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TOSm

TEST OF SCIENCE-RELATED
ATTITUDES

HA}TDBOOK

BAITRY J. FRASER

MacquarieUniversity
Publishedby
The Australian Council for EducationalResearchLimited
Radford House,Frederick Street,Hawthorn, Victoria 3122

Typesettingdirect from Wang disketteby


Publication Perspectives
200 CheltenhamRoad, Dandenong,Victor\a 3175

Printed by Allanby Press


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Reprinted February, 1982

Copyright@B.J.Fraserl98l

The materialsin this publication may not be reproducedwithout permissionfrom the publisherwith the below-men-
tioned exception:
After the initial purchaseand supplyof the materialsto a recognizededucationalestablishmentcopiesmay be
made and usedwithin that establishmentwithout the requirementof the paymentof a fee subjectto the condi-
tion that they are not made available to usersby way of trade or sale.
CONTENTS

Page
Introduction
Feedbackon the Use of TOSRA
Background
Scopeof TOSRA
Response Formatof TOSRAltems 2
Administration andScoring 3
PreviousBatteryof FiveAttitudeScales 3
Developmentof TOSRA 3
StatisticalInformation for Years 7-lO 3
Samples 3
Means 4
StandardDeviations 4
Reliability 4
Discriminant Validity 4
Cross-Validationin Australia and the United States 6
Usesof TOSRA 6
References 8
Appendix I: Instructionsfor Administration and Scoring 9
Appendix II: ScaleAllocation and Scoringfor Each Item ll

Tables

I Name and Classificationof Each Scalein TOSRA


2 SampleSizesfor Years 7-lO
3 Mean, StandardDeviation,Reliability, and Discriminant
Validity (Mean Correlation with Other Scales)of Each
TOSRA Scale
4 Cross-ValidationData from Australia and United States

Figure

I Profileof MeanScores on EachTOSRAScalebv


Obtained
the FieldTestingSample
INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND
Te st of S c ienc e- R e l a te d A tti tu d e s (T O S R A ) i s Currently the promotion of favourable sciertce-related
designed to measure seven distinct science-related at- attitudes is considered in many countries to be one ot'
titudes among secondary school students. These scales the most i mportant ai ms of sci enceeducati on.Th e pr o-
are called Social Implications of Science,Normality of minence given to attitudinal aims is reflected in the
Sci e n t is t s , A t t it ude to S c i e n ti fi c In q u i ry , Ad o p ti on of overseascurriculum packagesreviewed by Hurd
Scientific Attitudes, Enjoyment of Science Lessons, ( 1970), i n the stated ai ms of the A ustral i an Science
Leisure Interest in Science, and Career Interest in Education Project (ASEP, 1974) and in science
Science.The seven scalesare suitable for group admin- syl l abusesi n vari ous A ustral i an S tates.Furth er m or e
istration and all can be administered within the dura- the assessmentof attitudes is perceived as a common
tion of a normal classlesson.Furthermore TOSRA has problem among scienceteachers in different parts oi
been carefully developed and extensively field tested A ustral i a, accordi ng to both a survey i nvol vi ng a na-
and has been shown to be highly reliable. ti onal sampl e of 1004 A S E P teachers (Ow en , 1977)
This Handbook describesthe development of and reports delivered by scienceeducators from each
TOSRA and includes statistical information for Year A ustral i an S tate and Terri tory (C urri cul um D e velop-
7 -1 0 s am ples .T he H a n d b o o k ' s a p p e n d i x e sc o n ta i n i n- ment Centre, 1977).
structions for administration and scoring (Appendix I) W hi l e there i s consi derabl econsensus of opi nion t hat
a n d a t able indic at i n g h o w th e i te ms i n T O S R A are the promotion of favourable attitudes to science is an
allocated to the seven different scales(Appendix II). i mportant ai m of sci enceeducati on,there i s co nf usion
The present Handbook is published in conjunction about w hat meani ng shoul d be pl aced on th e 'at r i-
with three other separate items. First there is a test tude to sci ence' . K l opfer (l 9l l ), how ever, has allevi-
master set which can be used to make reusablecopiesof ated the semanti cprobl ems associ atedw i th the m ult i-
'attitude
the TOSRA test booklet. In fact, copyright exceptions ple meanings attached to the term to science',
permit, after initial purchase, reproduction of unlim- by providing a comprehensiveclassificationschemefor
ited copies of TOSRA within an institution. Second sci ence educati on ai ms i n w hi ch si x concept ually
there is a transparenthand Score Key to facilitate con- different categories of attitudinal aims are dis-
venient hand scoring of students'responsesto TOSRA. ti ngui shed.Thesesi x categori es,w hi ch are l i sted in Ta-
Third there is a student Answer Sheetwhich is designed bl e l , i nvol ve di sti ncti onsbetw eenatti tudesto science
so that it can be scored using the Score Key. and sci enti sts(H .l ), atti tude to i nqui ry (H .2), ad opt ion
TOS RA c an be use d b y te a c h e rs .c u rri c u l u m e v al ua- of screnti fi catti tudes l i ke curi osi ty and open-m inded-
tors, or researchers to monitor student progress ness(H .3), enj oyment of sci encel earni ng expe r iences
to wa rds ac hiev ing a tti tu d i n a l a i m s . Al th o u g h i t i s (H .4), i nterest i n sci ence apart from l earning ex-
possible to use TOSRA for assessing the progressof in- peri ences(H .5), and i nterest i n a career i n science
d i vi d u al s t udent s ,TOS R A i s l i k e l y to b e mo s t u seful (H.6).
for examining the performance of groups or classesof
stu d ent s( e. g. in c ur ri c u l u m e v a l u a ti o n ).F u rth e r more,
as well as providing information about attitudes at a SCOPEOF TOSRA
p a rti c ular t im e, T O S R A c o u l d a l s o b e u s e d a s a pre-
Tabl e I show sthe name of the sevenscal esconta inedin
test and a post-test (perhaps over the time of a school
TOS R A , together w i th the cl assi fi cati onof th e aim
term or year) to obtain information about changesin
measuredby each scale according to Klopfer's scheme.
a tti tudes .
Thi s tabl e i ndi catesthat, w hi l e tw o separateTO SRA
scaleshave been included to measuretwo separateaims
Feedbackon the Use of TOSRA i n categoryH .l , each of the other fi ve TOS R A scales
measuresai ms i n one of the remai ni ng categor ies,
n a m e l yH . 2 t o H . 6 .
Si n ce public at ion o f a n a rti c l e d e s c ri b i n g T O S R A S i ncecategoryH .l (Mani festati onof favoura ble at -
(Fraser, 1978), requestsfor copies of the test have been ti tudes tow ards sci enceand sci enti sts)embraces t wo
received from researchers and teachers in different somew hat di sti nct sub-categori es,namel y manif est a-
d e ve loped and dev e l o p i n g c o u n tri e s . M a n y o f these ti on of favourabl e atti tudes tow ards sci en ce and
p e o p le hav e us ed or c u rre n tl y a re u s i n g T OS R A for manifestation of favourable attitudes towards scien-
th e i r o wn r es ear c ho r te a c h i n g p u rp o s e s .It w o ul d be ti sts, a separate measure of each w as i ncl uded in
appreciated if researchersand teachersusing TOSRA TOS R A . H ow ever, al though both of thesesub- cat ego-
in the future for various purposes would send their ri es cover a range of rel ated atti tudes,the test bat t er y,
co mm ent sand v alida ti o n d a ta to th e a u th o r a t S chool w as restri cted to a reasonabl esi ze by i ncl u ding a
o f Educ at ion, M acq u a ri e U n i v e rs i ty , N o rth Ryde, measureof a si ngl e aspectof each sub-categor y.The
NSW. 2113.Australia. S o c i a l I m p l i c a t i o n s o f S c i e n c es c a l e i n T O S R A
Table I Name and Classificationof Each Scalein TOSRA

