinman,9 reporting on possible reasons for a low percentage of women scientists in the United States, said: If, ..., the number of women in the science pool is a function of negative attitudes towards science inculcated early, then the way to increase the number of women in science is to introduce favorable attitudes toward science early. This can be done by improved science education for elementary teachers. If elementary teachers can be assisted to teach science with some degree of satisfaction and pleasure two important purposes will be accom- plished: 1) favorable attitudes will be develOped among all children toward science and 2) the cul— tural bias against women 'messing around' with science will be overcome. Another educator who pointed out the importance of the relationship between attitudes and elementary science teaching was DeRoche when he wrote: The elementary teacher is still the focal point of the elementary school science program. Some teachers pay lip-service to the objectives of science education. Other teachers treat science as if it were part of the reading program. Still others consider science as a vital part of the curriculum and thus teach it as such. It is generally agreed that a good program in any elemen- tary classroom depends upon the teacher's attitude 9Gladys S. Kleinman, "The Key to the Science Womanpower Pool: Teacher Education," School Science and Mathematics 68:317, April, 1968. toward science and her abilita to teach the Specific content in science.1 Jacobs stressed the importance of attitude formation to the elementary teacher education program when he pointed out: One of the purposes of teacher education is to effect a change in the behavior of students so that they can Show an inclination or predisposi- tion to act in certain ways in given situations, it should be the purpose of a teacher education program to mold attitudes that will equip the prospective teacher to deal with the teaching role in a way that will bring the greatest benefit to his students in terms of their individual growth toward living in a free and democratic society. Aiken and Aiken concluded their literature review on attitudes concerning science with the following recommends- tion: ..., it may be observed that teachers of science ---at least to a greater extent than teachers of mathematics--—seem to have recognized that the teaching of attitudes is a part of their task. The research reports and other papers which we have re— viewed also indicate that teachers can help develOp positive attitudes toward science. Although the average student shows a greater preference for science than mathematics and certain other school subjects, the growing impact of science on our daily lives necessitates continued 10Edward F. DeRoche, "A Study of a Teaching Procedure in Elementary Science," The Catholic Educational Review 65:524, November, 1967. 11Elmer B. Jacobs, "Attitude Change in Teacher Edu- cation: An Inquiry into the Role of Attitudes in Changing Teacher Behavior," The Journal of Teacher Educa- tion 19:410. Winter, 1968. _" study of ways in which to assess and improve these attitudes. Of particular importance in further research on attitudes toward science is the deve10pment of more precise measures of attitudes toward the various aSpects of science.12 This partial literature review shows that educators are concerned with the importance of teachers' attitudes toward science and with the need to incorporate techniques for deveIOping positive attitudes into teaching education programs. While the direct teaching for attitude deve10p— ment has been advocated by several educators, most college science courses, however, are designed primarily for the acquisition of cognitive objectives. With reSpect to atti— tudes, the belief is often held that inherent in the imple- mentation of the course students will acquire desirable attitudes toward the subject matter area. A few studies have shown this to be possible, while others have shown that scientific attitudes were not concomitant outcomes of science instruction. As indicated by Mager,13 there is also the question as to whether or not students acquire negative feelings as a result of educational experiences. Thus, there is a need for research concerned with ways to incor— porate attitude deve10pment within a given science course 2 Lewis R. Aiken and Dorothy R. Aiken, "Recent Research on Attitudes Concerning Science," Science Education 53:303, October, 1969. 13Mager, 22. cit., p. 10. 8 and also for studies to ascertain the effect that established courses may have upon students' attitudes. This investigation was concerned with the effect a required biological science course for elementary education majors had on the attitudes of prOSpective teachers toward the science of biology. Although a number of studies re- ported in the literature dealt with investigating attitudes toward science, scientists, and scientific careers,“+ there were none known to this researcher which dealt Specifically with attitudes toward the science of biology. Neither were there any measurement instruments designed specifically for the purpose of assessing attitudes toward biological science. The study. The study was carried on in the Science and Mathematics Teaching Center at Michigan State University winter and Spring terms, 1970. The Science and Mathematics Teaching Center is administratively reSponsible for Biological Science 202 which is a required science course for elementary education majors. Each term students in Biological Science 202 were administered, as a pretest and posttest, a Biological Science Attitude Scale as a measure of their attitudes toward biological science. Students completing both the pretest and posttest administrations in a given term constituted Experimental Groups I and II ”Aiken and Aiken, 33. cit., pp. 295-305. respectively. Control groups for the study consisted of elementary education majors who had never taken Biological Science 202, including the terms during which the study was conducted. Since Mathematics 201 is a required course for all elementary education majors at Michigan State University, the investigator decided to select the control groups from students enrolled in the course. Students con- stituting the control also completed pretest and posttest administrations of the Biological Science Attitude Scale and were designated Control Groups I and II for winter and spring terms reSpectively. The Biological Science Attitude Scale was deveIOped by the investigator. Changes occurred in the Biological Science 202 course during the two terms in which the study was conducted. These changes were the result of the natural evolution of the course and were not experimental manipulations directed by the investigator. The course as it existed during the two terms is described in detail in Chapter III. Purposes of the study. The main purposes of this study were: (1) to determine whether or not the taking of Biological Science 202 produced any change in attitudes of the elementary education majors toward biological science; and, (2) to develop an instrument for measuring attitudes toward biological science as a psychological object. respectively. Control groups for the study consisted of elementary education majors who had never taken Biological Science 202, including the terms during which the study was conducted. Since Mathematics 201 is a required course for all elementary education majors at Michigan State University, the investigator decided to select the control groups from students enrolled in the course. Students con- stituting the control also completed pretest and posttest administrations of the Biological Science Attitude Scale and were designated Control Groups I and II for winter and spring terms respectively. The Biological Science Attitude Scale was deve10ped by the investigator. Changes occurred in the Biological Science 202 course during the two terms in which the study was conducted. These changes were the result of the natural evolution of the course and were not experimental manipulations directed by the investigator. The course as it existed during the two terms is described in detail in Chapter III. Purposes of the study. The main purposes of this study were: (1) to determine whether or not the taking of Biological Science 202 produced any change in attitudes of the elementary education majors toward biological science; and, (2) to deve10p an instrument for measuring attitudes toward biological science as a psychological object. 10 Statement of hypotheses. The central hypothesis tested in this study was: Elementary education majors, as measured by posttest scores on the Biological Science Atti— tude Scale, who completed Biological Science 202 had Sig- nificantly different attitudes toward biological science than a control group of elementary education majors enrolled in Mathematics 201 who had not been exposed to Biological Science 202. For the purposes of this study the central hypothesis was subdivided into three experimental hypotheses. The three experimental hypotheses, stated in the null form, were: 1. There is no significant difference in attitudes of elementary education majors enrolled in Biological Science 202 during winter term, 1970, and a control group of elementary education majors enrolled in Mathematics 201 during winter term, 1970. 2. There is no significant difference in attitudes of elementary education majors enrolled in Biological Science 202 during spring term, 1970, and a control group of elementary education majors enrolled in Mathematics 201 during spring term, 1970. 3. There is no significant difference in attitudes of elementary education majors enrolled in ll Biological Science 202 during winter term, 1970, and elementary education majors enrolled in Biological Science 202 during spring term, 1970. Definition of terms. The terms Operationally defined for use in this study are: Attitude: "... attitude is the sum total of a man's inclinations and feelings, prejudice or bias, pre- conceived notions, ideas, fears, threats and convictions about any Special tOpic.”15 Psychological Object: "... any symbol, phrase, slogan, person, institution, ideal, or idea toward which peOple can differ with respect to positive or negative affect."16 For the purpose of this study, biological science was the psychological object. Attitude Scale: "An attitude-measuring instrument the units of which have been experimentally determined and equated; designed to obtain a quantitative evaluation of "17 an attitude;.... The attitude scale constructed for 15L. L. Thurstone and E. J. Chave, The Measurement 23 Attitude (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1929), pp. 6-7. 16Allen L. Edwards, Techniques of Attitude Scale Construction (New York: Appleton-Century—Crofts, Inc., 1957), p. 2. 17Carter V. Good (ed.), Dictionary 22 Education (2nd ed.; New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1959), p. 477. 12 use in this study was the Biological Science Attitude Scale. Elementary Education Majors: For the purposes of this study, the terms "elementary education major" and "prospective elementary school teacher" were used inter- changeably. The term elementary education major includes the subjects of this study who were majoring in the elemen- tary education curriculum at Michigan State University and enrolled in either Biological Science 202 or Mathematics 201 during winter and Spring terms, 1970. Students majoring in elementary special education were also in the category, elementary education majors, as used in this study. Biological Science: The science which is specifically l8 concerned with the study of life. For the purpose of this study the term "biological science" and the "science of biology' were used synonymously. Basic assumptions. The following assumptions were made in pursuing the study: 1. Elementary education majors at Michigan State University were able to understand the directions for completing the Biological Science Attitude Scale. 18William T. Keeton, Biological Science (New York: W. W. Norton and Company, Inc., 1967), p. l. l3 2. Elementary education majors were able to compre- hend the statements on the Biological Science Attitude Scale. 3. Elementary education majors would give an honest reSponse as to whether they agreed or disagreed with the statements on the Biological Science Attitude Scale. 4. The time and place of administration of the Biological Science Attitude Scale had no effect on the subjects' attitude scores. 