Research Paper on Attitude

8/8/2019 Research Paper on Attitude

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International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management

Issue: Volume 2, Number 6 / 2009

Pages: 686 - 706

URL: Linking Options

Employees' perception of workplace stressors and their attitude towards work and

organisation: a study of Indian managers

Bindu Gupta A1 and Archana Tyagi A2

A1 Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad, India.A2 University of Business and International Studies Geneva, 6 Place Chevelu, Geneva CH 1201,Switzerland

Abstract:

This study seeks to understand the extent to which private sector managers respond to demands andexpectations of globalisation. It examines the sources of their work stress and the influence of thesestressors on employees' attitudes towards work and organisation. A sample of 221 Indian managersfrom the private sector was used in the study. Managers consider the most important sources of workstress to be lack of control and work life balance. Work relationships, control, nature of job andcommunications were found to be significantly related with work engagement and job satisfaction.Commitment was associated with relationships at the workplace. Intention to quit was significantlyinfluenced by relationships, control, nature of job and resources. It is suggested that to enhance workengagement, job satisfaction, commitment and to lessen the intention to quit, managers need toactively monitor relationships at work, control, nature of job, resources and communication. Thesevariables could assist in maintaining and increasing desirable attitudes towards work and organisation.

Keywords:

commitment, communication, control, Indian culture, intention to quit, job engagement, jobsatisfaction, nature of job, resources, stressors, work life balance, work relationships, India, employeeperceptions, private sector management, globalisation


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Acknowledge the societal obligation of the profession to produce

research, and appreciate the importance of research in education,

clinical practice and to the growth of the profession;

Have a desire and an ability to critically evaluate new and current

knowledge.

Skills

The student must demonstrate an ability to: Critically review clinical

research literature.

Attitudes in the profession towards chiropractic research, infrastructure,

funding and opportunity seems to have increasingly become a subject of

discussion. In perhaps the most detailed evaluation and critique of the

topic Flanagan and Giordano discuss the role of the institution in

developing clinicians andresea

rche

rs as well as

review the demog

raphy offaculty involved in research at chiropractic institutions.2 Their survey of15

North American chiropractic colleges revealed that only 5% of full time

faculty who hold the DC degree were actively involved in research. In

addition, the survey revealed that only 10% ofPhD and 25% ofDC/PhD

faculty were engaged in research. The authors suggest that chiropractic

programs have failed to produce opportunities for faculty as researchers,

and they advocate forgreater institutional and professional support of

research within the schools and the profession.

In terms of the impact on students they encourage curricular integration of

research methods courses that are directed towards active participation inresearch and publication of projects. They argue that such activity will

help the student feel part of the largeracademic and scientific community.

They encourage the mindset that clinicians ... must actively participate as

an independent researcher, treating every patient as a viable study with an

N = 1.

Issues of institutional support forthe conduct of scholarship and the role

ofresearch, embodied by the missions of chiropractic institutions play a

key role in empowering faculty and encouraging a commitment on the part

of faculty to engage in the work of the institution. Henkin and Marchiori

did a survey to explore empowerment and organizational commitment of

chiropractic college faculty and contend that committed faculty will

identify with and work towards the mission, values, and goals of the

institution.3 Theirpaper implies that if faculty believe the institution is

promoting empowerment and there is evidence that this is actually

happening then faculty will be more inclined to take risks and engage in

Best Evidence

Medical Education

(BEME) systematic

review. BEME

Guide No. 11.

[Med Teach. 2009]

ReviewChanging

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abortion in Europe.

[Eur J Contracept

Reprod Health Care.

2003]

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attitudes regardingresearch changingthe culture one

student at a time

Links

PubMed


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behavior that is supportive of the institution.

In a related paper, Marchiori and Henkin (2003) state: The chiropractic

profession depends on a motivated faculty forcontinuous quality

improvement and innovation in areas of curriculum, scholarship and

practice.4

Interestingly, the authors report that the most significantempowering factorwas where the faculty were assigned. Those involved

in administration orresearch reported greater levels of empowerment.

Related to the issue of chiropractic facultys engagement in research

activities is that of the 609respondents to their survey less than 3% of

faculty were assigned to research tasks while overhalf of the respondents

were assigned to the area of patient care within teaching clinics.

Certainly, if chiropractic college faculty are not engaged in research,

unfamiliarwith it, orworse have negative attitudes towards it this is

sure to be reflected in the attitudes of students. Making matters worse,

these attitudes may tend to carry over into theirprofessional careers and

feed a vicious cycle.

Zhang conducted a survey of chiropractic college students on their

attitudes towards research.5 He reported:

y Just over50% of students were interested in research in general.

y Just over70% felt that research was important.

y 90.32% had experienced something interesting in chiropractic and

wanted to know more about it.

y

64.5

2%

had thought about a chirop

ractic

resea

rch topic

.

y 67.75% agreed that there are many things that need to be

researched in chiropractic.

y 45.16% thought basic research technique and statistics should be

taught in chiropractic college.

y 61.29% would participate in chiropractic research if given the

opportunity while in chiropractic college.

y 19.36% thought research training should be a requirement in

chiropractic college.

Newell and Cunliffe conducted a similar study of119 chiropractic

students and theirattitudes about research.6 Their study revealed:

y 77% had a previous highereducation qualification with 44%

having some experience with research.

y 54% thought that research, in general, was difficult.

y 64% thought research to be interesting.


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y 75% considered chiropractic research necessary.

