Abstract:

Concern about students’ engagement with science in upper secondary schools and the numbers pursuing the further study of science as their careers, led to this research being carried out, to demonstrate relationships between the five constructs: pupils’ interest and attitude, inquiry learning, science activities outside school hours, aspirations to engage in science careers, and representation of science and scientists. Also to make comparison of pupils’ interest and attitude, aspirations to engage in science careers, inquiry learning, science activities outside school hours, and representation of science and scientists between age. Using a correlational and causal comparative design, a set of Science Interest Instrument by Dillon et al. (2008) was adapted and translated to Malay Language and administered to a total of 938, 13-year-old and 14-year-old school students. The data collected were analyzed descriptively in terms of percentage, and inferentially using t-Test, Chi-Square Test, and Pearson Correlation. The results indicated that there was a large positive correlation between interest and attitude towards science and inquiry learning. Also a strong relationship between high interest and attitude towards science, and aspiration of students to become scientists or taking up science jobs. The young students also had favourable representation of science and scientist. And there was a significant difference in interest and attitude towards school science between 13-year old and 14-year old students. The 14-year old students’ mean score was lower than the 13-year old students’ mean score. The implication of this decline was discussed in relations to students’ science identity, and the government and parents could nurture this aspect of identity in adolescents.

Keywords:

Relationships, interest and attitude, students’ science identity.