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Abstract

A total of 299 academically gifted sixth to tenth grade students in South Dakota was administered a 32 item attitude survey, which was developed using some of the affective items from the 1983 International Science Study Survey, to measure their perceptions about science and school. A factor analysis of this survey revealed four interpretable factors accounting for 51% of the variance. Results indicate that these students perceive science as instrumental in making the world a better place to live, improving our standard of living, the development of our country, and in solving everyday problems. They find science not only important but interesting in that they actively participate in science activities both inside and outside of class. They perceive science as complex, yet they find it challenging. They also perceive school as boring and not very enjoyable. These results suggest that these students, contrary to the negative attitude trend in science, have a positive attitude toward science, their science teachers and science classroom.

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A Factor Analytic Study of the Attitudes of Gifted Secondary Students toward Science

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