Student attitudes and skills towards research following them into

professional practice is perhaps reflected in a survey of chiropractors and

massage therapists in Alberta, Canada.7 Suterand her team surveyed both

groups on theirperceived importance ofresearch and the use ofresearchin practice, theirperceived level ofresearch literacy and capacity, and

theirapplication ofresearch findings to clinical practice.

Both chiropractors and massage therapists reported an overall positive

perception toward research and acknowledged research as being important

to validate theirpractice. However, both groups lacked confidence in

research skills and the actual application ofresearch to practice was

limited. The authors concluded that a lack ofresearch education and

related skills was probably related to the lack ofresearch application in

pr

actice.

To be sure, chiropractic institutions are not necessarily alone in addressing

issues of participation in scholarship, how it is defined and how it is

compensated. These are ongoing and contentious issues within academia.8

However, those professions operating outside health care may have greater

latitude in addressing these issues in a timely manner. Within health care

we are faced with the ever increasing demands of evidence based

medicine and the chiropractic profession will be no less affected by this

movement. In fact, I would argue that chiropractic, along with

complementary and alte

rnative medicine, will be mo

re affected given the

late start on a research infrastructure and the entrenched, negative

professional attitudes towards research. From Flanagan,2 Henkin,3 and

Marchioris4perspective it seems it is not so much the attitudes of faculty

that need to be addressed as much as it is the chiropractic college

administrations commitment to supporting a culture ofresearch and

scholarship.

Administrators of chiropractic educational programs need to seriously

reconsider the back seat that is routinely given to research budgeting lest

we dig ourselves even deeper into the hole we are in.

Looking outside the chiropractic profession to inform the discussion, Cull

et al examined 318 pediatric residents research attitudes and experiences

and found that residents who pursued a subspecialty were more likely to

have had formal research training and to have assisted on a research

project during theirresidency.9According to Cull, a favorable rating

towards research was the strongest predictor in this decision. Of note is


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scientific papers as a result of the course.

Both Zhang and Newells chiropractic surveys show that, for the most

part, chiropractic students considerresearch important.5,6 However, things

seem to fall apart from there. While 50% of the students in Zhangs study

were interested in research in general, one has to wonderabout the other50% and what this says about the profession and oureducational process.

And while the majority of students felt that research seemed to be

important and necessary to chiropractic, very few thought they should be

required to be trained in it.

The other surveys and studies reviewed clearly show evidence of a

positive outcome in terms ofresearch attitudes and productivity following

the implementation of courses in research methodology. It would be

helpful to have data on such effects in chiropractic curricula since the

available literature is based on students in medical and nursing programs

as well as medical practitioners.

Other Sections

Where do we go from here?

Everyone seems to agree that we have a problem in terms of our

professions cultural distaste orapathy forresearch and we have some

evidence that we cant deny.

For those chiropractic institutions that do not already require students to

complete a research project prior to graduation I would urge them to start.I believe the simplest way to address the CCE competencies and to meet

any research related objectives of the chiropractic program is to implement

a course designed to teach chiropractic interns how to research and write a

case study report. Considering that every single chiropractic student has to

care fora prescribed numberof patients in order to graduate finding a

suitable case should not be difficult. Further, it would seem that a good

numberof these cases are unique, interesting and theirreporting may even

provide something new to the literature. I say this considering that many if

not most of our institutions state they are training these future

chiropractors as primary care clinicians, so the spectrum of patient cases inthose teaching clinics should certainly reflect this. For those that might

argue most of the cases being managed by these students will be mundane,

garden variety neck and back pain cases and that the writing of case

studies should be reserved forrarerconditions and more significant cases,

I suggest that in terms of an exercise for the student this point is moot.

Even the student who has cared for the garden variety neck orback pain


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case can benefit from writing up such a case since they will still have to go

through the mechanics of putting together the paper, reviewing and

critically evaluating the literature and then telling the patients story. In

those cases where the student was fortunate enough to have a unique case

the student could be encouraged to submit such a paper to a peerreviewed

journal forconsideration to publish.Anotherbenefit to such a process isthe involvement of the clinical faculty since many times, depending on the

clinic structure at the institution, the clinic faculty is also caring for, or

directly supervising, the patients care. Such a process would enable

faculty to then get involved in the research process.

Many of ourschools are also participating in preceptorship and clinical

residency programs such as rotations in hospitals and othervenues such as

the Veterans system here in the United States. These programs expose our

students to a wide variety of cases and conditions that would be worth

writing up and at the same time giving added oppo

rtunity fo

rchi

rop

racto

rsin the field to get involved in the research process.

Other Sections

Course Structure

I suggest that the course be a mandatory one within the chiropractic

curriculum and that it be placed within the last one or two quarters of the

program. This will ensure that the student has a sufficient patient pool to

choose from and that they have had a minimum of experience caring for

patients longitudinally so that sufficient time has elapsed that the patientmay have experienced some benefit from the care provided.

Interns could elect to take it soonerprovided they have completed any

necessary pre-requisites including research methods courses. The key is

that they have access to and are involved in patient care.

The course could be a capstone in the series of clinical courses they are

already required to take. The course should stress evidence based

approaches and rely heavily on the peerreviewed literature in all of its

reading assignments. In order to graduate the student would be expected to

prepare a written clinical case study that, at a minimum, meets thetechnical requirements forpublication in a peerreviewed research journal.

The selection of an appropriate clinical case, a thorough review of the

elements of a case study report, how to review the appropriate literature

for the reference section, and the systematic construction of the report

could be covered in a combination lecture and self study format.