Scale name Klopfer (197f) classification

So ciallr nplic at ion so f S c i e n c e(S ) H.l: Manifestation of favourable attitudes


N o rm alit y of S c ien ti s ts(N ) towards scienceand scientists
Attitude to Scientific Inquiry (I) H.2: Acceptance of scientific inquiry as a way of
thought
Adoption of Scientific Attitudes (A) H.3: Adoption of 'scientific attitudes'
Enjoyment of ScienceLessons(E) H.4: Enjoyment of sciencelearning experiences
Leisure Interest in Science(L) H.5: Development of interest in scienceand science-
related activities
Career Interest in Science(C) H.6: Development of interest in pursuing a career in
science

measuresone aspectof manifestationof favourable at-


titudes towards sciencewhich has been afforded imp<-rr-
RESPONSEFORMAT
ta n c e in t he s c ien c ee d u c a ti o n l i te ra tu re (Z o l ler and OF TOSRAITEMS
Wa ts on, 1974 F r a s e r, 1 9 7 7 a ),n a me l y a tti tu d e t ow ards
th e s oc ial benef its a n d p ro b l e m s w h i c h a c c ompany TOSRA items involve a responseformat, first
sci ent if icpr ogr es s .T h e N o rma l i ty o f S c i e n ti s tss cal ei n described by Likert (1932), which requires students to
TOSRA measures one aspect of manitestation of expresstheir degree of agreementwith each statement
fa vour able at t it ud e s to w a rd s s c i e n ti s tsg i v e n promi - on a five-point scale consisting of the responses
n e n c ein s c ienc eed u c a ti o n ,n a me l y a n a p p re c i a ti onthat S trongl yagree(S A ), A gree (A ), N ot sure (N ), Disagr ee
sci ent is t sar e nor m a l p e o p l e ra th e r th a n th e e c c entri cs (D ) and S trongl ydi sagree(S D ). S cori ngi nvol ves allot -
often depicted in the mass media (Mead and M6traux, t i n g 5 , 4 , 3 , 2 , I f o r t h e r e s p o n s eSsA , A , N , D , S D ,
I 957; Fraser, 1977b). respecti vel y,for i tems desi gnatedas posi ti ve ( + ) in
The t hir d s c ale l i s te d i n T a b l e l , th e Atti ru d e ro In- AppendixII and allotting | ,2,3, 4, 5 for the responses
q u i ry s c ale, m eas u re sa tti tu d e to s c i e n ti fi ce x p e ri men- S A , A , N , D , S D , respecti vel y,for i tems designat edas
ta ti on and inquir y a s w a y s o f o b ta i n i n g i n fo rmati on negati ve(- ).
a b out t he nat ur al w o rl d : th i s a tti tu d c - i s s i mi l ar i n An important feature of Likert-type items is that
me aning t o c at ego ry H .2 . T h e fo u rth s c a l e i n T OS R A , thei r i ntenti on i s often obvi ous to the test re spondent
the Adoption of Scientific Attitudes scale, measuresan and, therefore, it is possiblefor the respondentto fake
a tti t udinal aim ide n ti c a l i n m e a n i n g to c a te g o ry H .3. responses to refl ect opi ni onsw hi ch are more posit iveor
Fu rt her m or e a m a j o r n re ri t o f th i s s c a l e i s that the more negati vethan they real l y are. In i nterpr et ingst u-
sp e cif icat t it udes (e .g .o p e n -mi n d e d n e s sw, i l l i n gnessto dent responsesto TOS R A , therefore,the poss ibilit y of
re vi s e opinions , etc .) i n c l u d e d a s d e s i ra b l e o n e s w ere faki ng responsesto some i tems cannot be com plet ely
se l e c t ed f r om t hos e c o n s i s te n tl yra te d b y a g r oup of overl ooked. C onsequentl y, l i ke most atti tu de t est s,
e mi n ent A us t r alia n s c i e n ti s tsa s b e i n g o f c o n s i derabl e TOSRA is of limited usefulnessfor the purpose of
i mp o r t anc e in t he i r w o rk a s s c i e n ti s ts(C o h e n , l 97l gradi ng i ndi vi dual students,si nce studentsco uld f ake
1972). The meaning of the aims measured by the last answ ersto i mprove thei r grades. H ow ever, a s long as
th re e s c aleslis t ed i n T a b l e I i s i d e n ti c a l to th e m eani ng TOS R A i s not used for gradi ng, there w oul d be lit t le
o f cat egor iesH. 4 to H .6 a n d i s re fl e c te di n th e t i tl es of poi nt i n studentsfaki ng responsesand reason ablecon-
th e se t hr ee s c ale s , n a m e l y E n j o y m e n t o f S ci ence fi dence coul d be pl aced i n student response s.I n f act ,
L e ss ons , Leis ur e I n te re s t i n Sc i e n c e .a n d C a reer In- faki ng of responsesi s l i kel y to be mi ni mi ze d if t he
te res t in S c ienc e. teacher makes i t cl ear to studentsthat resul t s ar e not
The nat ur e of t h e a i m m e a s u re d b y e a c h scal e i n for gradi ng. Moreover, i n casesw here i nformat ion is
TOS RA c an be t urth e r c l a ri fi e d b y e x a mi n i n g the ac- requi red about groups rather than i ndi vi duals, t he
tu a l it em s in eac h s c a l e .A p p e n d i x II i n d i c a te sw hi ch l i kel i hood of faki ng coul d be further reduced by m ak-
iterns fall into each of the seven separatescales i ng responsesanonymous.
ADMINISTRATION The final form of TOSRA was obtained after refining
prel i mi nary versi onsi n tw o successi ve stages.The f ir st
AND SCORING stagei nvol ved modi fyi ng a pool of i tems i n the light of
reacti onssol i ci tedfrom a group of sci enceteacher sand
Fo r eas y r ef er enc e,t h e i n s tru c ti o n sfo r a d mi n i s t rati on expertsi n educati onalmeasurement.The seco nd st age
a n d sc or ingof T O S R A h a v e b e e np l a c e d i n Ap p e ndi x I i nvol ved the fi el d testi ngof a versi on of TOS RA con-
a t th e bac k of t his H a n d b o o k . Sc o ri n g c a n b e ac- tai ni ng l 4 i tems per scal eand the subsequentuse of t he
co mp l is hedby c om p u te ro r b y u s i n g th e tra n s p a re nt hand i tem anal ysi stechni quesdescri bedi n Fraser (1977c) t o
Sco reK ey pr ov ided. reduce the l ength of each scal eto l 0 i tems.