5. The various stimuli existing in the environment, such as television programs, movies, newSpaper articles, and/or fictional books had no signifi— cant influence on the attitudes of the subjects toward biological science. Delimitations of the study. The subjects in this study were drawn from a p0pulation of elementary education majors at Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan who were enrolled in Biological Science 202 or Mathematics 201 during winter and Spring terms, 1970. Any generalizations that are made based on this study should be restricted to pOpulationS that are similar to the pOpula- tion from which the sample in this study was drawn. The findings reflect only upon the effect a college science course, such as Biological Science 202, has on attitudes 14 toward biological science of elementary education majors as measured by the Biological Science Attitude Scale. Another limitation of the study was the way the sub- jects were selected. Intact classes which included elemen- tary education majors in Biological Science 202 and Mathematics 201 who had been assigned according to the regular enrollment procedure were used for experimental groups and control groups respectively. Although this design does not control for all possible confounding variables, precision can be increased by using a pretest and analysis of covariance.19 A third limitation of this investigation was that the reSponses of the elementary education majors must be considered valid representations of their perceptions of the attitude statements on the Biological Science Attitude Scale. In a similar situation Pfeifle20 commented, "This limitation is not unique.... Responses dealing with Opinions, beliefs, or perceptions are a common characteris- tic in investigations of this nature." 9 Donald T. Campbell and Julian C. Stanley, Experi— mental and Quasi—Experimental Designs for Research (Chicago: Rand'McNally and Co., 1969), pp. 47-48. 20Henry H. Pfeifle, "An Investigation Into the Relationship of Practicum Experience to Clients' Ratings of Counselors" (unpublished Doctor's dissertation, The University of Miami, 1969), p. 12. 15 Another limitation of the study was the fact that the data were limited to only those subjects who reSponded to both the pretest and posttest administration of the Biological Science Attitude Scale. For example, there were some students who took the pretest and then withdrew from the Biological Science 202 course. Also, some students missed taking the pretest due to late enrollment and took only the posttest. Summary and overview. A number of science educators have shown concern for the effect teacher education courses have on the attitudes of prOSpective elementary school teachers toward science. Studies were reported in the literature which dealt with attitude toward science in general and some which included the development of attitude measuring instruments designed to assess attitudes toward science. However, there have been no investigations dealing with attitudes toward biological science Specifically nor have any instruments been constructed with which to measure these attitudes. The investigative purpose of this research was to determine the effect a biological science course, taught by a combination lecture and auto-tutorial technique, had on prOSpective elementary school teachers' attitudes toward biological science. The Biological Science Attitude 16 Scale was constructed by the investigator in order to measure these attitudes. Assumptions incorporated into this study included elementary education majors' ability to understand the directions, comprehend the statements, and reSpond honestly while taking the Biolog1cal Science Attitude Scale. Time and place of administration of the instrument were con- sidered, and the instrument was assumed to be valid. Ex- posure to environmental stimuli was considered and it was assumed there was one experimental variable to which only the experimental groups were exposed. Delimitations of the study included the source and location of the sample and the absence of random assignment of subjects to treatment groups. The study was further limited by the subjects' perceptions of the statements on the attitude instrument and by the use of data consisting of only pretest and posttest scores of those subjects who took both the pretest and posttest. Chapter II presents a review of the literature. A detailed description of the study is presented in Chapter III. Chapter IV includes a detailed description of the procedure by which the Biological Science Attitude Scale was constructed and a review of the literature pertinent to attitude scale construction. The findings of the study 17 are presented in Chapter V. A summary of the study, con- clusions, and recommendations are given in Chapter VI. CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE A cursory review of the literature dealing with atti- tudes revealed a considerable body of published information. In view of the vast coverage of attitudinal studies, the in— vestigator limited the following review to studies and re- ports which he considered apprOpriate to the present inves- tigation. This chapter has been organized into the following sections: (1) background and definitions of attitude; (2) importance of attitudes in science education; (3) elementary teachers' or prospective teachers' attitudes toward science or science teaching; and, (4) effect of biological science courses on attitudes. A review of the literature relating to attitude measurement is presented in Chapter IV. 1 Background and definitions of attitude. Allport re- ported on the history of the attitude concept in his chapter on "Attitudes" in A Handbook 3f Social Psychology. He said, “Like most abstract terms in the English language, attitude has more than one meaning. Derived from the Latin aptus, it 1Gordon W. Allport, "Attitudes,” A Handbook 3f Social Psychology (Worcester, Mass.: Clark University Press, 1935), pp. 798-805. 18 19 has on the one hand the significance of 'fitness' or 'adapted- ness, and like its byeform aptitude connotes a subjective or mental state of preparation for action."2 In the field of art, the term referred to the outward or visible posture of a figure in statuary or painting. Allport pointed out that, "The first meaning is clearly preserved in modern psychology in what are often referred to as 'mental attitudes'; and the second meaning in 'motor attitudes.”3 Herbert Spencer in 1862 and Alexander Bain in 1868 were two of the earliest psychologists to emplOy the term attitude in their writings.4 AllportS attributed to Lange in 1888 the first explicit recognition of attitude within the domain of laboratory psycholOgy. Thomas and Znaniecki in 1918 were credited "...for instituting the concept of atti- tude as a permanent and central feature in sociological writing....”b They defined social psychology as the scien- tific study of attitudes.7 Allport8 felt that it "...is 2Ibid. 8Ibid., p 59 3Ibid. 4Ibid. 51bid. 61bid., p. 802. 7Gordon W. Allport, ”The Historical Background of Modern Social Psychology," The Handbook 23 Social Psychology eds. Gardner Lindsey and Elliot Aronson (Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1968), pp. 59-60. 20 probably the most distinctive and indispensable concept in contemporary American social psychology.” According to Allport, the term attitude first began to appear in psychology textbook indices in 1900 with one text containing the term prior to that time. He also reported that between 1900 and 1925 attitude appeared in the indices of twelve textbooks 9 and by 1932 the number had increased to sixteen. A review of the literature dealing with the history of the attitude concept shows that, although the attitude concept had its beginnings in the late 1800's, it is essen- tially a twentieth century phenomenon. The review also in- dicates social psychologists were responsible for culturing the concept of attitude as a human attribute to be studied. In his review of the literature on attitudes, Sherman listed some of the definitions of attitude used from 1920— 1932. Some of the definitions included in his review were: (1) attitude is a prOperly settled behavior, a settled manner of acting because of habitual feeling or Opinion; (2) the attitude is in part the residual effect of the act, but it remains as a predisposition to certain forms of subsequent activity. The motive or intention is an integral part of the act, and no estimate of the quality of the act can be made without considering the inner experience; (3) a set of 91b1d., pp. 59-00. 21 mind which determines ones response to particular situations; (4) an attitude is a complex of feelings, desires, fears, convictions, prejudices or other tendencies that have given a set or readiness to act to a person because of varied ex- periences; (5) an attitude is a general emotional and intel— lectual predisposition to act in a positive or negative direction as a result of personal experience and inborn ten- dencies; and, (6) an attitude is an incompleted or suspended or inhibited act.10 Droba11 said, "An attitude is a certain subjective state of preparation to action....overt behavior will follow as a result of the attitude." He distinguished between attitudes and motive since ”Attitudes point Out the direction an activity will take; motives are the starters of the activity." Allport12 said an attitude is "...a mental and neural state of readiness, organized through experience, exerting a directive or dynamic influence upon the individual's reSponse to all objects and situations with which it is re— lated.” 10M. Sherman, "Theories and Measurement of Attitudes,“ Child Development 3:15-16, 1932. 11D. D. Droba, ”The Nature of Attitudes,” Journal 2f Social Psychology 4:447-449, 1933. 12Allport, "Historical Background,” p. 63. . l 's 22 Shaw and Wright13 "... limit the theoretical construct of attitude to an affective component which is based upon cognitive processes and is an antecedent of behavior....” They defined attitude as ... a relatively enduring system of evaluation, affec- tive reactions based upon and reflecting the evalua- tive concepts or beliefs which have been learned about the characteristics of a social object or class of social objects.14 Halloran15 pointed out most definitions of attitude possess two common factors: first, an attitude is an inferred entity which is not measured directly; and, second, an atti- tude is a tendency to act. The definition formulated by Thurstone and Chave contained these attributes and was the definition which was used in this study. They defined atti- tude as "... the sum total of a man's inclinations and feelings, prejudice or bias, preconceived notions, ideas, "16 fears, threats and convictions about any specific topic. Importance of attitudes in science education. Atti— tudinal goals have been a concern of science educators for many years. In 1903 Bailey said the main objective of nature 13Marvin E. Shaw and Jack M. Wright, Scales for the Measurement 23 Attitudes (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1967), p. 20. I‘lbid. 15J. D. Halloran, Attitude Formation and Change (Great Britain: Leicester University Press, 1967), p. 14. Louis L. Thurstone and E. J. Chave, The Measurement 23 Attitude (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1929), pp. 6-7. 23 study was ... to put the pupil in a sympathetic attitude toward nature for the purpose of increasing the joy of living."17 Twiss explained that the aims of the science teacher must be the imparting of insight into the meaning and value of science, to infect pupils with the scientific Spirit, and to train them in the methods of thinking and investigations common to all the sciences. Pupils should be enabled ... to approach with the scientific attitude of mind, and to attack by orderly and scientific methods, those problems with which the experience of their present and future lives must inevitably confront them. In 1925 Downing wrote: If one is striving to establish in the pupil the scientific attitude of mind it is because it will serve him in the solution of his life problems as citizen, homemaker, and worker.19 Ten years later Downing elaborated: The scientific attitude is more than an intellectual assent to the prOposition that the scientific method of thought is a desirable method of procedure. It is an impelling attitude and is therefore at least partially saturated with emotional elements. The scientific attitude is a fervid conviction that 17L. H. Bailey, The Nature-Study Idea (New York: Doubleday, Page, and Company, 1903), p. 4. 18George Ransom Twiss, A Textbook in the Principles of Science Teaching (New York: The—MacmillaH—Company, 1917), —— pp. 18-19. 19 . . . Elliot Rowland Down1ng, Teaching Sc1ence 1n the Sghools (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press:_l925), p. 81. 24 problems within the range of science can only be successfully solved by the scientific method of thinking.20 In 1929 Bowden21 concluded there could be little danger of decay in a society if a sufficiently large number of indi- viduals had a scientific attitude. Scientific attitudes were frequently mentioned as an important outcome of science teaching in the Thirty-first Yearbook 33 the National Society 22 for the Study 23 Education. Powers summarized the feelings of the Yearbook Committee when he stated: The major generalizations of science and the associated scientific attitudes are so important and so extensive in SCOpe that the student may live with them throughout his life. Definable educa- tional values from science teaching will have been attained if students acquire (1) an ability to utilize the findings of science that have application in their own experiences; (2) and ability to interpret the natural phenomena of their environment; and (3) an appreciation of scientific attitudes through an under— standing of, and ability to use, some of the methods of study that have been yaed by creative workers in the field of science.... 