Such a case study research methods course would be intended to give the


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student hands-on experience writing a case study research report coupled

with an appreciation of the importance, necessity and benefits ofresearch

to theirprofessional experience. The importance ofresearch, critical

evaluation and scholarly writing to the chiropractic profession should also

be emphasized.

The course objectives would include giving interns the experience of

writing a clinical case study research report that meets the technical

requirements of a peerreviewed research journal. The course should

impress upon the intern an understanding of the societal obligation the

chiropractic profession has to produce research and the importance of

research in education, clinical practice and to the growth of the profession.

Further, the course is meant to give interns the experience of evaluating

new and current knowledge. Not only would these fulfill accreditation

standards but no one could reasonably argue that these are not important

and necessary things to teach ou

rstudents in the inte

rest of ou

rownprofession nevermind the students themselves and the future patients

they serve.

It is suggested that, for those institutions so inclined, two additional

objectives for the course be to give interns the experience of incorporating

models of vertebral subluxation into clinical situations and to give students

the experience ofrelating models of subluxation to technique and the

clinical management of the patient.

These last two objectives are included due to a perceived lack of

understanding and related experience in incorporating models ofsubluxation into the overall diagnosis and management of patients.Also,

the chiropractic literature in general seems to suffer from a lack of these

types of descriptions when reporting on clinical research.15,16

These two objectives could also form the basis forcontent issues related to

the paper since the bulk of the requirements to simply pass the course

would revolve around meeting technical requirements taken from the

Instructions forAuthors of chiropractic peerreviewed research journals.

These two objectives allow content issues to be addressed with grades on

the papers reflecting the depth to which students explore those areas.

One way the course could be set up is using a quartersystem example.

The course could be based on an 11 week quarterand be taught in a

combination lecture and self study type format. There would be five

lectures during the first half of the course that cover topics such as picking

a case study worthy of writing up, review of the components of a case

study report, importance ofresearch to the profession and society,


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literature searching, and the publication process. (See Table 1)

Table 1Suggested Lecture Topics fora Case Study Research Methods Course

The remaining weeks in the course could be devoted to one on one

meetings with interns to review and critique theirwork prior to their final

submission. While I personally believe the 11 week timeline for

completing a case study is adequate, for those who feel the timeline is too

tight it could always be expanded and the students given two quarters to

complete the project. However, anyone who teaches fora living would

probably agree that giving them more time simply gives them more time

to put it off.

Other Sections

Conclusion

I have attempted to briefly discuss the literature related to research

attitudes and productivity among students and faculty within chiropractic

and also in the wider field of health care. Clearly we have some obstacles

in ourprofession related to research infrastructure and attitudes regarding

its central importance to oursurvival nevermind ourresponsibility to

the patients we serve.

I argue that the best place and time to start changing the cultural attitudes

regarding research within ourprofession is while we have the attention of

the students. I have offered a description of a mandatory course in case

study research methods as one way to begin this change. The profession is

in need of graduates who understand and appreciate the role ofresearch in

the ongoing development of chiropractic. The Council on Chiropractic

Education has specific competencies that address research related issues

within the curriculum and many of our institutions have goals and

objectives related to research that involve training students in research

methods. This course could help fulfill these areas of concern.

Once students go through the experience of not just reading and evaluatingresearch but doingresearch even if its a simple case study I contend

that this will begin to change theirattitudes towards it.And we desperately

need every little bit we can get in that regard.

Other Sections


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References

1. Standards forDoctorof Chiropractic Programs and Requirements of Institutional Status. The Council on

Chiropractic Education. Scottsdale, AZ: Jan, 2006.

2. Flanagan J, Giordano J. The role of the institution in developing the next generation chiropractor, clinician

and researcher.J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2002;25(3):193196. [PubMed]

3. Henkin A, Marchiori D. Empowerment and organizational commitment of chiropractic faculty.J

Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2003;26(5):275281. [PubMed]

4. Marchiori D, Henkin A. Empowerment of chiropractic faculty: A profile in context.J Manipulative Physiol

Ther. 2003;26(1):1724. [PubMed]

5. Zhang JQ. Research attitudes among chiropractic college students.J Manipulative Physiol

Ther.1996;19(7):44653. [PubMed]

6. Newell D, Cunliffe C.Attitudes toward research in undergraduate chiropractic students. Clin Chiropr. 2003

SepDec;6(34):109119.

7. SuterE, Vanderheyden LC, Trojan LS, Verhoef MJ, Armitage GD. How important is research-based practice

to chiropractors and massage therapists.J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2007;30(2):109115.[PubMed]

8. McCoy M. Research and scholarly activity: faculty atti tudes and awareness National Forum ofApplied

Educational Research JournalVolume 20Number32006.

9. Cull WL, Yudkowsky BK, Schonfeld DJ, Berkowitz CD, Pan RJ. Research exposure during pediatric

residency: influence on careerexpectations.JPediatr. 2003 Nov;143(5):5649. [PubMed]

10. Harrison LL, Lowery B, Bailey P. Changes in nursing students knowledge about and attitudes toward

research following an undergraduate research course.JAdv Nurs.1991Jul;16(7):80712.[PubMed]

11.Adamsen L, Larsen K, Bjerregaard L, Madsen JK. Moving forward in a role as a researcher: the effect of a

research method course on nurses research activity.J Clin Nurs. 2003 May;12(3):44250.[PubMed]

12. Hakansson A, Beckman A, Hansson EE, Merlo J, Mansson NO. Research methods courses as a means of

developing academic general practice. Fifteen years experience from Sweden and Denmark. Scand JPrim

Health Care. 2005 Sep;23(3):1326. [PubMed]

13. Hren D, Lukic IK, Marusic A, Vodopivec I, Vujaklija A, Hrabak M, Marusic M. Teaching research

methodology in medical schools: students attitudes towards and knowledge about science. Med Educ. 2004

Jan;38(1):816. [PubMed]

14. Marusic A, Marusic M. Teaching students how to read and write science: a mandatory course on scientific

research and communication in medicine.Acad Med. 2003 Dec;78(12):12359. [PubMed]

15. Wenban AB. Subluxation research: A survey of peer-reviewed chiropractic scientific journals.ChiroprJ

Aust. 2003 Dec;33:4.