PREVIOUSBATTERYOF FIVE
ATTITUDE SCALES STATISTICALINFORMATION
FORYEARS7-10
TOSR A is an ex t ensi o no f a p re v i o u sb a tte ryo f a tt i tude
sca l e sc ont aining earl i e r v e rs i o n so f th e fo l l o w i n g fi ve
TOSRA s c ales :S oc i a lImp l i c a ti o n so f Sc i e n c eA , tt i tude A versi on of TOS R A w as admi ni steredduri ng 1977 t o
to Scient if ic I nquir y , Ad o p ti o n o f S c i e n ti fi cA tti tudes, a l arge sampl e of studentsi n the S ydneymetro polit an
En j o ym ent of S c ien c eL e s s o n sa n d L e i s u re In te r est i n area at the Y eai 7-10 l evel . S tati sti calanal yseswer e
Sci e n c e.Howev er , a s th e d e v e l o p me n t a n d v a l i d ati on performed on these data i n order to i denti fy cer t ain
o f th e ear lier bat t er y o f fi v e s c a l e sh a v e b e e n d i s cussed i tems w hi ch coul d be del etedfrom the battery i n or der
a t l e ngt h els ewher e (F ra s e r, 1 9 7 7 c ), o n l y th e three to reduce the l ength of each scal e to l 0 i tems and t o
ma i n st agesin t he de v e l o p me n ta re m e n ti o n e d b ri efl y enhance the overal l scal e characteri sti cs.Then, f or
b e l o w . F ir s t a v er si o n o f e a c h s c a l e w a s a s s e mbl ed, each refi ned scal e contai ni ng l 0 i tems, the following
b a se d on ex is t ing i n s tru me n ts a n d re a c ti o n s from four scal e stati sti csw ere cal cul ated: mean, sta ndar d
sci e n c et eac her sand e x p e rts i n e d u c a ti o n a l m e a sure- d e v i a t i o n ,r e l i a b i l i t y ,a n d s c a l ei n t e r c o r r e l a t i o n .
me n t about eac h i te m' s c l a ri ty . re a d a b i l i ty , face
va l i d i ty , and s c aleal l o c a ti o n . S e c o n dr-t.
re v i s e dv ersi on
w a s a s s em bled,bas e do n e v i d e n c efro n r a n a l y s i so f data
Samples
co l l e c t ed dur ing t he fi e l d te s ti n go f th e fi rs t v e rs ion of
th e scales wit h a s a mp l e o f 1 6 5 Ye a r 7 s tu d e nts i r:
Tabl e 2 descri besthe sampl ei nvol ved i n the fi eld t est -
Me l b our ne. T hir d t he re v i s e dv e rs i o n o f e a c h s c a l ew as
i ng of TOS R A at each l evel . Thi s tabl e i ndi cat est hat
fi e l d tes t edwit h a lar g e s a mp l eo f I 1 5 8 Ye a r 7 s tudents
the total sampl econsi stedof 1337studentsi n 44 classes
i n Me lbour ne and wa s s h o w n to h a v e s a ti s fa c to ri l yhi gh
drawn from I I different schools.In fact, each of the I I
reliability.
school sprovi ded four typi cal and comparabl eclasses,
one eachat the Y ear 7 , 8,9 and I 0 l evel .The reas onf or
DEVELOPMENTOFTOSRA draw i ng onl y one cl assat eachgrade l evel from a single
school w as to i nvol ve the broadestspectrumof schools
possi bl efor a gi ven sampl e si ze, w hi l e the reas on f or
Th e p r ev ious bat t ery o f fi v e a tti tu d e s c a l e s w a s ex- draw i ng the sampl e at each grade l evel from the sam e
te n d e d and im pr ov e d i n fo u r w a y s to fo rm T O S R A . set of school s w as to enabl e meani ngful comp ar ison
Fi rst two new s c al e s , N o rm a l i ty o f S c i e n ti s t s and betw een stati sti csat di fferent grade l evel s. Table 2
Ca re e r I nt er es t in Sc i e n c e , w e re a d d e d . Se cond, show s that the sampl e si ze w as 340 i n year 7, 335 in
whereas the previous battery involved three different Year 8, 338 in Year 9, and 324 in Year 10.
se ts o f adm inis t r at io n i n s tru c ti o n sa n d a n s w e ri n gfor- The sampl e of school s, al though not random ly
ma ts, T O S RA was de s i g n e dw i th a s i n g l es c t o f i n struc- chosen for a variety of reasons,was carefully selected
ti o n s and ans wer in g fo rm a t. T h i rd , w h i l e d i fferent to cover a vari ety of soci oeconomi cand geog r aphic
sca l e sin t he pr ev ious b a tte ry c o n ta i n e dd i ffe re n t n um- areas and to be representati veof the popul ation of
b e rs o f it em s ,T O S RA w a s d e s i g n e dw i th th e s a men um- school s i n the S ydney metropol i tan area. The I I
b e r o f it em s ( nam ely l 0 ) i n e a c hs c a l ei n o rd e r to fa ci l i - school s i n the sampl e consi stedof fi ve coeduca t ional
tate ready comparison between performance on government hi gh school s,tw o si ngl e-sexgovernm ent
d i ffe re nt s c ales .F ou rth , w h e re a s th e o ri g i n a l b a ttery hi gh school s(one boys and one gi rl s), rw o i ndependent
w a s fi eld t es t ed and v a l i d a te d u s i n g o n l y s a m p lesof C athol i cschool s(oneboysandonegi rl s),andrw o i n depen-
stu d e nt s at t he Y ea r 7 l e v e l , th e fi e l d te s ti n g and dent non-C athol i c school s (one boys and one gir ls) .
va l i d a t ion of T O S R A i n v o l v e d s tu d e n ts a t a l l four The sampl eat each l evel contai nedapproxi matelyequal
j u n i o r h i g h s c h o o lg r a d e l e v e l s ( Y e a r s 7 - 1 0 ) . numbersof boysandgi rl s.
Table 2 Sample Sizesfor Years 7-10 the meanof the sevenscalecoetficients.The valuesof theot
reliability coefticientrangedfrom 0.66 to 0.93 with a mean
of 0.82 tor the Y ear 7 sampl e,from 0.64 to 0.93 wit h a
Number of Number of meanof 0.80 tor the Y ear8 sampl e,trom 0.69 to 0. 92 wit h
Year
classesa students a meanof 0.8 | for the Year 9 sample,and from 0.67 to 0.93
w i th a meanof 0.84 for the Y ear l 0 sampl e.Thesevalues
7 ll 340 tbr the reliability coefficientare generallyhigh for scales
whose length is only l0 items, and all values are large
8 ll 335
enough to indicatethat eachTOSRA scalehad quite good
9 ll 338 i nternalconsi stency rel i abi l i tyat eachl evel .

