Attitudes of Science, Technology and Engineering (STE) Students and Science Teachers of LIS Toward Research

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

In line with its thrust to strengthen science and mathematics education in the Philippines and in support to the 2010 Secondary Education, the Department of Education through the Bureau of Secondary Education (BSE), has officially implemented the Engineering and Science Education Program (ESEP) now officially known as Science, Technology, and Engineering (STE) Program in 197 public schools nationwide. This program offered advance subjects including research from Grades 7 to 10 to cater to the intellectually promising and research-inclined students. However,despite the increasing demand of knowledge in research, Papanastasiou (2005), found that students view research negatively. Thus, this study was conducted to determine the level of anxiety of the students and teachers toward research.

METHODS

A descriptive research design was utilized in this study using the Attitude Toward Research (ATR) Scale devised by Elena T. Papanastasiou in 2005. The instrument consisted of 5 items measured on a 7-Point Likert Scale. A value of one indicates a response of "StronglyDisagree”, while a value of 7 corresponds to "Strongly Agree”.

RESULTS

Based from the data gathered it was found out that both teachers and students viewed research as useful to their profession, with an average scale of 7 (Agree). In terms of their level of anxiety, the respondents viewed that they were slightly anxious with research with an average score of 5 (Agree Somewhat). Moreover, they have a positive attitude toward research with an average score of 6 (Agree), and it was found out that research is also relevant to their lives. As to the level of research difficulty, it was found out that they have difficulty in applying arithmetic in research and understanding the concept of research. Furthermore, it was found out that there is a relationship between the students' research anxiety, attitudes, and academic achievement in the subject. A significant relationship also was found between the teachers' research anxiety, attitudes, and preference in teaching the subject.

DISCUSSIONS

The result demonstrated that the attitudes of the students toward research affect their academic achievement, whereas the attitude of the teachers toward research affects their preference in teaching the subject. Thus, the researcher planned to develop a program for the SY 2019-2020 that will help address the issues about students' and teachers' attitudes towards research.