20Elliot Rowland Downing, An Introduction to the Teaching 2f Science (Chicago: THE—University of Chicago Press, 1935), p. 90. 21A. O. Bowden, "Scientific Attitude," School Execu- tives Magazine 48:328, March, 1929. 228. R. Powers, "The Plan of the Public Schools and the Program of Science Teaching," A Program for Science Teaching, Thirty—first Yearbook of—the National Society for the Study of Education, Part I (ITlinois: Public School Publishing—Company, 1932). 23Ibid., p. 10. 25 In 1933 Noll said, "It is perhaps not too much to say that a large pr0portion of our present-day ills and troubles is directly traceable to false, prejudiced, and generally un- n24 scientific thinking. He went on to elaborate the following points:25 1. The scientific attitude is one of the most desirable for individuals to acquire. 2. The scientific attitude, like other attitudes, is based upon habits of thinking which can be defined. 3. These habits of thinking can be deve10ped in the pupil just as other habits can. 4. The results of such training can be measured. Mulliken,26 writing in 1937, felt "The trouble with the world today, most scientists believe, is not that there is too much science, but rather that the scientific attitude --the essence of science—-is far too little understood and too inadequately applied to human problems." 27 In 1938 Ebel said a fundamental obligation of science teaching was an imparting of the scientific attitude. 2“Victor H. Noll, ”The Habit of Scientific Thinking,” Teachers College Record 35:1-9, October, 1933. 251bid., p. 4. 26Robert S. Mulliken, "Science and the Scientific Attitude,“ Science 86:66, July, 1937. 27R. L. Ebel, ”What is the Scientific Attitude," Science Education 22:1, January, 1938. "Pro I' tha {iii the I tive the F Stien tiOn . A£35111: “16m 26 "Probably all educators will agree," said Conley28 in 1939, ”that one of the important tasks of the junior college in the field of general education is the teaching of the scien— tific attitude." The committee for the Forty—sixth Yearbook29 stressed the learning of scientific attitudes as an important objec- tive for science teaching. Thirteen years later writers of the Fifty—ninth Yearbook30 emphasized the learning of scientific attitudes. In addition to scientific knowledge and skills atten- tion shOuld be given to the deve10pment of attitudes, wrote 31 Washton. It is difficult to separate the deve10pment of scientific attitudes from the learning of knowledge.32 28W. H. Conley, "Teaching the Scientific Attitude in the Junior College," National Education Association Pro— ceedings 1939, p. 614. 29Nelson B. Henrey (ed.), Science Education in American Schools, Forty-sixth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part I (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1947), pp. 28-31. 30Paul L. Dressel, Mary Alice Burmester, John M. Mason, and Clarence H. Nelson, "How the Individual Learns Science," Rethinking Science Education, Fifty-ninth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part I (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1960), pp. 39—62. 31Nathan 5. Washton, Teaching Sciengs Creatively 33 the Secondary Schools (Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders Company, 1967), p. 50. 32 Ibid., p. 135. 27 Miller and Blaydes felt If there is any one thing that the study of science should do for the student it is to produce a scientific attitude toward all problems that arise in his daily life. Facts, if not used, may be forgotten, but the establishment of an attitude which impels an individual to look at each problematic situation in an analytical fashion, to attack it in a scientific manner, to demand proof in the form of adequate facts results in a habit of thinking which can and will be used regularly by the individual in making the innumerable adjustments that are necessitated by a constantly changing society. Science educators, said Blough and Schwartz, have been saying for years that the study of science should help children develOp scientific attitudes, but more needs to be done about it.34 V088 and Brown stated, ”Attitudes and appreciations are...functions of the environment and can be deve10ped through learning processes."35 In Biology Teachers' Handbook it was pointed out: Among behaviors important to success at enquiry are those sometimes termed affective or attitudinal. Although a variety of these seem to pervade the entire enquiry process, no consistent method of identifying, describing or measuring their extent is now available. Their importance, however, is not to be negated or minimized. As more is known about David F. Miller and Glenn W. Blaydes, Methods and Materials for Teaching the Biological Sciences (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1962), p. 22. 34Glenn 0. Blough and Julius Schwartz, Elementary School Science and How £2 Teach 15 (New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1964), p. 16. 35Burton E. V053 and Stanley B. Brown, Biology as Inquiry: A Book 2f Teaching Methods (St. Louis: The C. V. Mosby Company, 1968), p. 15. 5114 mm oils tea int the tor C011 .ref ‘1 a 55PM SEUdl at L.» mu... C... 9s ..‘u u 2‘ \ .6 n tih lit 28 them, they will be accorded more sgecific and detailed attention and treatment.3 This portion of the review of the literature has shown that science educators have recognized attitude as an important aspect of learning outcomes related to science teaching. The concept of scientific attitudes was not an integral part of the present study but frequent reference to them in the literature points out the concern science educa— tors have had for the affective domain. This concern has continued from the early 1900's to the present. Elementary teachers' or prospective teachers' attitudes toward science or science teaching. Greenblatt37 studied the relationship between elementary teachers' attitudes and elementary students' attitudes. Though the study was quite limited, evidence indicated a strong correlation between teachers' preferences for school subjects and their students' preferences for school subjects. This correspondence was especially evident with children of higher intelligence. A study by Bixler38 indicated a relationship between teachers' 36Evelyn Klinckmann (supervisor), Biology Teachers' Handbook (2nd ed.; New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., —‘5‘197o ,“p'. 48. 37E. L. Greenblatt, "An Analysis of School Subject Pref- erences of Elementary School Children of the Middle Grades," The Journal 2; Educational Research 55:555, August, 1962. 383. E. Bixler, "The Effect of Teacher Attitude on Elementary Children's Science Information and Science Attitude,‘ Dissertation Abstracts 19:2531-2532, April, 1959. 29 attitudes toward science and changes in pupils' attitudes toward the subject. Taylor39 conducted a study on fourth grade children and found a significant relationship between teachers' attitudes and students' achievement in science. Victor40 conducted a study to find out why elementary school teachers dislike teaching science. A questionnaire was administered to 106 elementary teachers, of which 90 per cent were women. Reasons given by the women for their reluc- tance to teach science included a feeling by the women that science was a male domain, that they were unfamiliar with the science content, and that they might lose face in their classrooms if they tried to teach science. SOy41 conducted a study on 422 elementary education majors at State College of Iowa. The purpose of the research was to investigate factors associated with the choice of sub- ject fields by students and to find out why so few of the students chose science as a subject field. The samping in- strument used was a questionnaire. Responses to the 39 A. L. Taylor, ”Teacher Attitudes, Pupil Behavior, and Content Attributes in Relation to the Use of Programmed Science Materials at the Fourth Grade Level,“ Dissertation Abstracts 26:5924-5925, April, 1966. 40E. Victor, “Why Are Elementary School Teachers Reluc— tant to Teach Science?" Science Teacher, 28:17-19, November, 1961. 41 . Eloise M. Soy, "Attitudes of Prospective Elementary Teachers Toward Science as a Field of Specialty,“ School Science and Mathematics 67:508-512, June, 1967. que 40 and gro can not will 30 questionnaire showed the choice of subject fields as: art, 8.1 percent; foreign language, 4.0 percent; language arts, 40.0 percent; mathematics, 9.8 percent; science, 7.1 percent; and social science, 31.1 percent. It was noted that of the group which chose science as a subject field over 60 percent came from farm homes. The most frequently given reasons for not choosing a science subject field were: (1) I am not much interested in this field; (2) The required courses in this area were hard for me; (3) Majors and minors in this department make very strong competition in the elective courses; and (4) I like this area, but I could not choose a group of electives in which I was sure of succeeding. Wytiaz43 conducted a survey of fifth-grade teachers in which she used a questionnaire containing questions concerned with classification, attitudes, and preparation. She found the teachers were about equally divided as to whether they felt they did or did not have a sufficient background for teaching elementary science. Close to 70 percent had not taken any in—service courses in science. The teachers felt ézlbid. 43 Patricia Lorraine Wytiaz, ”A Study of the Attitudes of Fifth-grade Teachers of Cumberland County New Jersey Toward Science and Their Preparation for Teaching it in the Elemen- tary School," Science Education 46:151-152, March, 1962. 31 best prepared to teach about plants. The study also revealed the teachers had a favorable attitude toward taking science courses but they would have to be given the opportunity to do so. Most of the teachers felt science was valuable to elementary children. They indicated that a student preparing for teaching ShOuld gain a good background of scientific knowledge while in college and should be provided with a good science-teaching methods course. Leake44 investigated the effect science extension courses had on the attitudes of in—service elementary teachers. The data showed no significant change in attitudes toward science of the elementary teachers after having been exposed to the extension program in science. Oshima45 compared two methods of teaching a science methods course for prospective elementary school teachers. The teaching techniques consisted of a lecture—demonstration method and an individual investigation method. The dependent variables were attitudes toward science, confidence toward teaching science, achievement in science, and student teaching behaviors in science. The results indicated the two different 44John Benjamin Leake, ”A Study of Attitudes of Elemen- tary Teachers Toward Science," Dissertation Abstracts 27:4155- 4156, April, 1967. 45Eugene Akio Oshima, "Changes in Attitudes Toward Science and Confidence in Teaching Science of PrOSpective Elementary Teachers,” Dissertation Abstracts 27:4157—4158, April, 1967. 32 methods produced no significant changes in attitudes toward science. The experimental groups showed significant gains in confidence in teaching science, but no significant differ- ences were found between the groups in science achievement. The confidence in teaching scores of the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the control group. 46 . . Diehl studied the effects of an exper1mental course in physical science on the attitudes of prospective elementary school teachers. The experimental group had non—directive teaching and a pervasive laboratory approach. The control group had lectures and a fixed laboratory experience. The results did not reveal a significant difference between the change scores of the two groups on a measure of rigidity or on the prospective teachers' social outlook toward science. Pickering conducted a study to determine ... the relative effects of inquiry-laboratory experi- ences, inquiry-demonstration experiences, and lecture experiences on the prOSpective elementary teachers' attitude toward science, toward teaching science, toward different methods of teaching science, and on their science competencies.... and whether the prospective teacher's choice of upper or lower elemen— tary training was related to these attitudes or com- petencies.47 46T. H. T. Diehl, "A Study of Attitude and Thought Pattern Changes Resulting from the Use of a Physical Science Course for Nonscience Majors," Dissertation Abstracts 28:874- 875, July, 1967. 47Robert 8. Pickering, ”An Experimental Study of the Effects of Inquiry Experiences on the Attitudes and Competen- cies of Prospective Elementary Teachers in the Area of Science,‘ (unpublished Doctor's dissertation, Michigan State University, 1970), p. 149. 