l0 ll 324 In addi ti on to i nternal consi stencyrel i abi l i ty coef f i-


cients. Table 3 contains estimates of the test-retest
rel i abi l i ty of TOS R A scal es.These cal cul ati o ns wer e
To ta l 44 t337 basedon data from a sub-sampl eof 238 student scom -
pri si ng the Y ear 8 and Y ear 9 cl assesi n four of t he
schools (two coeducational government high schools,
u one i ndependentC athol i c gi rl s school and one inde-
One class at each level was drawn from a different
pendentnon-C athol i cboys school ) i n the ori gi nal sam -
s c hool.
ple. Thesestudentsrespondedto TOSRA a secondtime
approximately two weeks after the first administration.
Table 3 shows that test-retestcoefficientsranged from
Means 0.69 to 0.84 w i th a mean of 0.78, thus i ndi cat ing t hat
al l TOS R A scal es di spl ayed qui te good te st - r et est
rel i abi l i ty.
Ta b l e 3 s hows , s e p a ra te l yfo r e a c h l e v e l , th e mean
sco re on eac h of t he s e v e nT OS R A s c a l e sa n d th e over-
a l l mean of t he s eve ns c a l e me a n s .T h e p o s s i b l escore Discriminant Validity
ra n g e on eac h s c alei s fro m a m i n i m u m o f l 0 to a max-
i mu m of 50. T he re s u l ts i n T a b l e 3 i n d i c a te th at the l ntercorrel ati onsamong TOS R A scal esw ere calcul-
me a n s c or e on eac h s c a l e te n d e d to b e a p p ro x imatel y ated as i ndi cesof di scri mi nant val i di ty (the e xt ent t o
si mi lar at all f our l e v e l s ,a l th o u g h th e m e a n s c o re di d w hi ch a gi ven scal e measuresa uni que atti tude not
te n d t o v ar y c ons id e ra b l yfro m s c a l e to s c a l e . I n fact, measuredby other scalesin the battery). It was found
fo r the Y ear 7 s amp l e , m e a n s c o re sra n g e d fto m 27.5 that, for the total sampl e of 1337 students,TO SRA
tor the Leisure Interest in Sciencescale to 40.5 for the scal e i ntercorrel ati onsw ere general l y fai rl y low and
Atti tude t o I nquir y s c a l e . r a n g e df r o m 0 . 1 0 t o 0 . 5 9 w i t h a m e a n o f 0 . 3 3 . T h e
average correlation of each TOSRA scale with the
other si x scal esw as cal cul ated and these values ar e
StandardDeviations recorded i n Tabl e 3. The tabl e show s that the m ean
correl ati onof a gi ven scal ew i th the other si x sc aleshad
Th e s t andar d dev i a ti o n o f e a c h s c a l e i u td th e mean of moderatel y l ow val ues rangi ng from 0.13 for t he At -
th e s ev en s c ale s t a n d a rd d e v i a ti o n s a re s h o w n sepa- ti tude to Inqui ry scal eto 0.40 for the C areer In t er estin
ra tely f or eac h lev e l i n T a b l e 3 . T h e s e v a l u e s i ndi cate Sciencescale.
that TOSRA scalesgenerally had a reasonablespread It is noteworthy that the highest scale intercorrela-
of scores at each level. The table also shows that the ti ons (val uesof 0.53, 0.58 and 0.59) occurred bet ween
sta ndar ddev iat ion fo r a g i v e n s c a l ew a s c o m p a rabl eat the three scales of Enjoyment of Science Lessons,
e a c h lev el. alt houg h th e s ta n d a rdd e v i a ti o n v a ri ed con- Leisure Interest in Science and Career Interest in
si d e r ably f r om s c a l eto s c a l e (ra n g i n g fro m 4 .5 for the Science. Although these three attitudes are concep-
Ad opt ion of S c ien ti fi cAtti tu d e s s c a l eto 9 .5 fo r the E n- tual l y di sti nct, one w oul d general l yexpect them t o be
j o ym ent of S c ienc eL e s s o n ss c a l e a t th e Ye a r 7 l evel ). moderatel yw el l correl atedamong studentssi n cet her e
would be a tendency for a student who enjoys science
l essonsto be more l i kel y to have a l ei sure and car eer
Reliability i nterest i n sci ence.Furthermore, as al l val ue s of t he
scal ei ntercorrel ati onw ere smal l er than the squar er oot
Th e int er nal c ons i s te n c yre l i a b i l i ty (th e e x te n t to w hi ch of the product of the correspondi ngscal e rel iabilit ies,
i te m s in a giv en sc a l e me a s u reth e s a me a tti tu de) w as which is the value representing perfect conceptual
e sti m at ed f or T O SR A s c a l e s u s i n g th e C ro n bach a equi val ence(B l ock, 1963),i t w as consi deredj ust if iable
co e ff ic ient ( Cr onb a c h , l 9 5 l ). T a b l e 3 s h o w s ,s eparatel y to mai ntai nal l sevenTOS R A scal esas separat edim en-
for each level. the a coefficientfor eachTOSRA scaleand sions.
- x
o q )
tr!'tr 3 O\f-co co O\O\O ('.)
6 l c = : car 1rl - cO Cfi Cq $ c.l
e6: rq
z t= 6 v v v l J v v v

E t

{ J d
a
( D r
\OO\O\ rn ooc!$ oo
(u Y . - F-\Of- f-@ t--
c
f-
.i ;
I
.:|ll v v v l J v v v (D
V) 'a
a .=
t:s o
n o
o A.
(n
(nO\H .f, O ni
C!oo\O f-
F oO1'- \O O\oOO\ r^
,{ v t l

(.) Lr
,v v v t-) v v v
l n t r
.ll \J U)
r-'t o)
rr6l- c\lf-oO d A
O\
f-F- \O O\oO@ tr
_ b o
a
(D
v v v \ J v v v
'i
.g
c a ) o
c) - q )
(n ag
c.l o c.l
n - @
$
\ O
c! \n oo
O \ @ t
l r
r 9
E
k A 't
q) t<
o)
v v v q /
*( J
F

o
d , L
>{ c ) \ #
* C - l - \ O c O O O O o{ I H
oot-- \O O\O\ @
A 5 R
>
= v v v O
7
U
.-
I/

c h A

ag
fr
c
clq\ q 9nn
(t)
A

) \ n $ \ o $ @ \o X
H t r
Y
c) 1 p d
k
k L
r-
M

U 6 ?
qqq
- f , $ l n
v? qqoq
@ @ t ' -
n
\o
a

t r c
=

)
$
c) =
F( 5l
a H F

q) x o
C.l - C.l rn \O Cq C.l q d
-
L

rct.n..c> + o.oo \o E C '


k n =
V H
s\l t
A
r c d
)
v
F J
rg tt- C'.1 OO \n tn \O Ol @ C e(r,
..i _
V) ,; ,r; .r; .t o. @ od
t r @
a

c o.l
. <

k
c?qq -q "?q09 q C
L
, -
ql F-\O\n @ ca\O (v-) o Y a . )
a ca ca cQ ca cq c.l c! co
c i E
h
E
- q : f ,
9 ;
F
qoqq q qq"? q e c . { A
(|) \nln@ -$\O c! O c q l
co ca (-t
1--
ca c.) c.l c-l (r) ./) )
( n E c )
A
v r v
; , : L

olnn q \\q ol - 4 ,
v ,
Y
-
A

c) :+tO\ f-' O\t\O c.i ( < G )


q) FT cA c.l cA cq C.I C't c\l ('.) = 1 0 u
2 )
H
-
R
H 9

(F lv
H F
a
v (t)
t*-\Otn O rc\nC\
9 = ' t
,n .r; i od
ca
c.i r- co
ca c.l r..l
+
co
H
o
v ( n

ca ca s () o' .\
U Y
q) o = c )

L(
PE .
E)
(
= -
l
a
.
b
) j j
'
6
b A E $i :Ug o =
I

6
I HIE H 22
q
a v ( J
6
a) V ) 9 . r
F a ( *
a v ( J '=

F , B g S?
(J u) 0.)

d . : : - ( k O
En
n -
(t)

0.)
;
o
C
a
N
'
)
a
(
o
e
J
c) c ) o , r K
a E",Ls!-C;-Efl a
a) o
- - v - H q-r t
c . r
IJr
= ;
0.)
5 9= J ( g c L
ca q) ; Fs E Eg<E Ej l f ; i i l (
.t)
J l
(g
- i l
=
q)

c,
a
i 5 E r$! JrLH
,Z Z<< )
o) E
f
F u
q
i
)

