Trends in achievement and attitudes towards science (2007-2013)

Abstract

This research investigated whether or not there is a change of achievement in 2013, if a sample of 200 Maltese Form 3 students were to sit for a Science test, based on the Released Items of TIMSS (Trends in Mathematics and Science Study) which was administered to all Maltese Form 3 students in 2007. This study also investigated whether there is a correlation between the students’ attitudes towards Science and their Science achievement. The sample consisted of 103 boys and 97 girls coming from Church schools and State schools. No Independent schools took part in this study. The methodology of this research was mainly a quantitative one. Each student was given a Science test booklet where the student had to answer 29 questions from the areas of Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Earth Science. After the test, the students were given an attitude questionnaire. The data were later processed and analysed using the Microsoft Excel program. The results show that the sample underperformed when compared with the TIMSS 2007 results. The average score of the sample was found to be 247 compared with the 457 Malta achieved in TIMSS 2007. Boys performed better than girls (p = 0.005) unlike TIMSS 2007 where there were no significant gender differences. The study also showed that both boys and girls showed positive attitudes towards Science and that this difference is statistically insignificant (p = 0.340). The study also showed that there is a moderate correlation between attitudes towards Science and Science achievement (r = 0.440) but other factors like the amount of homework have a very weak or no correlation with Science achievement (r = 0.011).