33 Pickering concluded: ...when inquiry-laboratory, inquiry-demonstration, or lecture techniques were used there was no sig- nificant difference in attitude toward science, attitude toward different methods of teaching science, or in science competency. In addition, the level of teacher preparation did not seem to matter when attitudes toward science, toward teaching science, or toward different methods of teaching science were the criteria under investi- gation. However, the data...did reveal that the inquiry-laboratory was significantly more effective in improving attitudes toward teaching science than either the inquiry-demonstration or lecture methodologies. As part of his research, Pickering49 conducted an extensive review of the literature with regard to the relationship of attitude to other educational factors. Although some of the studies reviewed by him did not relate Specifically to elementary education there were implications for that field. Pickering's summary included the following points: (1) there is a significant relationship between achievement and attitude toward a given subject area; (2) at present, the evidence does not support a relationship between depth of understanding of a subject and attitude toward the subject; (3) at present, the evidence does not support a relationship between a teacher's attitude toward a subject and pupil achievement in that subject; (4) the evidence indicated a significant rela- tionship between teacher attitude toward a subject and student attitude; (5) the research is presently insufficient with 481b1d., p. 159. 491bid., pp. 41-42. 34 respect to the relationship between attitudes and creativity; (6) there is no significant relationship between attitudes and I.Q.; and, (7) sex was neither directly related to atti- tude nor was it a significant variable. Effect of biological science courses on attitudes. Three studies were concerned with biological science as the psychological object toward which an attitude may be held. Dudycha50 compared college freshmen with seniors as to their attitude toward evolution. Comparison of reSponses to a questionnaire developed by Dudycha indicated seniors were better informed, more Open-minded, and more inclined to be- lieve in evolution than freshmen. Gray51 reported the con- struction of a "test, without results,...for application in a nature study course for upper intermediate grades." Whiteman52 conducted a study in which he compared two college biology courses with reSpect to the effect they had upon stu- dents' attitude toward conservation. Using an instrument SOC. J. Dudycha, ”Beliefs of College Students Concerning Evolution," Journal 22 Applied Psychology 18:85-96, February, 1934. 51H. A. Gray, "An Approach to the Measurement of Biological Attitudes and Appreciations," Psychological Abstracts 8:682, December, 1934. 52Edon Eugene Whiteman, "A Comparative Study of the Effect of a Traditional and a Specially Designed College Course in Biology Upon Conservation Attitudes,“ Dissertation Abstracts, 26:4150, February, 1966. 35 designed by Laug, entitled Attitude Toward Conservation, a significantly positive change in attitudes was found as a consequence of a specially designed college biology course. Several studies have been done which dealt with biological science courses as the psychological object. Some of the studies were concerned with high school courses and some at the college level. Tamir53 investigated the impact of high school science, with special reference to BSCS biology, on achievement and attitudes of students enrolled in a college introductory biology course. Using a questionnaire as a measure of the dependent variable, he concluded students who had been ex- posed to BSCS Yellow Version held the most positive attitudes toward the biology course. The effects of laboratory centered instruction in biology on the improvement of student critical thinking skills and the deve10pment of positive student attitudes toward a biology course were investigated by Edgar.54 Remmer's A Scale to Measure Attitude Toward Any School Subject was used to S3Pinchas Tamir, ”An Analysis of Certain Achievements and Attitudes of Cornell Students Enrolled in Introductory Biology with Special Reference to Their High School Prepara- tion," Dissertation Abstracts 29:3924, May, 1967. 54Irvin T. Edgar, "A Study of the Effects of Laboratory Centered Instruction on Student Critical Thinking Skills and Attitudes in Biology,” Dissertation Abstracts 29:3910, May, 1969. 36 detect any change in student attitudes. The analysis of the data revealed no significant difference in the students' attitudes. BSCS biology was compared to traditional biology with respect to student attitudes toward biology by Craven.55 Using the Remmer instrument, Craven found no significant dif- ference in student attitudes toward biology as a consequence of having taken the courses. Novak56 attempted to compare two college botany courses with reSpect to scientific attitudes with one a conventionally taught course and the other a project centered course. Using an instrument, constructed by Novak, no significant differ- ence was detected between the two methods. Test reliability data were presented, but no description of test items p3£_3£ or of the construction technique used was revealed. Using Brandyberry's Science Attitude Scale, MurphyS7 was unable to find a significant change in scientific attitudes 55Bobby E. Craven, "A Study of the Effects of Tradi- tional and BSCS Biology on the Attitudes of High School Stu- dents," (unpublished Doctor's dissertation, University of Mississippi, 1969), pp. 70-72. 56Joseph D. Novak, "Experimental Comparison of a Con- ventional and a Project Centered Method of Teaching a College Botany Course," Journal of Experimental Education 26:229, March, 1958. '___—__—'—— 57Glenn W. Murphy, "Content Versus Process Centered Biology Laboratories, Part II: The Development of Knowledge, Scientific Attitudes, Problem-Solving Ability, and Interest in Biology," Science Education 52:151-158. March, 1968. 37 when comparing two methods of teaching college biology. One course was content centered and the other was process cen- tered. Using high school biology students as subjects, Coulter58 investigated the effectiveness of inductive- laboratory, inductive-demonstration, and deductive-laboratory instruction with respect to scientific attitudes. Both in- ductive methods resulted in an increase of positive scien- tific attitudes over the deductive method. High school biology was the Subject of another investigation which measured attitudes toward a biology course by Yager, t 31.59 They found no significant differences for critical thinking, understanding, attitudes toward biology, or achievement. The relative effectiveness of two methods of teaching 60 One instructional college biology was compared by Mason. method stressed scientific methods of thinking and the other stressed factual information. Scientific attitudes were among other criteria used in the investigation and were measured by 58John C. Coulter, ”The Effectiveness of Inductive Laboratory, Inductive Demonstration and Deductive Laboratory in Biology," Journal of Research in Science Teaching 4:185- 186, 1966. '—— 59Robert a. Yager, Harold s. Engen, and 3111 c. F. Snider, "Effects of the Laboratory and Demonstration Methods Upon the Outcomes of Instruction in Secondary Biology," Journal of Research in Science Teaching 6:76-86, 1969. 60John M. Mason, "An Experimental Study in the Teaching of Scientific Thinking in Biological Science at the College Level," Science Educa ion 36:270-284, December, 1952. 38 two tests, one constructed by Noll and one constructed by Mason. In situations where the instructional method was the same in lecture and laboratory and in lecture situations the scientific thinking method was more effective in increasing scientific attitudes than the descriptive method when measured by Mason's instrument. Noll's test revealed no sig- nificant difference between any of the teaching methods, but showed a significant increase in scientific attitudes in all sections during the school year. Summary. Although early use of the term attitude occurred in the late 1800's, the attitude concept is essen- tially a 20th century phenomenon. Attitudes became of con- cern to science educators early in the 20th century. In most cases, reference was made to the "scientific attitude” con- cept which is composed of a set of scientific habits of thinking. Research relating attitudes to science education also dealt with attitudes toward science, scientists, and science careers, or attitudes toward science courses. There were some research findings which have important implications for science educators. There are indications from the evidence that teachers' attitudes affect pupils' attitudes in various ways. Among these are pupils' preference for school subjects, pupils' attitude toward science subjects, and their achievement in science. The research has also re- vealed some of the reasons why elementary teachers are reluc- tant to teach science in their classrooms. 39 A number of studies have delt with the effect differ- ent courses and different methods of teaching have had on attitudes toward science and scientific attitudes. Some findings Show significant results while many do not. Although there were a number of studies involving biological science courses, this investigator found none using the cri- terion of change in attitude toward biological science. In view of the importance placed on attitudes of one form or another by science educators this researcher concluded that a review of the literature indicated a need for studies dealing with Specific areas of science. Further, the litera- ture review pointed to a need for a measurement instrument which would determine attitudes toward specific areas of science such as biological science. A review of the literature on definitions of attitude resulted in a variety of meanings, most of which referred to attitude as an inferred entity which is not measured directly and that attitude is a tendency to act. The definition put forth by Thurstone and Chave was used for the purpose of this study. CHAPTER 111 DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY The present chapter presents the design of the study, the subjects involved in the investigation, and a detailed description of Biological Science 202 as implemented during the course of the investigation. The collection and treat- ment of data are also covered briefly in the chapter. Background of the study. Elementary education majors at Michigan State University, in addition to the courses in the university college and to Specific education courses, are required to take Biological Science 202, Physical Science 203, and Mathematics 201. The two science courses are ad- ministered by the Science and Mathematics Teaching Center and the mathematics course is under the direction of the mathematics department. The Biological Science 202 course is implemented by a combined lecture and auto-tutorial method. The course was handled by Dr. Jean Enochs and Dr. Richard Sauer during the terms this study was conducted. The investigator was one of eight graduate assistants assigned to the course. While the development of positive attitudes toward biological science was not a specific objective which was 40 41 directly taught for in the course, the objectives were con- sidered to be concerned not only with the acquisition of knowledge but also behavioral objectives which characterize scientific endeavor. Thus, the course afforded a treatment for ascertaining whether or not student attitudes toward biological science were concomitant outcomes of the course. Design of the study. The study was designed as an ongoing feature of the Biological Science 202 course at Michigan State University during winter and spring terms, 1970. The study was concerned with the effect Biological Science 202, a combined lecture and auto-tutorial course, had on the attitudes of elementary education majors toward biological science. The elementary education majors en- rolled in the course each term constituted Experimental Groups I and II reSpectively. The independent variable was the instructional materials and procedures employed in teaching Biological Science 202. The changes in the course, described later in this chapter, which occurred between win- ter and spring terms were not part of the experimental design of the study. The changes were a consequence of the natural evolution of the Biological Science 202 course and were described in the event they may have had an affect on students' attitudes. The study was designed to have as control groups elementary education majors who had not had Biological 42 Science 202. Since Mathematics 201 was a required course for all elementary education majors and due to the fact that the enrollments in this course were usually large, the decision was made to attempt to secure the control students from the students enrolled in Mathematics 201. Permission was granted by the instructor for the investigator to solicit the c00peration of students in Mathematics 201 for the pur- pose of serving as control groups for the study. The students' attitude toward biological science was measured by an instrument deve10ped by the writer, called the Biological Science Attitude Scale. Students in Experimental Groups I and II and the students in Control Groups I and II were pre- and posttested on this instrument. The deve10pment of the instrument is presented in Chapter IV. Subjects. The