F
l
;
;T
i

d
F
Table 4 Cross-ValidationData from Australia and United States

A l pha rel i abi l i ty Mean correl a t ion


w i th other scales

NSW Qld QId WA US NSW US


Years7 -10 Year l0 Y e a r 1 2 Y e a r s8 - 1 0 Y e a r9 Years7 -lO Year 9
Scale (N:712) (N:567) (N:273) (N:1041) (N:546) (N:712) (N:546)

So ci al I m plic at ions o f
Science 0.80 0.81 0.81 0.81 0.76 0.37 0.38
Normality of Scientists 0 . 7| 0.69 0.71 0.73 0.63 0.23 0.23
Attitude to Inquiry 0.81 0.82 0.83 0.69 0.84 0.25 0.29
Adoption of Scientific
Attitudes 0.62 0.64 0.67 0.68 0.64 0.38 0.36
Enjoyment of Science
Lessons 0.91 0.90 0.90 0.91 0.92 0.43 0.34
Leisure Interest in Science 0.86 0.84 0.87 0.87 0.86 0 . 38 0.38
Career Interest in Science 0.88 0.85 0.88 0.88 0.87 0.40 0.42

CROSS-VALIDATION IJSESOF TOSRA


IN AUSTRALIAAND
THE UNITED STATES It w as noted previ ousl y that TOS R A can be u sed by
teachers or researchersto moni tor student pr ogr ess
Si n cet he init ial v ali d a ti o n o f T O S R A i n 1 9 7 7 (s eeTa- tow ards achi evi ng atti tude ai ms: that i s, a t eacher
b l e 3 ) , c r o s s - v a l i d a t i o nd a t a h a v e b e c o m e a v a i l a b l e mi ght empl oy TOS R A to obtai n i nfonnati on about t he
fro m a dm inis t r at ion o f T OS R A to fi v e n e w s a m p l esof sci ence-rel atedatti tudes of i ndi vi dual student s or ,
se co n dar ys c ienc ecl a s s e si n A u s tra l i a a n d th e Uni ted preferabl y, w hol e cl asses.Thi s coul d be done at one
States.The first sample consistedof 712 Y ear 7-9 stu- parti cul ar ti me or coul d i nvol ve changesi n a t t it udes
dents from 23 different classes.each with a different occurri ng over ti me.
te a cher ,in eight dif f e re n t s c h o o l sl o c a te d i n th e Sydney A maj or advantagethat TOS R A hasover som e ot her
su b u r banar ea ( s eeFra s e ra n d B u tts , i n p re s s ).T h e next sci enceatti tude testsi s that i t yi el ds a separatescor ef or
tw o sa m plesc ons is te do f 5 6 7 Y e a r l 0 s tu d e n tsa n d 273 a nurnberof di sti nct atti tudi nal ai ms i nsteadof a single
Ye a r 12 s t udent s i n fo u r c o mp re h e n s i v es ta te hi gh overal l score.Thi s makesi t possi bl eto obtai n a pr o. f 'ile
schools in Brisbane (Lucas and Tulip, 1980). The of atti tude scoresfor groups of students.For exam ple,
fo u rth s am ple c ons i s te do f l 0 4 l Y e a r 8 -1 0 s tu dents Fi gure I makes use of the data i n Tabl e 3 to p lot t he
fro m I I s c hools in s u b u rb a n a re a s o f Pe rth , W estern profi l e of mean atti tude scoresfor the sampl e o f 1337
Au stralia ( S c hibec ia n d Mc G a w , 1 9 8 0 ).T h e fi tth sampl e studentsi nvol ved i n the fi el d testi ngof TOS R A.
consistedof 546 Year 9 girls in two urbanCatholicschools W hen attempti ng to i nterpret scores obtained on
i n Ph i ladelphia( F r as e ra n d Bu tts ,i n p re s s ). TOS R A , rel ati ve i nterpretati onsoften can be m or e
Ta bie 4 s howst he v a l u e s o b ta i n e d fo r e a c h T OS R A m e a n i n g f u lt h a n a b s o l u t eo n e s . F o r e x a m p l e , a c o m -
sca l e f or t he int er n a l c o n s i s te n c yre l i a b i l i ty (al pha pari sonof an i ndi vi dual ' sscores,or preterabl ya class's
coefficient) for each of the five samplesand for the dis- mean scores,at tw o separateti mes can provi de valua-
cri mi n ant v alidit y ( m e a n c o rre l a ti o n w i th th e o ther si x bl e i nformati on about changesoccurri ng i n student at -
sca l e s )f or t he S y dn e y s a m p l e a n d th e U n i te d States ti tudes. S i mi l arl y a compari sonof the atti tude sof t wo
sa mp le. A ll c r os s - va l i d a ti o nd a ta i n T a b l e 4 c o m pare groups of students (e.g. groups tol l ow i ng al ter nat ive
fa vo u r ably wit h t h e v a l i d a ti o n d a ta re p o rte d pre- t e a c h i n gm e t h o d so r c u r r i c u l u m m a t e r i a l s )c a n b e i l -
vi o u s ly in T able 3. T h e s e re s u l ts a re i mp o rta nt, not luminating.
o n l y b ec aus et hey p ro v i d e a d d i ti o n a l s u p p o rt fo r the B ecauseof the di ffi cul ti es i nherent i n making ab-
va l i d i t y of T O S RA fo r u s e w i th Au s tra l i a n s tudents, sol ute i nterpretati onsof scoreson TOS R A , i t is som e-
b u t a ls o bec aus e th e y s u p p o rt th e c ro s s -c ul tural ti mes hel pful for teachersto compare the sco r es ob-
va l i d i t v of T O S RA fo r u s e i n th e U n i te d Sta te s. tai ned by thei r studentsw i th the average sco r es ob-
Figure 1 Profile of Mean ScoresObtainedon Each TOSRA Scaleby the Field TestingSample

