Cypriot Students’ Attitudes towards School Science: The transition from primary to secondary school

Understanding students’ attitudes towards school science is an international endeavour, seen
by researchers as a key part of improving students’ science attainment, science career
aspirations and their participation in science related studies. Research studies conducted
previously in Cyprus highlight the association between positive attitudes towards school
science and Cypriot students’ science achievement. However, studies in Cyprus that provide
insights into students’ attitudes towards school science, what are they, what impacts them and
how they change as students move from primary to secondary school have been sparse. This
study employed mixed methods to investigate students’ attitudes towards school science, if and
how they change as students move from primary to secondary school and the factorsthat impact
the formation of students’ attitudes towards school science. The study is based on data collected
from five primary and two secondary schools in Cyprus. It involved the collection of 539
questionnaires completed by primary and secondary school students (year 6 to year 8) as well
as group interviews with smaller groups of students from the same cohort (9 group interviews
with 34 participants). In line with certain studies in the reviewed literature, the findings suggest
that students’ attitudes towards school science are overall positive, and they do not change
significantly as students move from primary to secondary school. There were no significant
differences identified between the attitudes of girls and boys towards school science. Teacher
and enjoyment of experiments were found to be key factors affecting students' attitudes towards
school science. Other factors identified to affect students’ attitudes were parents’ attitudes
towards science, science-related career aspirations and fathers’ education level. Students in
secondary school were found to have significantly more positive attitudes towards physics and
chemistry than biology. Looking at the three attitude domains, students were found to have
more positive affective and cognitive attitudes and less positive behavioural attitudes towards
school science. This thesis has contributed to the theory and knowledge about the three attitude
domains: the affective, cognitive and behavioural regarding students’ attitudes towards school science. It has also resulted in a validated instrument that can be used to collect data regarding
students’ attitudes towards school science in Cyprus and other countries. This study has
implications for practice and policy makers such as the need to consider students’ attitudes
towards school science and the factors that impact them when planning for lessons, the national
science curriculum and training opportunities for all the stakeholders. Its findings also suggest
the need for more research that explores the attitudes towards school science of students from
a range of school settings and considering factors such as the socio-economic backgrounds,
parental education and income in a systematic way.