subjects, as indicated previously, were elementary education majors who had enrolled through regular university procedures in Biological Science 202 and Mathematics 201 winter and spring terms, 1970. Table 1 shows the distri- bution of the 426 students, by curriculum areas, who were en- rolled in Biological Science 202 during winter term, 1970. There were 275 elementary education majors or 64.5 percent of the students enrolled in the course. Of these 275 students, 196 completed both the pretest and posttest administration of the Biological Science Attitude Scale and constituted Experi— mental Group I. The students that served as the control for 42 Science 202. Since Mathematics 201 was a required course for all elementary education majors and due to the fact that the enrollments in this course were usually large, the decision was made to attempt to secure the control students from the students enrolled in Mathematics 201. Permission was granted by the instructor for the investigator to solicit the c00peration of students in Mathematics 201 for the pur- pose of serving as control groups for the study. The students' attitude toward biological science was measured by an instrument deve10ped by the writer, called the Biological Science Attitude Scale. Students in Experimental Groups I and II and the students in Control Groups I and II were pre- and posttested on this instrument. The deve10pment of the instrument is presented in Chapter IV. Subjects. The subjects, as indicated previously, were elementary education majors who had enrolled through regular university procedures in Biological Science 202 and Mathematics 201 winter and spring terms, 1970. Table 1 shows the distri— bution of the 426 students, by curriculum areas, who were en- rolled in Biological Science 202 during winter term, 1970. There were 275 elementary education majors or 64.5 percent of the students enrolled in the course. Of these 275 students, 196 completed both the pretest and posttest administration of the Biological Science Attitude Scale and constituted Experi— mental Group I. The students that served as the control for 43 TABLE 1 DISTRIBUTION OF STUDENTS BY CURRICULUM DURING WINTER TERM, 1970, ENROLLMENT IN BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE Curriculum Number Percent Elementary and Special Education 275 64.5% Social Science 40 9.4 Social Work 17 4.0 University College 17 4.0 Psychology 16 3.8 Home Economics 10 2.4 Political Science 10 2.4 Agriculture - Undergraduate 7 1.6 Justin Morrill College 4 .9 All Others* 30 7.0 Total 426 100.0% *All Others includes: sociology, television and radio, art, physical science, mathematics and statistics, anthro- pology, geography, urban planning and landscape architecture, arts and letters, literature, economics, advertising, theatre, education—graduate, health, physical education and recreation, mechanical engineering, biological science, police administra- tion and public safety, pre-veterinary, and English language center. 44 Experimental Group I were designated as Control Group I and was composed of 29 elementary education majors enrolled in Mathematics 201, winter term, 1970. The criteria used in selecting the control students were: 1) they had not taken Biological Science 202 or were not taking the course winter term, 1970; 2) they enrolled in Biological Science 202 spring term, 1970; and 3) they completed both the pretest and post- test administration of the Biological Science Attitude Scale. During Spring term, 1970, 349 students enrolled in Biological Science 202. Of these students, 73.6 percent were elementary education majors. Experimental Group II was com- posed of 141 of these students who completed both the pre— and posttest administration of the Biological Science Attitude Scale. This group of 141 students did not include the 29 stu- dents who served as Control Group I which was described pre— viously. The Control Group II was composed of 16 regularly enrolled elementary education majors in Mathematics 201 during spring term, 1970. The criteria used in selecting these students were: 1) they had not taken Biological Science 202 or were not taking the course spring term, 1970; 2) they indicated they planned to take Biological Science 202 either summer term, 1970, or fall term, 1970; and 3) they completed both the pretest and posttest administrations of the Biological Science Attitude Scale. Table 2 summarizes the experimental and control groups as to terms and number of students comprising each group. TABLE 2 45 EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL GROUPS FOR WINTER AND SPRING TERMS, 1970 Winter Term, 1970 Spring Term, 1970 Experimental Groups Control Groups Experimental Group I contained 196 Elemen- tary Education Majors Enrolled in Bio- logical Science 202 Control Group I con- tained 29 Elementary Education Majors En- rolled in Mathematics 201 Experimental Group II contained 141 Elemen- tary Education Majors Enrolled in Bio- logical Science 202 Control Group II con- tained 16 Elementary Education Majors En- rolled in Mathematics 201 Biological Science 202, winter term, 1970. There were some changes made in the Biological Science 202 course between winter and spring terms. Therefore, a description of the course as it was implemented each term follows. The BiolOgical Science 202 course during winter term was a combi— nation lecture and auto-tutorial course. The course was comprised of the following divisions: General Assembly Session ........ hour/week Independent Study Session .............. 3 hours/week Small Assembly Session ........ .... ..... l hour/week Oral Quiz Session .... .................. 5 hour/week 46 General Assembly Session, winter term, 1970. The stu- dent was scheduled to attend a General Assembly Session at either 10:20 a.m. or 3:00 p.m. on Monday. These sessions were essentially expository in nature and were conducted by ’Dr. Sauer. At times mimeographed supplemental study aids, designed to exemplify a particular biological concept such as the nitrogen cycle, were distributed to the students. When applicable to the unit being studied, 16 mm. films were shown and guest speakers were used. The students were encouraged, but not required, to Obtain a textbook1 which was used as a supplemental aid. Attendance at the General Assembly Session was not mandatory. Although the students were encouraged to attend, roll was not taken. As part of the student evaluation procedure there was a common mid-term and a common final examination. Both these tests were administered in the General Assembly Session at the apprOpriate time. Independent Study Session, winter term, 1970. The portion of the Biological Science 202 course entitled Inde— pendent Study Session consisted of an auto—tutorial labora- tory situation. The subject matter of the course was divided into nine units during the term with a study guide, prepared 1William T. Keeton, Elements of Biological Science (New York: W. W. Norton and Company, Inc., 1960). 47 by Dr. Enochs, for each unit. In addition, Dr. Enochs pre- pared a set of objectives for each unit. The students were each supplied with a study guide and the objectives. Objec- tives for units 1.9 are included in Appendix E.* Table 3 shows an outline of the tOpics covered during each unit of study. The auto-tutorial laboratory, referred to as the Learning Center, was equipped with 36 carrels. Included in each carrel was a cassette tape recorder, a pass-strip slide projector, and a fluorescent lamp. When a student wished to work in the Learning Center he was assigned to one of these carrels by a student assistant who was on duty whenever the laboratory was open. It was the responsibility of each student to complete the necessary work on each unit during times consistent with his schedule. The Learning Center was Open from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Friday. A student could come in to work in the Learning Center at any time during this period provided a carrel was vacant. Each unit was designed by Dr. Enochs to require a minimum time expenditure by the student of about four hours to complete. *The objectives are essentially the same as those used during spring term and are not duplicated in a separate appen— dix for that term. TABLE 3 OUTLINE OF TOPICS COVERED IN BIOLOGICAL WINTER TERM, 1970 48 SCIENCE 202 TOpics Organisms Introduction Nature of Science Nature of Life Context of Life Organizing Biology (lecture) The MicroscOpe The Metric System Cell Anatomy Cell Diversity Brownean Motion, diffusion, Patterns of Nutrition Organic Chemistry (lecture) osmosis AutotrOphic Life: Producers Plant Anatomy Plant Nutrition Photosymthesis HeterotrOphic Life: Consumers Food Chains Animal Nutrition Mammalian Anatomy Comparative Anatomy Cell Nutrition Respiration: Anerobic Respiration: Aerobic Control: cellular Control: organismal Continuity of Life Cellular Reproduction Plant Reproduction Plant Deve10pment Taxonomy Lower Animals Mollusks, Annelids, Echinoderms ArthrOpods I Chordates Chordates II 49 TABLE 3 (continued) Unit Topics Organisms 7 Molecular Reproduction Decomposers Animal Reproduction Animal Development 8 Interactions of Organisms Lower Plants Cycling of material in Ecosystems Flow of energy in Ecosystems Ecology Succession 9 POpulations Flowering Human POpulation Explosion Plants Pollution of the BiOSphere As a student entered the Learning Center, he could deter— mine the availability of Carrels by observing a rack attached to the wall, near the entrance, with numbered slots. As a carrel was assigned, a card was placed in the slot correspomding to the number of that carrel and the card was removed when the carrel was vacant. A tray containing earphones for the tape recorder, a tape cassette, an enveIOpe containing pass-strip slides, and additional materials, such as microsc0pe slides and dissecting kits were issued to each student by a student assistant. The additional materials were supplied as demanded by the unit being studied during a given week. 50 The student would proceed to a carrel and be seated. The tape cassette was placed in the tape recorder and turned on. Via the earphones the student would be introduced to the unit under study. All the tapes were produced by Dr. Enochs with various kinds of directions given on the tapes. For instance, the student might have been directed to an exercise in the study guide or told to go observe a display at one of two demonstration tables. The demonstration tables were each divided into four sections so there were a total of eight sec- tions in all, and it was possible to have as many different demonstrations. At the demonstration table, the student would have undertaken a variety Of exercises such as studying a (liSplay, viewing an 8mm film lOOp, viewing a film strip, observing specimens under a microscOpe, or performing a lalmoratory exercise. When an exercise at a particular demon— Strzition table was completed the student returned to his cartel and received further instructions. There was a graduate assistant on duty at all times to Offiar assistance to the students. The students were urged to 398k: aid from these assistants whenever they felt it necessary. Upon completion of the required work in the Indepen— dent :Study Session, the student took a written sixteen point QUiz «over the material. He did so by requesting a COpy of the quiz from the undergraduate student assistant on duty and took the (luiz under the student assistant's supervision. The quiz 51 could be taken any time during the day while the Learning Center was Open. Students who completed the unit in the Independent Study Session during the first part of the week could take the quiz on Thursday or Friday of that week. Students whose schedules necessitated their working on the unit during the latter part of the week took the quiz on Monday or Tuesday of the following week. This quizzing pro— cedure was to become altered due to a structural change in the course. The Oral Quiz Session, to be described later in this chapter, was used during the first four weeks of the course to administer an oral quiz to the students. After that.time, the use of oral quizzes was terminated and, there- aifter, the allotted time for the Oral Quiz Session was used 1H) administer the written quiz. The written quizzes consisting of sixteen multiple Cht>ice questions were prepared by Dr. Sauer. The quiz answer Shetets were scored by Dr. Sauer and returned to the Oral Quiz Sesssion instructor. After all the students had taken the quiJZ, a cOpy, with the correct answers marked, was placed on disPlay in the Learning Center each week. Small Assemblijession, winter term, 1970. The Smalgl Assembly Sessions met for one hour per week and were scheduled during the latter part of the week, i.e., Thursday and l:"I‘iday. Attendance at these sessions was voluntary. The Studetits signed a roster at the beginning of the term 52 indicating their preference of a meeting time. There were eight different times from which to choose; three on Thursday afternoon and five on Friday. The purpose of the Small Assembly Sessions was to review the unit just completed and to answer students' ques- tions pertaining to the objectives for that unit prior to their taking the written quiz. These sessions usually had a small attendance. For example, one section, for which approximately 25 peOple had signed up, was usually attended by from 3-5 students. littendance was similarly small in other sections. Oral Quiz Session. The Oral Quiz Sessions met for 3 liour per week at a scheduled time and attendance was man— These sessions were conducted by graduate assistants, datory. DIT. Sauer, and Dr. Enochs. Each quiz instructor was assigned t0 £1 specific number of Oral Quiz Sessions. The purpose of Cheese sessions was to administer a 10 point oral quiz to each Student. The questions were designed to measure the extent to Whixzh the students had accomplished the objectives for that uni.t. This procedure was followed for four weeks, but due to dissatisfaction of the students and teaching staff the stu- dents were asked to complete a questionnaire concerning their fee].itrgs toward the oral quiz practice. ReSponses ‘0 the questionnaires showed the majority of students had negative feelings toward the oral quizzes and consequently the decision. 