16. Wenban AB. Commentary: Subluxation-related research: Is it time to call it a day? ChiroprJ

Aust.2003;33:4.

Articles from The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association are provided herecourtesy of


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The Canadian Chiropractic Association

y The role of the institution in developing the next generation chiropractor: clinician and researcher. [JManipulative Physiol Ther.

2002]

y Empowerment and organizational commitment of chiropractic faculty.[JManipulative Physiol Ther. 2003]

y Empowerment of chiropractic faculty: a profile in context.[JManipulative Physiol Ther. 2003]

y How important is research-based practice to chiropractors and massage therapists?[JManipulative Physiol Ther. 2007]

y The role of the institution in developing the next generation chiropractor: clinician and researcher. [JManipulative Physiol Ther.

2002]

y Empowerment and organizational commitment of chiropractic faculty.[JManipulative Physiol Ther. 2003]

y Empowerment of chiropractic faculty: a profile in context.[JManipulative Physiol Ther. 2003]

y Research exposure during pediatric residency: influence on career expectations.[J Pediatr. 2003]

y Changes in nursing students' knowledge about and attitudes toward research following an undergraduate research course. [J

Adv Nurs. 1991]

y Moving forward in a role as a researcher: the effect of a research method course on nurses' research activity. [JClin Nurs.2003]

y Research methods courses as a means of developing academic general practice. Fifteen years' experience from Sweden and

Denmark.[Scand JPrim Health Care. 2005]

y Teaching research methodology in medical schools: students' attitudes towards and knowledge about science. [Med Educ.

2004]

y Teaching students how to read and write science: a mandatory course on scientific research and communication in

medicine.[Acad Med. 2003]

y Research attitudes among chiropractic college students.[JManipulative Physiol Ther. 1996]

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ScientificResearch andEssays Vol. 5(7), pp. 693-699, 4 April, 2010Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/SREISSN 1992-2248 2010Academic Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Attitudes of gifted students towards science

dependingon some variables: A Turkish sampleMetin Orbay1*, Murat Gokdere1, Hidayet Tereci2 and Murat Aydin21School ofEducation, University ofAmasya, 05189 Amasya-Turkey.2Amasya Science andArt Centers, 05100Amasya-Turkey.Accepted 15February, 2010

This research aimed to examine the science attitudes of gifted students attending the science andartcenters (SAC) in Turkey depending on variables such as gender of students, their fields ofeducation,classroom level and the education levels of their families.The test of science related attitudes(TOSRA),

developed by Fraser (1978), simplified by Chaerul (2002) and translated intoTurkish and thevalidity andreliability of which were studied by Curebal (2004), was used in the research. It was observed thattherewas no statistical difference between the science attitudes of students and the above-mentionedvariables. A general analysis of the obtained results was performed comparatively with thestudies atnational and international levels. In line with the results, a discussion was made on what could bedoneparticularly regarding the science and technology instruction of students atSACs which weredeveloped as a suitable model for country conditions.Key words: Gifted students, science education, science attitude.INTRODUCTION

Having an important place in the society in developedcountries, gifted people are at the focal point ofdevelopments in many spheres primarily such as political,economic, military and technological fields of theircountry.Thus, senior administrators, decision-makers inpolitical and economic fields, manipulators of researchand development departments and pioneers of innovationsby making inventions in these countries are mostlikely to be gifted people.Therefore, it is important toidentify gifted and talented people in society and providesupport and services for them and their families in orderto encourage these people to reach their full potential.When the historical process for the realization of the

potentials of gifted people is ex

amined, it is observed thatthe first and most important practice was indisputably thepractice of Enderun School during Ottoman Empire.Completely contrary to the understanding of blood tie*Corresponding author.E-mail: [email protected]: SAC, Science and art centers; TOSRA, test ofscience related attitudes.

and aristocratic structure having prevailed during thatperiod, the Enderun system was established on amechanism based on competence, capability and loyalty


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(Ari, 2004).Upon the foundation of modern Republic ofTurkey, theTurkish education system basically had an understandingthat considered the differences of individuals, whocontinuously required special education and this understandingadvocated that they should be educated in linewith their interests and talents.Therefore, the Turkisheducation system was in a search in parallel to this understanding.The events and developments experiencedin the process of search as well as the relationships andinteractions of events and developments with theirperiods, with each other and with the following periodsremind of the patterns of an Anatolian carpet.Thesesearches mostly had some breaking points depending onmany variables such as perspectives of political powers,economic status of the country, the limited resourcesallocated for education and the high pace of populationincrease (Akyuz, 2008).Although there have been some private- and statesupportedinitiatives with respect to determining and