Score

50

45

40
'
35 \

\
30

\
25

20

l5

l0

N A E L C

TOSRA scale
t a i n e d b y a l a r g e r a n d b r o a d e r s a m p l e .I n p a r t i c u l a r , may not be very meani ngtul ,di fferencesap pr oaching
te a c her sc ould f in d i t h e l p fu l to c o mp a re th ei r cl ass' s one square on the gri d of Fi gure I are l i k ely t o be
mean s c or eswit h th e m e a n so b ta i n e db y th e l a r ger sam- educati onall y i mportant.
p l e of 1337 Y ear 7 -1 0 s ru d e n tsi n v o l v e d i n the fi el d To date many research w orkers and m any nt or e
te s t ingof T O S RA . T h e m e a n sfo r th e fi e l d -te s ti ngsam- teachershave used TOS R A i n a number of dif f er ent
p l e ar e r ec or ded i n T a b l e 3 a n d , b e c a u s es tu dentsat countri es.W hat feedbacki nformati on i s available f r onr
d i tl- er entgr ade le v e l s te n d e d to o b ta i n s i m i rar scores, these userssuggeststhat the cl assroomadm inist r at ion
a re plot t ed on a gri d to fo rm th e s i n g l ep ro fi l e show n i n of TOS R A ran smoothl y and that the test w a s f ound t o
Figure l. be useful . A l though i t i s too earl y yet for t he ap-
Teac her s ar e c a u ti < tn e da g a i n s t b e i n g o v e rl y con- pearanceof many publ i shedreports descri b ingt he use
ce r ned if t heir s t u d e n ts 's c o re sd e v i a te fro m the mean of TOS R A for researchpurposes,several ar t icles ar e
p rof ile s hown in F i g u re l . N e v e rth e l e s si t i s h oped that a l r e a d ya v a i l a b l e .F o r e x a m p l e .u s eo f e a r l i e r v e r s i o n s
i n ter pr et at ionof t h e me a n T OS R A s c o re so b tai ned by of some of TOSRA's scalesin twr-rseparatesciencecur-
a p ar t ic ular gr oup o f s tu d e n tsmi g h t b e fa c i l i tated by ri cul um eval uati onstudi eshas been reported by Fr aser
d ra wing a pr of ile fo r th a t g ro u p a n d c o m p a ri ng i t .,vi th ( 1 9 1 9 ) a n d F i s h e r a n d F r a s e r( 1 9 8 0 ) .A l s o , s t u d i e so f
th e pr of ile of m e a n s s h o w n i n F i g u re I fo r the fi el d- rel ati onshi ps betw een studcnts' sci ence-relat ed at -
te st ing s am ple. B y d o i n g th i s , i t c a n b e re a d i ly ascer- ti tudes and thei r percepti onsof psychosocialchar ac-
ta i ned whet her t h e s c o re sfo r a s p e c i fi c g ro u p of stu- teri sti csof thei r cl assrooml earni ng envi ronm ent have
d e n t s ar e abov e o r b e l o w th e m e a n so b ta i n e d b y other been conductedusi ng al l scal escontai ned i n t he f inal
studentsat the junior high school level. While versi on of TOS R A (Fraser and B utts, i n pr ess) and
d i ffer enc esof only o n e m a rk b e tw e e ns c o re so btai ned sel ected scal es from an earl i er versi on of TO SRA
b y z r par t ic ular gro u p a n d b y th e fi e l d te s ti n g sampl e (Fraser, 1979: Fi sher and Fraser, i n press).
REFERENCES
Australian ScienceEducation Project.A Guide to ASEP. Melbourne:GovernmentPrinter, 1974.
Block,J. The equivalence of measuresandthe correctionfor attenuation . Psychological Bulletin,1963,60,1524.
Cohen, D. Curriculum objective:Scientificattitudes.Paperpresentedat ANZAAS Congress,Brisbane,May 1971.
Cohen,D. Can scientificattitudesbe evaluated? Research,1971,135-43.
Cronbach,L.J. Coefficientalpha and the internal structureoftests. Psychometrika,1951,16,29'1-:334.
Curriculum DevelopmentCentre.Report of ASEP TeacherEducqtion GuidelinesConference.Canberra:1977.
Fisher, D.L. and Fraser, B.J. A replication of the effectsof.using ASEP materialson student attitudes.Austrqliqn
ScienceTeachersJournal, 1980,26(2),80-2.
Fisher, D.L. and Fraser,B.J. Validity and useofmy classinventory.ScienceEducation(in pressl.
Fraser, B.J. Attitude to the social implications of science:Its measurementand correlates. Austrqlian Science
TeachersJournal, 1977, 23(Z),96-9. (a)
, Fraser,B.J. Perceptionsof the normality of scientistsamongjunior high schoolstudents. Search,1917,8,240-l . (b)
Fraser,B.J. Selectionand validationof attitudescalesfor curriculumevaluation.ScienceEducation,1977,61,
317-29. (c\
Fraser,B.J.Developmentof a testof science-related attitudes.ScienceEducation,l978.62. 509- I5.
Fraser, B.J. Evaluationof a science-based curriculum. ln H.J. Walberg (Ed,.),Ed.ucationalEnvironmentsand
Effects:Evaluqtion, Policy, and Productivity. Berkeley,Calif.: Mccutchan, 1979.
Fraser, B.J. and Butts, W.L. Relationshipbetweenlevels of perceivedclassroomindividualization and science-rel-
ated attitudes.Joxrnal of Researchin ScienceTeqching(in pressr.
Hurd, P. De H. New CurriculumPerspectivesfor Junior High SchoolScience. Belmont.Calif.:Wadsworth,1970.
Klopfer, L.E. Evaluationof learningin science.In B.S.Bloom,J.T. Hastings,and G.F. Madaus(Eds),Handbook
on Summqtiveqnd FormativeEvaluation of StuclentLearning. New York: Mccraw-Hill, l97l .
Likert, R. Techniquefor the measurementof attitudes.Archivesof Psychology,1932,No. l4O.
Lucas, K.B. and Tulip, D.F. Scientific literacy of high school students.Paper presentedat Annual Conferenceof
Australian ScienceTeachersAssociation,Canberra, September1980.
Mead,M. and Mtraux,R. Imageofthe scientistamonghighschoolstudents. Science, 1957,126,384-90.
Owen, J.M. The Impact ofthe Australian ScienceEclucationProject on Schools.Canberra:Curriculum Develop-
ment Centre, 1978.
Schibeci,R.A. and McGaw, B. Analysisof data from attitude instruments.In Australian Associationfor Researchin
Education. Yotnh, Schooling and Enplovnent: Ptpers Presenretl the lgtj| Annudl Co feren(r,. Sr'rlrcr'.
November 6-9. /980. Armidale.NSW: I980.
Zoller, U. and Watson,F.G. Teachertrainingfor the 'secondgeneration' of science
curricula:The curriculum-proof
teacher.ScienceEducation, 1974,58, 93- 103.
Appendix I

INSTRUCTIONS
FORADMINISTRATION ANDSCORING

Time required i tems, the mi ni mum and maxi mum score spossi-
I No t im e lim it s h o u l d b e a p p l i e d w h e n a d mi ni ster- bl e on each scal e are l 0 and 50, respect ively.
ing TOSRA (although it is not necessaryto allow Scalescores,however, cannot be added to form a
exceptionally slow students to finish). The ap- meaningful total score. For people wishing to
proximate time taken for instructions and answer- scoreTOSRA by hand (rather than by computer),
ing rangesfrom 30-45 minutes at the Year 7 level use can be made of the convenient hand Score
t o 25- 30 m inu te s a t th e Y e a r l 0 l e v e l . Key describedbelow.