53 was made to discontinue them. The Oral Quiz Session time was thereafter used to administer the sixteen point multiple choice quiz described earlier. Optional term projects, winter term, 1970. In order that the student might earn extra credit, the option to complete a term project was offered. The student could earn a maximum of five points by doing a project. Examples of projects which were done by students included rearing guppies, germinating a variety of seeds, keeping pets, or making a leaf collection. The objective of having the students do such prejects was to provide them with an Opportunity to become in— \Halved in activities similar to those they might encounter in the elementary classroom. The student was directed to make daily observations anti keep a record of those Observations. The projects which werwe done were displayed in the Learning Center so other stu— derits could also benefit from the experience. The records l‘ePt: by the students were turned in to the Oral Quiz instructor at; the end of the term. Determination of final course4grades, winter term, 197‘) Each Oral Quiz instructor was reSponsible for keeping a record of each of his student's scores on work done during the t¢erm. Student evaluation consisted of the eight written qU1225e8’ the four oral quizzes prior to their being discon- tinufid, a mid-term examination, and a final examination. At 54 the end of the term all the teaching personnel in the course met to decide on a grading scale for that term. The range of total points, from highest to lowest, was determined, and the frequency of students falling within each total point category was determined. At this point, a grading scale was established. After the grading scale was established those students who had completed an Optional term project had whatever number of points received added on to their point total. As a consequence, many students who did a project re- ceived a higher grade than they would have based on their point total alone. Biological Science 202, spring term, 1970. The Himalogical Science 202 course during spring term 1970, was a COnuJination lecture and auto—tutorial course. The course was comprised of the following divisions: 1 hour/week General Assembly Session ............... Independent Learning Session ........... 4 hours/week Small Assembly Session ....... . ..... .... 1 hour/week General Assembly Session, Spring term, 1970. The Genxeral Assembly sessions during spring term were essentially the .sanmras they were winter term. However, rather than both the (general Assembly Sessions meeting on Monday as they did ”intdar term, one section met at 9:10 a.m. on Monday and one Section met at 9:10 a.m. on Wednesday. The students whiCh atteu'ded the Monday sessions were directed to go to the IndePendent Learning Session (referred to as the Independent 55 Study Session during winter term) any time between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. Monday through Wednesday. Students assigned to the Wednesday General Assembly Session attended the Independent Learning Session any time Wednesday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m., and 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Although the teaching personnel did not strictly enforce this schedule, it was evident the students generally complied with it, since it was helpful to them to attend the General Assembly Session prior to working on the unit in the Independent Learning Session. Independent Learning Session, Spring term, 1970. The Independent Learning Session was essentially the same spring ternnas the Independent Study Session of winter term. One diufference was that the students could not attend the Inde- perudent Learning Session at any time during the week as they Camild during winter term, but attended according to the scliedule outlined in the previous section. Small Assembly Session, Spring term, 1970. The Small Assembly Sessions met for one full fifty minute period. Durfilng the first thirty minutes of the session, the students had the Opportunity to ask questions and discuss that week's “nit: being covered in the General Assembly Session and the I"“‘1el>endent Learning Session. During the last twenty minutes Of the period, a fifteen point multiple choice quiz was ad— mini43tered. The questions were designed to determine whether 56 or not the student had accomplished the written objectives for that unit. As was true of winter term the quizzes were constructed by Dr. Sauer who also took the reSponsibility of having them graded. Each student was supplied with objectives for each unit. The Small Assembly Sessions were scheduled on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Monday. Those students who were scheduled for the Monday General Assembly Session were assigned to either a Wednesday or Thursday Small Assembly Session and those students who were scheduled for the lVednesday General Assembly Session were assigned to either a Fxmiday or Monday Small Assembly Session. By this procedure, the students were given adequate Opportunity to complete their worflc in the Independent Learning Session between the time they met: in their General Assembly Session and their Small Assembly Session. Unlike the General Assembly Session, attendance was marrdatory at the Small Assembly Session and roll was taken. The instructors for the Small Assembly Sessions Ccnls isted entirely of graduate assistants and each graduate aSSistant was assigned one or more of these sessions. He was resPonsible for keeping a record of the students' grades in 93C}! <>f his sections and determining their grade for the COurS e Determination of final course grades, spring term, 1970 Each Small Assembly Session instructor was responsible 57 for keeping a record of each of his student's scores on work done during the term. Student evaluation consisted of eight written quizzes, a mid—term examination, and a final examina— tion. At the end of the term all the teaching personnel met to decide on a grading scale using the procedure described for winter term. Again, after the grading scale had been established, any student who had completed an Optional term project had these points added directly on to his point total. Order of presentation of tOpics, springfterm, 1970. The tOpics covered during winter and spring terms were essen- tially the same, but the order of presentation was changed. Rathmr than beginning the term with an emphasis on taxonomy, at: was done winter term, taxonomy was dealt with at the end <>f spring term. The reason for this change was based on the assumption that the concept of taxonomy would be more easily understood after the students had become familiar with the Plant and animal phyla. Administration of the Biologdcal Science Attitude .ESfille, winter term, 1970. During winter term the Biological Stticence Attitude Scale* was administered as a pretest to all the: students enrolled in Biological Science 202 at the Oral Quiz Sessions during the first meeting of these sessions. The pomttest was administered during the final examination N... *A sample of the instrument as it was administered 18 cOntained in Appendix A. 58 of the course. The pretest was administered to all students enrolled in Mathematics 201, winter term, 1970, which in- cluded Control Group 1, during a lecture in the first week of winter term. The elementary education majors who were enrolled in Mathematics 201 during winter term and then took Biological Science 202 during spring term, took the Biological Science Attitude Scale along with the rest of the biology students at the beginning of spring term. This testing, for the students who had been pretested in Mathematics 201 winter term, served as the posttest for Control Group I. Administration of the Biological Science Attitude gflgale, spring term, 1970. During spring term the Biological Sczience Attitude Scale was administered as a pretest to all tflme students enrolled in Biological Science 202 during the Snuall Assembly Sessions at their first meeting. The post- test was administered during the final examination of the COerse during the last week of the term. The elementary edu— CatZion majors that c0mpleted both administrations of the attZItude scale constituted Experimental Group II. The Biological Science Attitude Scale was adminis- tered to all the students enrolled in Mathematics 201, which \— *A sample of the instrument as it was administered duriJlg spring term is contained in.Appendix B. The instrument was ildentical for winter term except the cover sheet contained the ‘vords ”spring term” rather than "fall term" or ”summer ter““' in Part A-II. 59 included Control Group II, in a lecture during the first week of spring term. The posttest was administered in Mathematics 201 during the final examination of the course the last week of the term. Scoring the Biological Science Attitude Scale responses. The students responded to the Biological Science Attitude Scale by placing their answers on Optical scanning sheets which were machine scored. The computation of a student's score is described in Chapter IV. The data were then transferred to computer cards which were used for sta- tistical analysis. The serving of scoring the answer sheets and transferring the data to computer cards was provided by the Test Scoring Service, Michigan State University. The students were instructed not to place their names on the answer sheets and were assured their names would remain anon— ymous. They were asked to place their student identification number on the answer sheets, however, so their pretest scores could be matched with their posttest scores. Treatment of the data. Since intact samples of sub- jects, elementary education majors enrolled in Biological Science 202 and Mathematics 201, were used, random assignment of subjects to treatment groups was not possible. In such a situation, McNemar2 suggested comparing adjusted posttest 2Quinn McNemar, Psychological Statistics (4th ed.; New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1969), pp. 413—414. 60 scores using analysis of covariance as a statistical tech- nique. The pretest scores were used as covariables. The data for this study, then, were analyzed with analysis of covariance with unequal cell frequencies. With the aid of Mr. James Mullin in the Applications Programming Department of the Michigan State University Computer Center, the data were prepared for analysis on the 3600 Computer using a program3 at the Computer Laboratory. The program was designed to adjust for unequal cell frequencies. SUMMARY This study was conducted in the Science and Mathematics Teaching Center at Michigan State University. The subjects consisted of experimental groups comprised of elementary education majors enrolled in Biological Science 202 during winter and spring terms, 1970. The control groups were comprised of elementary education majors enrolled in Mathematics 201 during winter and Spring terms, 1970. The treatment of major interest was the Biological Science 202 course. This course was a combination lecture and auto- tutorial course designed eSpecially for students majoring in the elementary education curriculum. The purpose of the study was to determine the effect Biological Science 202 had 3 . . Michigan State UniverSIty Agricultural Experiment Station STAT Series Description No. 18, November, 1969. 61 on the attitudes of elementary education majors toward biological science. In order to measure these attitudes the Biological Science Attitude Scale was constructed by the investigator. The statistical procedures for this in- vestigation were one-way analysis of covariance. CHAPTER IV CONSTRUCTION OF THE BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE ATTITUDE SCALE While attitude scales, such as those developed by Silance and Remmers1 and Remmers2 were designed to ascertain student attitude toward any school subject and one by Hand3 could be used in any college course, a search of the litera- ture failed to reveal an attitude scale designed to measure attitude toward biological science. Thus, the investigator deve10ped, as one of the main purposes of this study, a scale which was designed specifically to measure attitudes toward biological science. This chapter reviews briefly some of the methods of attitude scale construction and presents in detail the procedures used in deveIOping a Biological Science Attitude Scale. 