educating the gifted and talented individuals in Turkey, no694 Sci.Res.Essaysnoteworthy developments took place until the 1990s(Akarsu, 1991).Recently, however, the models applied indifferent countries have been examined; the applicabilityof these models in our country has been discussed;large-scale studies on this subject at national andinternational levels have been examined and a newmodel has been developed in order to reach a highernumber of gifted children considering some basicconditions ofTurkey such as the existing economic,social, cultural and educational opportunities (Donmez,2004).Referred to as science and art centers (SAC), this

model realized the selection of students, selection andtraining of teachers, training of families and structuring ofphysical space in the five pilot provinces selected.Todaythere are 43 SACs in total in 39 different provinces andthey serve more than five thousand students (MNE,2008).The stage of identification of the students to beselected to these centers is conducted under theguidance of Directorate General of SpecialEducationGuidance and Consultative Services of Ministry ofNationalEducation (MNE) and consists of steps such asnomination by class teachers, basic ability tests andindividual evaluation (MNE, 2008).Although today thesecenters, serving on the basis of Additional CourseApplication School, are confronted with many problemsprimarily such as running mechanism, insufficiency ofphysical space, selection of teachers and training offamilies, they have developed with contribu-tions.Thesecontributions have been provided by the administrators ofcentral organization of MNE, the administrators employedat these centers, teachers, the students educated at thecenters themselves and their families. Hence, asignificant progress has been made in this field (Donmez,2004).


17/26

Considering the fact that natural sciences have animportant place in the development of the country and itseconomic development and considering that, in thiscontext, the gifted students attending the SACs mayundertake essential roles particularly in scientific andtechnological developments to take place in Turkey, it isnecessary to make a careful examination of ScienceEducation provided at these centers.Science education constitutes one of the mostimportant parts of the education of intellectual domain.Intellectually gifted students are greatly interested innatural sciences and the studies in the field of scienceencourage students to become curious and research. Itwas observed that laboratory, project and computer aidedscience education particularly supported the desires anddetermination of talented students towards sciencecourses (Hoover, 1989).Therefore, a project-basedmodular structure was preferred as an education programat SACs considering the characteristics of both talentedstudents and science courses.According to this preferred

program, the activities to be proposed have to be basedon project study and the models, which are compatiblewith science subjects, have to be preferred in order forthe developed activities to become applicable. In thiscontext, when the conditions of our country are taken intoconsideration, the three-stage Purdue model, still beingapplied in the U.S.A., is considered as one of theimportant models to respond to existing needs forTurkey(Cepni et al., 2002; Unlu, 2008).The cognitive development and affective behaviorstargeted in education systems are mostly related to thepositive or negative tendencies of students towards therelated subjects, individuals, events or ideas or stated

briefly, related to their attitudes (Tavsancil, 2002). Hence,seeing the extent the targets have been achieved mayonly be possible through measuring the attitudes believedto be likely to vary in time.Therefore, the importance ofmeasuring attitudes in education is increasing.It shouldbe kept in mind that the curiosity of children attendingprimary school and their spirit of investigation areparticularly at the highest level and that science andtechnology course ranks at the top of the courses, whichdeal with the subjects and the questions about whichchildren are curious most.Thus, one of the basicobjectives of the instruction performed is to have studentsat primary education level love natural sciences and toenable the permanent continuation of their desires andcuriosities for learning (MNE-UNICEF, 1995). It is aknown fact that attitude is of great importance for carryingout significant learning in students regarding sciencesubjects (Abell and Lederman, 2007; Roth, 2009). Inconnection to this, it is possible to conclude that theincreasing attitudes of students will also have a positiveeffect on their success (Oruc, 1993; Osborne et al.,2003).At this point, studies in the field of scienceeducation both contribute to the development of countries


18/26

and will bring about improvements in the lifestyles ofpeople subjects (Abell and Lederman, 2007; Roth,2009). Hence, quality in education and instruction shouldalways be given particular importance especially in orderto select gifted and talented students and promote theirtalents and achievement in education.Questions such as what and how the positive andnegative developments in science attitudes of studentsdepend on and how attitude varies by year constitute abasic subject for research. In addition, there are manynational (Cakr et al., 2007; Turkmen, 2008) and international(Weinburgh, 1995; Osborne et al., 2003) studieswith qualifications of comprehensive literature scanning inthis field.The results obtained from the surveys so farand the findings of this study will be comparativelypresented in the results and discussion section.PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of the study was to investigate the scienceattitudes of students in primary education (Level I) andOrbay et al. 695

Table 1a. Distribution of students by education level, gender and field of education.Education level Gender Education fieldFemale f (%) Male f (%) Science f (%) Art f (%)Primary school (Level I) 15 (46,9) 17 (53,1) 18 (56,3) 14 (43,8)Elementary school (Level II) 31 (66) 16 (34) 19 (40,4) 28 (59,6)Total 46 (58,2) 33 (41,8) 37 (46,8) 42 (53,2)Table 1b. Information on the education level of students families.

