A Review of the Literature on Primary Students' Science-Related Attitudes

초등학생들의 과학 관련 태도에 대한 문헌 연구

This study aimed to investigate primary students' science-related attitudes through the literature review. Ninety-four papers published in domestic science education journals, since 1990, were collected and were followed by content analysis. In this study, science-related attitude was conceptualized as attitude toward science, scientist, science-related occupations, and school science, which is composed of cognitive, affective and behavioral domains. Based on the conceptualization, the instruments used for measuring students' attitudes were analyzed. The analysis of definition of science-related attitude in the articles showed different foci on cognitive, affective and behavioral domains. To suggest the effective instruction for enhancing students' science-related attitudes, this study identified students' attitude with gender, grade, residence and achievement level. The result showed that male, urban, higher-grade and better performed students had more positive attitude than female, rural, lower-grade and less performed students. As for the factors in science-related attitude, I categorized the factors into personal, environmental and pedagogical aspects, and found that psychological elements in all domains were most influential to students' change of science-related attitudes. It is interesting to note that students showed dichotomous views about experiment and that task-oriented instruction failed to enhance students' attitude. Based on the research findings, this study suggests effective instruction for improving students' attitudes and future research for science education.