1E. B. Silance and H. H. Remmers, "An Experimental Generalized Master Scale: A Scale to Measure Attitudes Toward Any School Subject," Purdue University Studies in Higher Education 35:84-88, 1934. -__ 2H. H. Remmers (ed.), A Scale £2 Measure Attitude Toward Any School Subject (Lafayette, Inc.: Purdue Research Foundation, 1960). 3J. A. Hand, "A Method of Weighting Attitude Scale Items From Subject Responses," Journal pi Clinical Psychology 9:37-39, 1953. 62 63 Methods of attitude scale construction. The importance and use of scales in measuring attitudes may be inferred from Edwards' statement: The impetus given to research involving social atti— tudes by the writings of L. L. Thurstone in the 1920's has maintained itself for over a quarter of a century. During this time there has been a con— tinued interest upon the part of psychologists, political scientists, sociologists, and educationists in the use of scales for measuring attitudes. While scales have been used widely in attempting to ascertain the attitudes of individuals, there is no general agreement as to a preferred technique for measuring attitudes. However, the two basic techniques which have been applied most frequently in the deve10pment of attitude scales are: (1) the use of a judging group; and (2) a method based upon direct responses of agreement or disagreement with attitude state— ments.5 The judgment technique of attitude scale construction includes the method of paired comparisons, the method of equal-appearing intervals, and the method of successive in— tervals all of which were deve10ped by Thurstone. The direct response method includes the method of summated ratings 4Allen L. Edwards, Techniques 23 Attitude Scale Con- struction (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1967), p. vii. 51bid. 64 developed by Likert and the method of scalogram analysis deve10ped by Guttman.6 7 Osgood, Suci, and Tannenbaum in their book, The Measurement of Meaning, present another method of attitude scale construction. They include attitude "... as one of the major dimensions of meaning—in-general and thus...extend [to it] the measurement procedures of the semantic differen- tial...."8 They describe the semantic differential device as: ... a very general way of getting at a certain type of information, a highly gfperalizable tech- nique_ of measurement which must be adapted to the requirement of each research problem to which it is applied. 9 In addition to the attitude scale construction tech— 10 call attention to three niques mentioned, Shaw and Wright infrequently used methods. These include Coomb's unfolding technique, Hammond's error-choice technique, and Lazarfeld's latent distance procedure. 6Ibid., pp. 19-20. 7Charles E. Osgood, George J. Suci, and Percy H. Tannenbaum, The Measurement 2: Meaning (New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1966). 8 Ibid., p. 189. 91bid., p. 78. 0 1 Marvin E. Shaw and Jack M. Wright, Scales for the Measurement 2; Attitudes (New York: McGraw—Hill Book Co., 1967), p. 560. 65 With respect to the question of which scaling method should be used for a particular research problem, Oppenheim11 has indicated that the Thurstone procedure of equal-appearing intervals would probably be most apprOpriate for studies dealing with group differences. He contends that attitude scales are relatively crude measuring devices and that they serve mainly to divide people into broad groups with regard to a particular attitude.12 Since the present study dealt with group differences, the method of equal-appearing inter- vals was selected as the technique for develOping the Biological Science Attitude Scale. Attitude scale deve10pment by the equal—appearing intervals technique. The steps in constructing an attitude scale by the equal—appearing intervals technique, as outlined by Shaw and Wright, are: .. (l) A large number of items concerning the object of the attitude in question are formulated; (2) these items are sorted by a sizable number of judges into 11 piles or categories which appear to the judges to be equally Spaced in terms of the degree to which agreement with the item reflects the underlying attitude; (3) the piles are numbered from 1 to 11, and a scale value is computed for each item, taken as the median of the position given the item by the group of judges; (4) the interquartile range, or Q value, is computed as a measure of 11A. M. Oppenheim, Questionnaire Design and Attitude Measurement (New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1966), p. 123. 12Ibid., p. 121. 66 interjudge variability, and all items for which there is much disagreement are rejected; and (5) a small number of items for the final scale are selected so that they are spread more or less evenly along the attitude continuum.13 These steps were followed in preparing the attitude scale for use in the present study. With reSpect to step number 1, Edwards14 says that ”The items making up an attitude scale are called statements. A statement may be defined as anything that is said about a psychological Object. The class of all possible statements that could be made about a given psychological object is often called a universe of content or simply a universe.” The first step, then, in the construction of the attitude scale deve10ped for this study was to obtain statements representing the universe of interest. According to Edwards, statements may be written by the test maker, obtained from newSpaper editorials and maga- zine articles, taken from books about the object, or obtained by asking individuals to write short descriptions of their feelings about the pSychological object.15 For the present study, the investigator selected 100 statements. Some of the statements were obtained from secondary and/or elementary science teaching methods texts 13Shaw and Wright, 2p. cit., pp. 21-22. 14Edwards, 2p. cit., p. 10. 15 Ibid. 67 and some were deve10ped by the investigator. In selecting the statements, an attempt was made to have statements which spanned the psychological continuum from strongly negative through neutral to strongly positive with regard to feelings about biological science. Each of the 100 statements was typed on a 3x5 card and each card was given an identifying number on the back. The statements were edited by the in- vestigator in accordance with the criteria cited by Edwards. These criteria are: 1. Avoid statements that refer to the past rather than to the present. 2. Avoid statements that are factual or capable of being interpreted as factual. 3. Avoid statements that may be interpreted in more than one way. 4. Avoid statements that are irrelevant to the psychological object under consideration. 5. Avoid statements that are likely to be endorsed by almost everyone or by almost no one. 6. Select statements that are believed to cover the entire range of the affective scale of interest. 7. Keep the language of the statements simple, clear, and direct. 8. Statements should be Short, rarely exceeding 20 words. 9. Each statement should contain only one complete thought. 10. Statements containing universals such as all, always, none, and never often introduce ambiguity and should be avoided. 68 11. Words such as only, just, merely, and others of a similar nature should be used with care and moderation in writing statements. 12. Whenever possible, statements should be in the form of simple sentences rather than in the form of compound or complex sentences. 13. Avoid the use of words that may not be under- stood by those who are to be given the completed scale. 14. Avoid the use of double negatives.16 Review of techniques for obtaining judgments of statements. The sorting procedure as first described by Thurstone and Chave consisted in printing each attitude statement on a separate card. Then individuals, serving as judges, were asked to sort the cards containing the state- ments into piles. There were eleven cards lettered A through K which were placed in order in front of the person doing the sorting with the A card to the extreme left and the K card to the extreme right. The individuals were told the A card represented favorable feelings toward the psychological object, the K card represented unfavorable feelings toward the psychological object, and the F card represented neutral feelings toward the psychOlOgical object.17 Thurstone and Chave believed it was important that the other cards not be 16 Edwards, 3p. cit., pp. 13-14. 17L. L. Thurstone and E. J. Chave, The Measurement 25 Actitude (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1929), pp. 30-310 69 defined so that the intervals between successive cards would represent equal-appearing intervals. Each person was asked to judge the feeling expressed by each statement in terms of the 11 intervals by placing the statement cards onto the lettered card most closely representing the degree of favorableness or unfavorableness. In order to sort 130 statements, Thurstone and Chave used 300 judges.18 However, there has been research19 which showed that reliable scale values could be obtained using as few as 15 judges. Several investigators have varied the method of ob— taining judgments. Edwards20 noted that Ballin and Farnsworth used a graphic-rating method. The subjects gave their judg- ments of favorableness or unfavorableness of the statements by placing a check on an eleven inch line. The line was afterwards divided into eleven equal intervals and the number of checks in each interval counted. Another variation, used by Seashore and Hevner,21 consisted of printing the statements in booklets with the numbers one to eleven printed to the left of the statement. Subjects made their judgments by circling the number corresponding to the category in which they believed the statement fell. Webb22 had the subjects 18Edwards,'_c_).p_. cit., p. 94. 191b1d., p. 95. zolbid. 21 22 Ibid., p. 96. Ibid., p. 97. 70 place their responses on an IBM answer sheet which had five Spaces for each statement. The first space was defined as very unfavorable and the fifth Space was defined as very favorable. An IBM graphic-item counter was used to tabulate the judgments of the subjects. Correlation computations made which compared the instruments constructed from state- ments using these various judgment techniques and instruments constructed using statements judged by Thurstone and Chave's technique revealed values of .90 or higher. This evidence indicates that the different methods of obtaining judgments of statements were not important variables related to the scale values of the statements.23 It should be noted that some research has been done regarding the effect of the attitudes of the judges on the sorting process. After a review of the literature, Shaw and Wright24 concluded that there was reason to believe that the individuals making the judgments were influenced by their own attitudes. It appears judges make finer discriminations among statements near their own position on the attitude con— tinuum. However, the evidence, in the main, supports the validity of scale construction by the equal-appearing inter- vals technique. 23£E£3., pp. 95-98. 24Shaw and Wright, pp. cit., pp. 560-561. 