Education level Mother FatherLevel I f (%) Level II f (%) Total f (%) Level I f (%) Level II f (%) Total f (%)Primary school 6 (18.8) 8 (17) 14 (17.7) 1 (3.1) 2 (4.3) 3 (3.8)Elementary school 7 (21.9) 4 (8.5) 11(13.9) 2 (6.3) 3 (6.4) 5 (6.3)High school 8 (25) 17 (36.2) 25 (31.6) 6 (18.8) 8 (17) 14 (17.7)University 11 (34.4) 18 (38.3) 26 (36.7) 23 (71.9) 34 (72.3) 57 (72.2)

elementary education (Level II), who were attendingSACs, depending on gender of students, their field ofeducation, classroom level and the education level oftheir families.In line with these basic aims, an answer is sought forthe following sub-problems. Is there any significantdifference between the science attitudes of students atLevels I and II:(1) and their gender?(2) and their education levels?(3) and their fields of education?(4) depending on the education level of their families?METHODContext and settingsThe population of the study consists of the students at Levels I andII that were educated at SAC at the city center ofAmasya in Turkeyduring 2007 - 2008 academic year. In this universe, some 33students from Level I and 47 students from Level II, selectedthrough random sample selection, constitute the sample of theresearch.The responses of students to the applied attitude scale and to theinterview questions during the research reflect their opinions andthoughts.This research is limited to the gifted and talented studentsattending the SAC at the city center ofAmasya in Turkey as of2007 - 2008 academic year andTOSRA was used for measuringtheir science attitudes.Data about the education level, gender and field of education of


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the students having participated in the research is presented inTable 1 whereas Data about the education level of their families ispresented in Table 2.The mean calendar age of the studentshaving participated in the research is 10.3 for Level I and 13.1 forLevel II.Data collectionIn order to measure the science attitudes of gifted students,Likert-type TOSRA, first developed byFraser (1978) and with a

Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient found as_

= 0.78, was takenas reference Since then.The scale has been applied by manyresearchers (Khalili, 1987; Stolarchuk andFisher, 2001; Lowe,2004; Eccles, 2007).The short version of the scale, which was reorganized by Chaerul(2002) and divided into 5 subscales, will be used in this study.Forits short version, the reliability calculations were found to be at theinterval of 0.79 - 0.84 for 5 subscales.The study performed for thereliability of the scale in the context ofTurkey was performed byCurebal (2004) and reliability was found at the interval of 0.72 -0.84 for 5 subscales.A reference was made to specialist views forthe validity of the Turkish version and as a result of the views, it wasconcluded that the measurement instrument was valid (Curebal,2004).Gifted students chose one of the alternatives of strongly agree,agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree and stronglydisagree for the articles given concerning their science attitudes.The scoring of positive attitudes varied from definitely agree (5) todefinitely disagree (1). However, the opposite was carried outwhile scoring the negative attitudes.

Percentage (%), frequency (f) and mean (X) values werecalculated for the articles in the measurement instrument and it wasintended to find answers to the sub-problems using the requiredstatistical tests depending on the gender of students, their field ofeducation, classroom level and the education level of their families.

RESULTS

The findings obtained from the research are presentedaccording to the sub-problems and briefly interpreted asfollows.Relationship between science attitude and gender

In order to determine whether there was any significantrelationship between the science attitudes of studentsand their gender, non-parametric Mann-Whitney U(MWU) test was used for the total scores obtained fromthe attitude scale and the results of analysis are given in696 Sci.Res.EssaysTable 2. Description of scales in TOSRA.

Scale number and name Description of scale1. Career interest in science Students future interest in science2. Leisure interest in science Students desire to participate in out-of-school science-related activities .3. Social implication of science Students attitude regarding the positive and negative effects of science society4.Enjoyment of science lesson Students level of enjoyment of classroom science lessons5. Normality of Scientist Students belief about scientist lifestylesTable 3a. Results ofMWUtest concerning science attitude

scores of level I students by gender.Gender NXMWU U p

Male 17 18.56 315.5092.50 0.186Female 15 14.17 212.50

Table 3.As seen in Table 3, there is no significant differencebetween the total science attitude scores of students atLevels I and II by gender (For Level I: U= 92.50,p =0.186> 0.05; For Level II: U= 237.50,p> 0.05).


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Relationship between science attitude and educationlevelsIn order to determine whether any significant relationshipexisted between the attitudes of students and theireducation levels, a t- test for independent groups wasperformed for total attitude scores and the results of theanalysis are given in Table 4.As seen in Table 4, there is no significant differencebetween the education levels of students and their totalscience attitude scores (t77= -0.077,p> 0.05).Figure 1 presents the variation of the averages ofscores that students obtained from each subscaledepending on education levels.Relationship between science attitude and field ofeducationIn order to determine whether there was any significantrelationship between the science attitudes of studentsand their fields of education atSAC, non-parametricMann-Whitney U (MWU) test was performed for the totalscores obtained from the attitude scale and the results of

analysis are show in Table 5.As seen in Table 5, there is no significant differencebetween the total science attitude scores of students atLevels I and II according to their fields of education (ForLevel I: U= 76.50,p> 0.05; For Level II: U= 232.00,p>0.05).Table 3.b. Results ofMWUTest concerning science attitudescores of level II students by gender.

Gender NXMWU U PMale 16 24.34 354.50237.50 0.813Female 31 23.34 754.50

Relationship between science attitude andeducational level of families

In order to determine whether any significant relationshipwas present between the science attitudes of studentsand the education levels of their families, non-parametricKruskal Wallis H (KWH) test was performed for the totalscores obtained from the attitude scale and the results ofanalysis are presented in Table 6.As seen in Table 6, there is no significant differencebetween the education levels of guardians of studentsand total science attitude scores (ForFather: X2= 5.682,p> 0.05; For Mother:X2= 5.986,p> 0.05).DISCUSSIONIn studies that determine the science attitudes ofstudents, there is little agreement about how attitudes

vary by gender.Gardner (1975) stressed that gender wasone of the most important factors in science attitudes ofstudents. When the surveys until the 1990s wereexamined, it was observed that the majority of themresulted in favor of (positive) males in the context of therelationship between gender and science attitude(Weinburg, 1995; Robertson, 1987). Nevertheless, whenOsborne et al. (2003) examined the recent studies, theyconcluded that gender had a very slight effect on attitude.In this research, as clearly seen in Table 3, no


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significant difference is present between science attitudesof students at Levels I and II that attended SAC at the citycenter ofAmasya in Turkey depending on their gender(For Level I: U= 92.50,p> 0.05; For Level II: U= 237.50,p> 0.05).Furthermore, as it is observed in Figure 1,when the scores the students obtained from each subscaledepending on gender are examined, it is observedthat they are quite close to each other.The results from this

Orbay et al. 697Table 4. Results oft-test for independent groups with respect to the education levels of students and their science attitude scores.