Administration Hand ScoreKey


2 Instruct students not to commence writing until r3 Check each student'sAnswer Sheetfor any omit-
t old t o do s o. ted i tems or i nval i d responses(e.g.more than one
3 Hand out the testsand the answersheets. responsecircled). Amend each of theseso that the
4 Make it clear to students that the test is not for N responseis circled.
grading purposes. t4 Place the transparent hand Score Key over the
5 Go through the Directions on the first page of the student'sAnswer Sheetso that the lines ruled on
test thoroughly with the class and go over the the Score Key correspond with those on the
P r ac t ic eI t em o n th e c h a l k b o a rd . Answer Sheet.The score for a particular item is
6 Emphasize that only one response should be si mpl y the number on the hand S core K e y which
circled for each item, that responsesare to be is superimposed on top of the student's circled
given on the separateAnswer Sheet,and that the response.
way to alter an answer is to cross out the old l5 Obtain the student's score for Scale S by adding
answer and then circle the new choice. the l 0 scoresfor the i ndi vi dual i tems i n this scale.
7 Answer any reasonablestudent queries. E ach of the l 0 i tems bel ongi ngto S cal e S is lo-
8 T ell s t udent sto w ri te th e i r n a m e s (i f re q ui red), cated as the first item in eachblock of sevenitems
school, and year/classdesignationon the Answer on the Answer Sheet.Also the Hand Score Key
Sheet,and then to commenceanswering. has the l etter S w ri tten on i t i n vari ous placest o
9 During testing move around the class to check indicate which horizontal rows contain items
that pupils are answering as instructed. Continue belonging to Scale S. The total score for Scale S
to answer reasonable queries but do not en- can be recorded in the spaceprovided at the bot-
courageexcessivequeries. tom of the Answer Sheet.
l0 Students who finish early should be given some- l6 Obtain the student'stotal scoresfor the other six
t hing quiet t o d o . atti tude scal esby fol l ow i ng a si mi l ar procedur e,
II Collect the tests and answer sheetswhen all, or and record thesescoresin the spacesprovided at
near ly all, s tu d e n ts h a v e fi n i s h e d . (It i s not the bottom of the A nsw er S heet.S cal esN , I , A, E,
necessaryto allow exceptionally slow studentsto L and C consi st,respecti vel y,of the secon d,t hir d,
finish.) Ask studentsto check that they have filled fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh items in each
in the details on the Answer Sheet. block of seven items on the Answer Sheet. The
hand S coreK ey contai nsthe l ettersN , I, A, E, L
Scoring and C to indicate which horizontal rows contain
items belongingto the different scales.
l2 A ppendix I I s h o w s h o w th e 7 0 i te ms i n T OS R A
are allocated to the seven different scales and Processingand Interpreting Results
whether each item is positive (+ ) or negative (-)
(Optional)
with respect to scoring. For positive items (* ),
s A , A , N , D , S D a r e s c o r e d5 , 4 , 3 , 2 , i ,
r e s p o n s eS 17 One of the most useful w ays for teacherst o pr o-
respectively.For negative items (-), responsesSA, cessand i nterpret resul tsi s to cal cul ateth e m ean
A , N, D, S D a re s c o re d | , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , re s p e cti vel y. score on each TOSRA scaleobtained by a partic-
O m it t ed or in v a l i d l y a n s w e re di te ms a re gi ven a ul ar group of students (e.9. a cl ass), to plot a
score of 3. The sevenseparatescalescoresare ob- profile of scale mean scores,and to compare this
tained by adding the scoresobtained on all items profile with that obtained for the field-testing
wit hin a giv en s c a l e .S i n c ee a c h s c a l ec o n t ai ns l 0 sampl e(seeFi gure I ).
Appendix II

SCALEALLOCATIONAND SCORINGFOREACH ITEM

S Social N Normality I Attitude A Adoption E Enjoyment L Leisure C Career


Implications of to Scientific of Scientific of Science Interest Interest
of Science Scientists Inquiry Attitudes Lessons in Science in Science

I (+) 2 (-) 3 (+) 4 (+) 5 (+) 6 (+) 7 (-)


8 (-) e (+) l0 (-) I I (-) t 2 (-) 1 3( - ) 1 4( + )
l s (+) 16(-) 1 7( + ) 1 8( + ) l 9 (+) 20 (+) 2t (-)
22 (-) 23 (+) 24 (-) 2s (-) 26 ( - ) 27 (-) 28 (+)
2e (+)
36(-)
43(+)
30 (-)
37 (+)
44 (-)
3l (+)
38 (-)
4s (+)
3 2( + )
3 e( - )
46 (+)
40 (+
3 3 (+)

4 7 (+)
34 (+)
4l (-)
48(+)
35 (-)
42 (+)
4e (-)
s0 (-) sr (+) s2 (-) s3(-) 54 (-) ss(-) s6 (+)
s7 (+) s8(-) se (+) 60 (+) 6 l (+) 62(+) 63(-)
64 (-) 6s(+) 66 (-) 67 (-) 6 8 (-) 6e (-) 70 (+)

Fo r p os it iv eit em s (* ), re s p o n s e sS A, A , N , D , S D are scored5,4,3,2, | , respecti vel y.For negati vei tents(-),


re sp ons esS A , A , N, D , S D , a re s c o re d 1 ,2 ,3 ,4 , 5, respecti vel y.Omi tted or i nval i d responses
are scored3.

l l
TOSRN
TESTOF SCIENCE.RELATEDATTITUDES
Barry J. Fraser

DIRECTIONS

This test contains a number of statementsabout Practice ltem


science. You will be asked what you yourself
think about t hes es ta te m e n tsT. h e re a re n o ' ri g ht' 0 [t w oul d be i nteresti nsto l earn about boats.
or 'wrong' answers. Your opinion is what is
wanted. Suppose t h a t y o u A G R E E w i t h t h i s s t a t e m e n t ,
then you w oul d ci rcl e A on your A nsw er S heet .
7 Al l ans wer s s ho u l d b e g i v e n o n th e s e p a rate like this:
Answer Sheet.Pleasedo not write on this booklet.
SA N D SD
For eac h s t at eme n t,d ra w a c i rc l e a ro u n d
SA if v ou S T R ON G L Y AGR EE w i th the 4 If you changeyour mi nd about an answ er,crossit
s t at em e n t; out and ci rcl e another one.

A if y ou A G R EE w i th th e s ta te m e n t: 5 A l though some statementsi n thi s test are fair ly


N if y ou ar e N OT SU R E ; si mi l ar to other statements,
you are askedto indi-
cate your opi ni on about al l statements.
D if y ou DISA G R EE w i th th e s ta te rn e nt:
SD if y ou S TR O N G L Y D IS AGR EE w i th the
s t at em e n t.

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Copyright@B.J.Fraserl98l

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tionedexception:
and supplyof the materialsto a recognized
After the initial purchase educationalestablishment copiesmay be
madeand usedwithin thatestablishment withoutthe requirementof the paymentol a feesubjectto the condi-
Iion that they are not madeavailableto usersby way of tradeor sale.

iffil \u s tra l i a n C o u n c i l fo r Ed u cati onal R .escei rch


Page 2

I M o n e y s p ent on sci encei s w el l w orth spendi ng.


2 Sc i e n ti s tsusual l y l i ke to go to thei r l aboratori es
when they have a day off.
3 I would pref-erto find out why somethinghappens
b y d o i n g a n experi mentthan by bei ng tol d.
4 I e n j o y re adi ng about thi ngs w hi ch di sagreew i th
my p re v i o us i deas.
5 S c i e n c el e s sonsare fun.
6 I w o u l d l i k e to bel ong to a sci encecl ub.
7 I w o u l d d i sl i ke bei ne a sci enti st atter I l eave
school.
8 S c i e n c ei s m an' s w orst enemy.
9 S c i e n ti s tsa re about as fi t and heal thy as other
people.
l0 D o i n g e x p e ri mentsi s not as good as fi ndi ng out
infbrmation front teachers.
ll I d i s l i k e re peati ngexperi mentsto checkthat I get
th e s a me re sul ts.
l2 I d i s l i k e s ci encel essons.
t3 I g e t b o re d w hen w atchi ng sci enceprograms on
TV at home.
14 W h e n I l e a ve school , I w oul d l i ke to w ork w i th
p e o p l e w h o make di scoveri esi n sci ence.
15 P u b l i c mo ney spent on sci ence i n the l ast tew
y e a rs h a s b een used w i sel y.
l6 S c i e n ti s tsd o not have enoughti me to spendw i th
their families.
l7 I w o u l d p reter to do experi mentsthan to read
a b o u t th e m .
18 I a m c u ri o u s about the w orl d i n w hi ch w e l i ve.
19 Sc h o o l s h o ul d have more sci ence l essonseach
week.
20 I w o u l d l i k e to be gi ven a sci encebook or a pi ece
of scientific equipment as a present.
2l I w o u l d d i sl i ke a j ob i n a sci encel aboratory after
I l e a v e s c h ool .
22 Sc i e n ti fi cd i scoveri esare doi ne more harm than
good.
23 Sc i e n ti s tsl i k e sport as much as other peopl e do.
24 I w o u l d ra th er agreew i th other peopl ethan do an
experiment to find out for myself.
25 F i n d i n g o u t about new thi ngs i s uni mportant.
26 S c i e n c el e s s onsbore me.
27 I d i s l i k e re adi ng books about sci enced u r i n g m y
holidays.
2tt Working in a sciencelaboratory w o u l d b e a n i n -
te re s ti n gw ay to earn a l i vi ng.
Page3