71 Procedures used in the present study for obtaining judgments of the attitude statements. In order to obtain individuals to judge the statements for the construction of the Biological Science Attitude Scale, personnel in the Science and Mathematics Teaching Center at Michigan State University were asked to serve as judges. Seventeen persons connected with the Center agreed to participate in judging the attitude statements. The backgrounds of these subjects were as follows: six of the individuals were staff members with two having the Ph.D. degree in a biological science discipline, three having the Ph.D. degree in education with cognate training in physical science, and one having the Ed.D. degree in mathematics education; and eleven were graduate students with five having a bacclaureate degree with a background in biological science, four having a master's degree with physical science backgrounds, one with a master's degree with a biOlOgical science background, and one was a medical student. The judging process was similar to that outlined by Thurstone and Chave. However, instead of lettering the sorting-category cards from A to K, the cards were numbered from one to eleven. In addition, highly unfavorable was printed at the bottom of card one, neutral was printed at the bottom of card six, and highly favorabl was printed at the bottom of card eleven. In preparation of sorting, the 72 number one card was placed on a table so that it would be to the extreme left of the person doing the sorting and the number eleven card to the extreme right. Before starting the evaluations, the person was pre— sented with a card with the following information which he was requested to read. DIRECTIONS I am attempting to cOnstruct a test which will measure the attitudes of students toward biological science. Written on the cards are statements, ranging from highly favorable to highly unfavorable, toward biological science. In front of you is a scale numbered from one (1) to eleven (11). (1) One equals highly unfavorable. (6) Six equals neutral. (11) Eleven equals highly favorable. Place the cards containing the statements in piles along the scale according to how favorable or un- favorable you think the statement is. I am not trying to measure your attitude. I am trying to obtain your opinion as to how favorable or unfavorable you think the statements are. Do not attempt to place an equal number of cards in each pile. There has been no attempt to write an equal number of statements which would fit in each category. You may even find that some numbers along the scale will be left blank. After the person who was to do the judging had completed reading the directions, he was asked by the inves- tigator if there were any questions. If there were no questions or after the questions had been answered, the sub- ject was handed the deck of cards containing the 100 state— ments. The deck had been thoroughly shuffled so the state- ments were in random order. After reading each statement, 73 the judge placed the card on one of the numbered sorting category cards which correSponded to how favorable or un- favorable he felt the statement was toward biological science. When the sorting process was completed the inves— tigator recorded, on the back of the statement card, the number of the pile into which the statement had been placed. For example, if attitude statement number 37 was judged slightly unfavorable and placed on card five by the judge, the number five was written on the back of the card containing statement number 37. While such numbers appeared on the cards after the first judging, the judges were asked not to look at the numbers before making their own judgments. In the writer's Opinion the presence of these numbers on the cards did not bias the results. This process for sorting the cards was repeated with each of the seventeen individuals who had agreed to serve as judges. Computation of S values. Once the statements had all been sorted into categories by the judges, a scale or S value for each attitude statement was computed. The S values actually classify a statement as to its favorableness or un- favorableness. These S values were necessary in constructing the attitude scale and were the basis for computing an atti— tude score for those taking the attitude scale. The 8 value 25 was defined as the median of the distribution of judgments M 25Edwards, 2p. cit., p. 87. 74 for each statement and was computed by means of the following formula:26 where S the median or scale value of the statement 1 a the lower limit of the interval in which the median falls 'ipb . the sum of the prOportions below the interval in which the median falls pw 8 the prOportion within the interval in which the median falls 1 n the width of the interval and is assumed to be equal to 1.0 The data Obtained from the judgment process were recorded in a summary table like the one shown in Table 4 on page 83. The actual computation of S for item 1 in Table 4 follows: 1 =- 10.5; pr = 0.24; pw = 0.76; i 8 1.0 substituting into the above formula (D II 10.5 + ('50 “7&2“ ) 1.0 S a 10.84 26Ibid. 75 Computation of Q values. The interquartile range or Q value was computed as a mesure of the variation of the judgments for each statement. The Q value served as a measure of a statement's ambiguity. That is, the larger the Q value the more ambiguous the statement.27 The Q value was used as a criterion for selecting statements for the final attitude scale. In the instrument deve10ped by Thurstone 28 and Chave, the range of Q values was 0.7 to 2.6. This range was used as a guide by the investigator to select statements for the final attitude scale in this study. The Q values for the Biological Science Attitude Scale ranged from 0.5 to 2.4. The Q value was computed by taking the difference between the 75th and the 25th centile.29 Thus: Q ‘ C7s - C25 where Q = the interquartile range C75 = the 75th centile computed from the formula ZLPb . C a 1+ (.75 - )1 75 p W 7Edwards, 2p. cit., p. 89. 28Thurstone and Chave, 2p. cit., pp. 33-34. 29Edwards, loc. cit. where 1 iP 76 the 25th centile computed from the formula = 1 + ('25 -in ) pw C i 25 the lower limit of the interval in which the centile falls the sum of the prOportions below the interval in which the centile falls the prOportion within the interval in which the centile falls the width of the interval and is assumed to be equal to 1.0 The data obtained from the judgment process were recorded in a summary table like the one shown in Table 4 «on page 33. The actual computation of Q for item 1 in Table 4 follows: for C75 1 . 10.5; 'pr = 0.24; pw = 0.76; i = 1.0 arl<1 substituting into the above formula 3 1 . .75 - .24 1.0 C75 0 5 + < .76 ) C75 3 11.17 77 a d f C n or 25 1 310.5; ipb 1I0.24; pw =0.76; i =1.0 25 - 24 = + - - , C25 10.5 ( .76 ) 1 0 C = 10.51 25 Q = 11.17 - 10.51 Q = 0.66 Selection of statements for the Biological Science Attitude Scale. When selecting statements for an attitude scale, Shaw and Wright30 suggested picking a small number of items that would be Spread more or less evenly along the attitude continuum. For the instrument used in this study, 32 statements were picked with S values which were Spread as ewrenly as possible along the attitude continuum from one to elueven. Selection of statements for the attitude scale was a 1:30 based upon Q values. Edwards31 suggested selecting S ta tements with low Q values, but did not specify what a InaD-cimum value might be. As noted in the previous section, t he attitude scale produced by Thurstone and Chave had a re“ nge of Q values from 0.7 to 2.6. With this range as a 3“ 1de, statements were first selected for the attitude scale \——————- 30Shaw and Wright, 2p. cit., p, 22. 31Edwards, 2p. cit., pp. 92-93. 78 in this study with the largest Q value being 2.8. However, due to further judgings and Q value computations, the Q value maximum was reduced to a value of 2.4. The 32 statements which met the established criteria constituted a working form of the Biological Science Attitude Scale. In building the scale the statements were randomized and then numbered 1 through 32. There were instructions at the tOp of the instrument giving the respondent directions to either agree or disagree with each of the statements. A sample of the Biological Science Attitude Scale is included in Appendix B. The method by which a reSpondent's score was computed is described in a later section of this chapter. A repetition of the process of jgdgigg the attitude statements. Oppenheim32 warned against using subjects for tflie judging procedure which differed appreciably from the Ezerup to which the final instrument was to be administered. T1162 pOpulation used in this study, elementary education majors, were considered by the investigator to be appreciably alt-ifferent from the judges obtained from the Science and EIE‘ tlhematics Teaching Center. Consequently, the attitude 3 tzia.tements were judged by elementary education majors during the winter term and also during the spring term before the E l‘tiéal S and Q values were established for use in statistical e. Q1“'lputations in the study. \_—_— 32Oppenheim, 2p. cit., p. 133. 79 During winter term, 1970, 25 elementary education majors enrolled in BiolOgical Science 202 were randomly selected to serve as judges for categorizing the attitude statements. Rather than the original 100 statements only the 32 items which had been selected as a result of the first judging were given to these student judges. With each of the 32 statements typed on a separate card they were sorted onto a scale ranging from one to eleven using the same procedure as the one described for the faculty and graduate assistants from the Science and Mathematics Teaching Center. Using the data obtained from the student judges, S and Q values were again computed. Large Q values were found for several of the statements, so the investigator repeated the judging process during the Spring term, 1970. During the spring term, 25 elementary education majors erzrolled in Biological Science 202 were randomly selected to Sclzrve as judges for categorizing the attitude statements. T}1<3 investigator suspected the large Q values which had O‘Z‘CIurred as a result of the winter term judging could be due tZC) inaccurate sorting by the student judges selected. This p r‘—<3l:>lem could have been a result of the judges' ineXperience 0"? tzo a misunderstanding of the directions. Therefore, a s k1<31rt training session was added to the sorting procedure. I-r1_ Eiddition to the original 32 statements used on the B - 1‘53 logical Science Attitude Scale, ten statements were 80 written on separate cards and added to the deck of cards containing the 32 statements. These cards were numbered from I to X in Roman numerals so they could be easily dis— tinguished from the other cards by the investigator. The deck of the original 32 cards were shuffled as before so they were in random order. The ten supplemental cards were then placed at the front of the deck in sequential order from I to X. As each of the 25 judges sorted the cards and placed them in a particular pile, the investigator observed whether the student appeared to understand the directions. For example, if the student placed an obviously negative statement in the number eleven pile the investigator inter— vened and quizzed the person as to whether or not he under- stood the directions. This coaching procedure was repeated ft>r the first ten cards only. As it usually turned out, tile student either had forgotten which numbers indicated P<>ssitive or negative attitudes, had misread the statement, (’1’ had not understood he was not to agree or disagree with the statement, but simply decide whether it was a favorable (’17 Ianfavorable statement about biological science. None of tt‘“e! original 32 statements were discussed with the student d“ ITing the judging process. The assumption was made that t“”€! coaching by the investigator of the students on the ten s“"I>plemental statements did not bias the resulting S or Q V {i 1ues of the 32 statements. However, values different 81 from the previous judgments were Obtained, and it was assumed by the investigator that these differences were a result of increased precision in the final judging procedure. The objective of the training procedure was to increase the probability that the student would do a conscientious job Of sorting the statements. After the statements had been subjected to this final judging, the data were transferred from the backs of the cards containing the statements to a judgment summary table, described by Edwards.33 These data are presented in Table 4 which includes the S and Q values for each statement. The Table shows that the S values actually used for final compu- tation of attitude scores ranged from 1.1 to 10.9, and Q values ranged from 0.5 to 2.4. Since it was assumed that the. slaring term judgments of the attitude statements were the mCJst accurate, only the data obtained during that term are it1<:1uded in Table 4 and consequently only those data were Us ed in the study for the final computations of attitude 3 <=<3res for experimental and control groups. As was pointed c"J-t3 earlier, the investigator set a maximum acceptable Q Va lue of 2.6 based on the Thurstone and Chave instrument. (k 1-31 attitude statements which exceeded a Q value of 2.6 were ()‘I‘il tted from the final attitude score computations. Of the ..“~§‘~___-__— 33Edwards, 23. cit., p. 87. 82 32 items, 4 had Q values greater than 2.6. The maximum Q value for the final 28 items* was 2.4. Appendix A contains the original 100 attitude state- ments with accompanying S and Q values. These values are based on computations resulting from data collected from judgments obtained from the original group of judges from the Science and Mathematics Teaching Center. It should be noted that in a few cases the wording of a statement used in the final scale was changed slightly from the way it appeared in the original list. For example, the statement numbered 23 in the original list which reads: "Keeping children's pets, such as mice, hamsters, or turtles, in the elementary class- room is just too much bother," was altered to read as number 4 in the final instrument: "Allowing children to keep pets Eiuch as mice, hamsters, or turtles in the elementary class- rC>om is just too much bother." In all cases where a change was made in the wording of a statement it was done prior to the final judging process; no changes were made after the final judging. Table 5 contains a list of the 32 statements used on t‘E1‘3 Biological Science Attitude Scale and shows the S and Q ..____‘~_______ * “1 Statement 32 was omitted accidentally during “'i3’<=hine scoring of the answer sheets, so the final analyses Ea't‘e based on 27 items. 83 mcofluuoaoum O>HumasasO no mSOHuuoaoum mm mmHosmsvoum n a .mwwuowmumo wdwuhom H.H we: m0 Sumw CH UQUMHQ mm3 quEwumum m SUHSNJ Sufi.» Nhufiwsdmhm n m SS.H SN. SN. SS. SH. SS. .mu S.H N.S SH. 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