Education level NXS sd t pPrimary School (Level I) 32 98.69 14.0477 -0.077 0.689Elementary School (Level II) 47 98.94 14.1405101520251 2 3 4 5Scale NumberAverage Attitude ScoreLevel ILevel II

Figure 1. Variation of subscale scores by education levels.Table 5a. Results ofMWUtest concerning the field of educationand science attitude scores of students at level I.

Education field NXMWU U pScience 18 19.25 346.5076.50 0.06Art 14 12.96 181.50Table 5b. Results ofMWUtest concerning the field of educationand science attitude scores of students at level II.

Education field NXMWU U pScience 19 25.79 490.00232.00 0.461Art 28 22.79 638.00

Table 6a. Results ofKWHtest with respect to fathers educationlevel and science attitude scores.

Fathers education level NXsd X2pPrimary School 3 55.833 5.682 0.128Elementary School 5 24.80High School 14 32.57University 57 42.32

results from this study support other studies undertakenwith students studying at the primary and secondarylevels in Turkey (Gurkan andGokce, 2000; Curebal,2004; Cakr et al., 2007).Table 6b. Results ofKWHtest with respect to mothers educationLevel and science attitude scores.

Mothers education level NXsd X2pPrimary School 14 43.073 5.968 0.113Elementary School 11 30.91High School 25 34.44University 29 46.76

When the studies focusing on the relationship betweenscience attitude and education levels in literature areexamined, it is observed that the higher the class levelsof students, the lower their science attitude scores


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(Curebal, 2004; Murphy and Beggs, 2003).Even thoughthe students aged 10 - 11 had high self-confidence forscience problems, their science attitudes were morenegative than those of the students aged 8 - 9 (Murphyand Beggs, 2003). Indeed, studies in a number ofcountries state that as students progress through school,their positive attitudes towards science decline(Chaerul, 2002; Lowe, 2004). It was emphasized thatinsufficiency in programs of science courses, the use ofineffective instruction methods and techniques, theperception of science course as difficult and factorsregarding family or social life may be among the basicreasons for this problem (Weinburgh, 1995; Greenfield,1998; Osborne et al., 2003).Furthermore, the studies byGurkan andGokce (2000),Curebal (2004) and Cakr et al. (2007) in our countryconcluded that the gains in primary education Level II698 Sci.Res.Essaysand secondary education particularly required anintensive program and caused students to have various

difficulties. In parallel to this, it was put forward thatstudents might develop a negative attitude towardsnatural sciences. Moreover, it has been stressed that themultiple-choice exams (such as OKS [High SchoolEntrance Exam] and OSS [Student Selection Exam]),which focus on academic achievement and ignoreindividual differences in our country and the process ofpreparation for these exams might be influential indeveloping a negative attitude towards science.In this research, as observed in Table 4, no significantdifference is present between students education levelsand total science attitude scores for the relationshipbetween science attitude and education levels (t77= -

0.077p> 0.05).As observed again in this table, themean science attitude scores of students at Level II arehigher than the attitude scores of students at Level I.Theperformance of out-of-lesson science experiments andactivities and the preference of project-based learningapproaches at SACs, established with a basicphilosophy, can be considered influential in eliminatingthe decline in positive attitude with time that widelyappears in literature (Abell and Lederman, 2007; Roth,2009). Moreover, as a result of interviews with thestudents with a science attitude score below averageparticularly within students at Level II, the vast majority ofstudents expressed that the process of preparation forOKS

andOSS

type of multiple-choice exams awaiting

them in future periods and particularly the expectations oftheir families had a negative impact on their scienceattitudes. In this case, important tasks fall to theadministrators, teachers and specialists in guidanceworking at SACs with respect to family training.At thispoint, the wide presence of faculties of education inalmost all provinces, where SACs are located, can beturned into an advantage, for it is possible for them toreceive academic support from faculties of education and


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to carry out joint project studies.Regarding the problemsexperienced in the process of the running of thesecenters (such as training of teachers, training of families,education program and methods) and the works to bedone, the Consultative Committees indeed includedwithin the legal legislations of SACs should be made upof representatives of MNEand Universities and theyshould be run actively.As seen in Table 5, another point appearing in thisresearch is the absence of a significant differencebetween the total science attitude scores of students atLevels I and II according to their fields of education (ForLevel I: U= 76.50,p> 0.05; For Level II: U= 232.00,p>0.05).The absence of a significant difference betweenscience attitude scores at both levels for the studentseducated in the fields of intelligence and talent at SACsmay be due to the fact that the first two steps take placein the same way in the process of selection of thestudents in both fields. In other words, both groups arenominated by their class teachers and then they are