29 T h e g o v e r nment shoul d spend more money on


s c i e n ti fi cre search.
30 Sc i e n ti s tsa re l essfri endl y than other peopl e.
3l I w o u l d p refer to do my ow n experi mentsthan tcr
fi n d o u t i n formati onfrom a teacher.
32 I l i k e to l i sten to peopl e w hose opi ni ons are
d i ffe re n t from mi ne.
33 Sc i e n c ei s one of the most i nteresti nsschool sub-
j e c ts .
34 I w o u l d l i ke to do sci enceexperi mentsat home.
35 A c a re e ri n sci encew oul d be dul l and bori ng.
36 T o o ma n y l aboratori esare bei ng bui l t at the ex-
p e n s eo f th e restof educati on.
37 S c i e n ti s tscan have a normal fami l y l i fe.
38 I w o u l d ra ther fi nd out about thi ngs by aski ngan
e x p e rtth a n by doi ng an experi ment.
39 I fi n d i t b o r i ng to hear about new i deas.
40 Sc i e n c el e ssonsare a w asteof ti me.
4l T a l k i n g to fri ends about sci ence after school
would be boring.
42 I w o u l d l i k e to teachsci encew hen I l eaveschool .
43 S c i e n c eh e l psto make l i fe better.
44 S c i e n ti s tsdo not care about thei r w orki ng condi -
tions.
45 I w o u l d rather sol ve a probl em by doi ng an ex-
p e ri m e n tth an be tol d the answ er.
46 In s c i e n c ee xperi ments,I l i ke to use new methods
which I have not usedbefore.
47 I re a l l y e n j oygoi ng to sci encel essons.
48 I_w o u l d e n j oy havi ng a j ob i n a sci encel aboratory
d u ri n g m y schoolhol i days.
49 A j o b a s a sci enti stw oul d be bori ng.
Page4

50 T h i s c o u n t ry i s spendi ng too rnuch money on


science.
5l S c i e n t i s tas r e . i u s a
t s i n t e r e s t e di n a r t a n d m u s i ca s
o t h e r p e o p l ea r e .
52 It i s b e tte r to ask the teacherthe answ erthan tct
f i n d i t o u t b y d o i n ge x p e r i m e n t s .
53 I a m u n w i l l i n g t o c h a n g em y i d e a sw h e n e v i d e n c e
s h o w st h a t t h e i d e a sa r e p o o r .
54 T h e r l a t e r i a l c o v e r e d i n s c i e n c el e s s o n si s u n i n -
teresting.
55 L i s t e n i n gt o t a l k a b o u ts c i e n c eo n t h e r a d i o w o u l d
beboring.
56 A j o b a s a s c i e n t i sw
t ould be interesting.
57 S c i e n c ec a n h e l p t o n r a k et h e w o r l d a b e t t e rp l a c e
i n th e l ' u tu re.
58 F e w s c i e n t i s tas r e h a p p i l ym a r r i e d .
59 I r,l ' o u l dp refer to do an experi ment on a topi c
t h a n t o r e a d a b o u ti t i n s c i e n c em a g a z i n e s .
6{) l n s c i e n c e e x p e r i n r e n t s I. r e p o r t unexpected
r e s u l t sa s w e l l a s e x p e c t e do n c s .
6l I l o o k ti rrward to sci encel essons.
67 I w o u l d e n j o y v i s i t i n g a s c i e n c en r u s e u n ta t t h e
weekend.
63 I w o u l d d i s l i k e b e c o r n i n ga s c i e n t i s tb e c a u s ei t
n e e d sto o much educi tti on.
64 M o n e y u s e don sci enti fi cpro.i ects i s w asted.
65 I f y o u m e t a s c i e n t i s th. c w o u l d p r o b a b l yl o o k l i k e -
a n y o n ee l s eyou nri ght nreet.
66 It i s b e tte r to be tol d sci enti fi cfacts than to l ' i nd
th e n ro u t fronr experi ments.
67 I d i s l i k e l i s t e n i n gt o o t h e r p e o p l e ' so p i n i o n s .
6tt I w o u l d e nj oy schr.ol n1()rc i f there w ere no
s c i e n c el e s s ons.
69 I d i s l i k e r e a d i n g n e w s p a p e ra r t i c l e s a b o u t
science.
7ll I w o u l d l i k e t o b e a s c i e n t i sw
t h e n I l e a v es c h o o l .
Attitudes
Test of Science-Related
Answer Sheet

Name
School Year/Class

Page 2 Page3 Page 4

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l S A A N D S D 29 S A A N D S D 50 S A A N D S D
2 SA A'N D SD 30 S A A N D S D 5l S A A N D S D
3 S A A N D S D 31 S A A N D S D 52 S A A N D S D
4 S A A N D S D 32 S A A N D S D 53 S A A N D S D
5 S A A N D S D 33 S A A N D S D 54 S A A N D S D
6 S A A N D S D v S A A N D S D 55 S A A N D S D
T S A A N D S D 35 S A A N D S D 56 S A A N D S D
S S A A N D S D 36 S A A N D S D 57 S A A N D S D
g S A A N D S D 37 S A A N D S D s8 S A A N D S D
T O S A A N D S D 38 S A A N D S D 59 S A A N D S D
11 SA A N. D SD 39 S A A N D S D 60 S A A N D S D
1 2 S A A N D S D 40 S A A N D S D 6r S A A N D S D
1 3 S A A N D S D 4l S A A N D S D 62 S A A N D S D
1 4 S A A N D S D 42 S A A N D S D 63 S A A N D S D

1 5 S A A N D S D 43 S A A N D S D ffi S A A N D S D
1 6 S A A N D S D u S A A N D S D 65 S A A N D S D
I T S A A N D S D 45 S A A N D S D 66 S A A N D S D
l S S A A N D S D 46 S A A N D S D 67 S A A N D S D
I g S A A N D S D 47 S A A N D S D 68 S A A N D S D
2 0 S A A N D S D 48 S A A N D S D 69 S A A N D S D
2 I S A A N D S D 49 S A A N D S D 70 S A A N D S D

2 2 S A A N D S D
2 3 S A A N D S D For TeacherUse Only
2 4 S A A N D S D
2 5 S A A N D S D
2 6 S A A N D S D S- N - I - A - E - L - C -
2 T S A A N D S D
2 S S A A N D S D

The Australian Council for Educational Research Limited, Hawthorn, Victoria 3122. Copyright @ B.J. Fraser l98l Test of Science-Related Attitudes

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