Pre-service elementary teachers’ attitudes towards components of physical science: Do they differ from other post-secondary students?

Abstract

Preservice elementary teachers often have negative attitudes towards the physical sciences and these attitudes can be carried over into their future classrooms. This study examines attitudes towards elements of physical science that are held by preservice elementary education (PSEE) students and compares these to the attitudes of their peers in other fields of study. The results show that while the PSEE students have significantly less favorable attitudes than students in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields, their attitudes are very similar to students in non-STEM fields. Although a large gender gap exists in all groups of students, because males have more favorable attitudes than females, the gender gap in the PSEE students is slightly smaller than that seen in the non-STEM students. This reduction in the gender gap for the PSEE students occurs because the females have slightly more favorable attitudes than their non-STEM counterparts while the males have somewhat less favorable attitudes than their non-STEM male counterparts. Additionally, it was found that female PSEE students carried more favorable attitudes about the connection of physics to the real-world than did their non-STEM female counterparts, suggesting that real-world connections should be a strong component of physical science courses offered to PSEE students.