expected to exceed a certain lowest passing score in thebasic ability test.Regarding the education levels, as observed in Table2, of the mothers of students attending SAC at city centerofAmasya in Turkey and participating in this research,36.7% are University graduates, 31.6% are High Schoolgraduates, 13.9% are Elementary School graduates and17.7% are Primary School graduates while, of theirfathers, 72.2% are University graduates, 17.7% are HighSchool graduates, 6.3% are Elementary Schoolgraduates and 3.8% are Primary School graduates. Suchstatistical data remain insufficient in reflecting theeducation levels of the guardians of students, educated

at all primary and elementary school levels at the citycenter ofAmasya in Turkey.Although this seems to be acontradiction, the data from many surveys at internationallevel in fact demonstrate that this does not cause anycontradictions. In a research study reporting the socioeconomiclevels of the families of talented and giftedindividuals, who stood out and became famous in thesociety and accordingly, the education levels of thefamilies, it was detected that of these people,approximately 18% were noble and wealthy, 41% hadhigh education, 31% were businessmen and merchantsand the rest were artisans and agricultural workers(Caglar and Ozsoy, 1975). In a similar research, thefamilies of children determined as gifted among thestudents aged 8 - 13 were found to consist of familieswith a higher profession (50%) and businessmen andofficials (37%) while the remaining families were found toconsist of laborer families (Caglar and Ozsoy, 1975). Insurveys conducted more recently (Robinson andOlszewski, 1997), it was found that gifted and talentedstudents mostly were from families with moderate andhigh socio-economic status. In a Turkish study conductedby Daglioglu (2004) concerning the talented-gifted


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students aged 5 - 6, it was stressed that, of the mothersof students determined, 10% were Primary-ElementarySchool and High School graduates, 69% were Universitygraduates and 20.7% had a graduate education andlikewise, of their fathers, 17.2% were Primary-ElementarySchool and High School graduates, 62.2% wereUniversity graduates and 20.7% had a graduateeducation.The fact that today gifted and talented students mostlybelong to families with moderate and high socioeconomicstatus might be due to the fact that identificationis generally performed at primary and secondaryeducation levels.Thus, early identification and earlyeducation, widely discussed and put into practice indeveloped countries, should be given more importanceparticularly focusing on SACin Turkey (Donmez, 2004).In contrast to these studies discussed above (Table 6),there is no significant difference between the educationlevels of guardians of students and the total scienceattitude scores (ForFather:X2= 5.682,p> 0.05; For

Mother:X2= 5.986,p> 0.05).The data obtained in thisstudy support the results obtained by Cakir et al. (2007)and Mordi (1991).When the mean attitude scores obtained from eachsubscale are examined, the items where the studentsscored the lowest were the Normality of Scientist andthe Students belief about scientist lifestyles (X=16.61).In addition, in terms of this scale, the lowest meanattitude score was obtained in a similar research byCurebal (2004) on gifted students.These commonnegative beliefs may be eliminated through short-termvisits by professional scientists, who have becomeoutstanding with their studies particularly in the field of

science at SACs, their conversations with students, theiractive participation in project studies and through thecreation of conference media on popular science.REFERENCESAbell SK, Lederman NG (2007). Handbook ofResearch on ScienceEducation, Routhlege Press, USA.AkarsuF (1991).Enderun: The Palace School for the Gifted.European

Council for High Ability (ECHA), Netherlands.Akyuz Y (2008). History ofTurkish Education, Pegema Publishing,Ankara.Ari B (2004). Determination of the Talented for High Bureaucracy in the

Ottoman State and the Process of SpecialTraining at the Palace, IstTurkish Congress ofTalented Children, Book of Papers, 21-30,Publications of ChildFoundation, Istanbul-Turkey.

Cakr NK, Senler B, Taskin BG (2007). Determination of the Attitudes ofStudents at PrimaryEducation Level II towards Natural Science

Course, J.Turk.Educ. Sci. 5: 637-655.Cepni S, Gokdere M, Kucuk M (2002). Development of Sample Activity

in the Field of Science on the basis of Purdue Model for IntellectuallyGifted Students, Book of Papers for the 5thNational Congress ofScience and Mathematics Education, Middle EastTechnical

University, Ankara pp. 69-73.ChaerulA (2002).A study of students attitudes physics and classroomenvironment based on gender and grade level among seniorsecondary education students in Indonesia. New Mexico State

University dissertation UMI. Microfilm 3058579.CurebalF (2004).Gifted Studentss Attitudes Towards Science AndClassroom Environment Based On GenderAndGrade Level,


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UnpublishedGraduate Thesis, Ankara: Graduate School of NaturalandApplied Sciences at METU.Donmez B (2004).Regulations Required in the Establishment and

Running of Science andArt Centers, IstTurkish Congress ofTalented Children, Book of Papers, 69-73, Publications of ChildFoundation, Istanbul-Turkey.

Eccles L (2007).Gender Differences in Teacher-Student Interactions,Attitudes andAchievement in Middle School Science, Curtin

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Publishing House, Ankara.Fraser BJ (1978). Development of a Test of Science RelatedAttitudes,Sci.Educ. 62: 509-515.Gardner PL (1975).Attitudes to Science, Stud. Sci.Edu. 2: 1-41.

GreenfieldTA (1998).Gender- andGrade-level Differences in ScienceInterest and Participation, Sci.Educ. 81: 259-276.Gurkan T, Gokce E (2000).Attitudes of PrimaryEducation Studentstowards Natural Science Course. Book of Papers for 4thCongress of

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Research Paper on Attitude