Abstract

The waning interest of students in science became a global concern. The purpose of this research was to translate, adapt, and validate the My Attitude toward Science (MATS) questionnaire instrument, which was used to measure students' attitudes toward science in the Indonesian context. We also investigated the items that contributed to gender and academic level differences in responses. To analyze the psychometric properties of the instrument, 223 students participated in the four-dimensional Indonesian variant of the MATS instrument. The unidimensionality and model fit of the four dimensions of the questionnaire were evaluated using Rasch analysis. In general, the reliability of the instruments was quite good, but the reliability of the instruments in the perception of scientists' dimensions is still relatively low (0,32). The questionnaire was incapable of distinguishing between students with positive and negative perceptions of scientists. The range of MNSQ values for all four dimensions was approximately 0.73 to 1.55. In the gender based DIF analysis, two items were identified: MATS 14 (-0.68) and MATS 21 (-0.75). In the meantime, each class responded differently to one or more items based on their academic level. In conclusion, this study concluded by recommending the simplification of the scale used to assess the perception of scientists' dimensions. It is anticipated that the Indonesian version of the MATS instrument will aid educators, researchers, and policymakers in obtaining valid and dependable data regarding student attitudes toward science. The implications and future studies on masculinity, old-scientists, and lower ATS in early high school classes have been discussed.

Keywords

References

• Aghekyan, R. (2020). Validation of the SIEVEA instrument using the Rasch analysis. International Journal of Educational Research, 103, 101619. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2020.101619
• Aini, R. Q., Rachmatullah, A., & Ha, M. (2019). Indonesian primary school and middle school students’ attitudes toward science: focus on gender and academic level. Journal of Baltic Science Education, 18(5), 654–667. https://doi.org/10.33225/jbse/19.18.654
• Archer, L., DeWitt, J., & Willis, B. (2014). Adolescent boys’ science aspirations: Masculinity, capital, and power. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 51(1), 1–30. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21122
• Babaii, E., & Asadnia, F. (2021). “If a black hole is an oyster, then . . .”: The discoursal trends of popularization in science fiction movies. Public Understanding of Science, 30(7), 868–880. https://doi.org/10.1177/09636625211038117
• Badri, M., Alnuaimi, A., Mohaidat, J., Al Rashedi, A., Yang, G., & Al Mazroui, K. (2016). My science class and expected career choices—A structural equation model of determinants involving Abu Dhabi high school students. International Journal of STEM Education, 3(1), Article 12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-016-0045-0
• Bahramitash, R. (2002). Islamic fundamentalism and women’s employment in Indonesia. International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society, 16(2), 255–272. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020529130631
• Blalock, C. L., Lichtenstein, M. J., Owen, S., Pruski, L., Marshall, C., & Toepperwein, M. A. (2008). In pursuit of validity: A comprehensive review of science attitude instruments 1935-2005. International Journal of Science Education, 30(7), 961–977. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500690701344578
• Boone, W. J., & Staver, J. R. (2020). Advances in Rasch analyses in the human sciences. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43420-5
• Boone, W. J., Staver, J. R., & Yale, M. S. (2014). Rasch analysis in the human sciences. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6857-4
• Chou, Y.-T., & Wang, W.-C. (2010). Checking dimensionality in item response models with principal component analysis on standardized residuals. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 70(5), 717–731. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164410379322
• Darmawan, I. G. N. (2020). The changes in attitudes of 15-year-old Australian students towards reading, mathematics and science and their impact on student performance. Australian Journal of Education, 64(3), 304–327. https://doi.org/10.1177/0004944120947873
• Doucette, D., Clark, R., & Singh, C. (2020). Hermione and the Secretary: How gendered task division in introductory physics labs can disrupt equitable learning. European Journal of Physics, 41(3), 035702. https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6404/ab7831
• Floyd, F. J., & Widaman, K. F. (1995). Factor analysis in the development and refinement of clinical assessment instruments. Psychological Assessment. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.7.3.286
• Fulmer, G. W., Ma, H., & Liang, L. L. (2019). Middle school student attitudes toward science, and their relationships with instructional practices: A survey of Chinese students’ preferred versus actual instruction. Asia-Pacific Science Education, 5(1), Article 9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41029-019-0037-8
• George, R. (2000). Measuring change in students’ attitudes toward science over time: An application of latent variable growth modeling. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 9(3), 213–225. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009491500456
• Gumilar, S., Hadianto, D., Amalia, I. F., & Ismail, A. (2022). The portrayal of women in Indonesian national physics textbooks: A textual analysis. International Journal of Science Education, 44(3), 416–433. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2022.2032462
• Halawa, S., Hsu, Y.-S., & Zhang, W.-X. (2022). Inquiry activity design from Singaporean and Indonesian physics textbooks. Science & Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-022-00396-2
• Hermawati, W., & Luhulima, A. S. (2000). Women in science, engineering and technology (SET): A Report on the Indonesian experience. Gender, Technology and Development, 4(1), 87–100. https://doi.org/10.1080/09718524.2000.11909947
• Hillman, S. J., Zeeman, S. I., Tilburg, C. E., & List, H. E. (2016). My Attitudes Toward Science (MATS): The development of a multidimensional instrument measuring students’ science attitudes. Learning Environments Research, 19(2), 203–219. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-016-9205-x
• Iwuanyanwu, P. N. (2022). Is science really for me? Gender differences in student attitudes toward science. School Science and Mathematics, 122(5), 259–270. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssm.12541
• Khan, M., & Siddiqui, M. A. (2020). Examining scientific attitude scales in India: Development and validation of a new scale. Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 16(4), e2223. https://doi.org/10.29333/ijese/8557
• Kind, P., Jones, K., & Barmby, P. (2007). Developing attitudes towards science measures. International Journal of Science Education, 29(7), 871–893. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500690600909091
• Lau, K.-C., & Ho, S.-C. E. (2022). Attitudes towards science, teaching practices, and science performance in PISA 2015: Multilevel analysis of the Chinese and Western top performers. Research in Science Education, 52(2), 415–426. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-020-09954-6
• Linacre, J. M. (n.d.). Dimensionality investigation—An example. Winsteps. Retrieved February 20, 2022, from https://www.winsteps.com/winman/multidimensionality.htm
• Linacre, J. M. (2022). A user’s guide to Winsteps® Rasch-model computer programs: Program manual 5.2.2. Retrieved February 20, 2022, from https://www.winsteps.com/
• Ma, Y. (2022). Profiles of student science attitudes and its associations with gender and science achievement. International Journal of Science Education, 44(11), 1876–1895. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2022.2101705
• Mao, P., Cai, Z., He, J., Chen, X., & Fan, X. (2021). The relationship between attitude toward science and academic achievement in science: A three-level meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.784068
• OECD. (2019). PISA 2018 Results (Volume I): What students know and can do. Author. https://doi.org/10.1787/5f07c754-en
• OECD. (2020). PISA 2024 Strategic Vision and Direction for Science. OECD.
• Oon, P.-T., Cheng, M. M. W., & Wong, A. S. L. (2020). Gender differences in attitude towards science: Methodology for prioritising contributing factors. International Journal of Science Education, 42(1), 89–112. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2019.1701217
• Osborne, J., Simon, S., & Collins, S. (2003). Attitudes towards science: A review of the literature and its implications. International Journal of Science Education, 25(9), 1049–1079. https://doi.org/10.1080/0950069032000032199
• Palmer, T. A., Burke, P. F., & Aubusson, P. (2017). Why school students choose and reject science: A study of the factors that students consider when selecting subjects. International Journal of Science Education, 39(6), 645–662. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2017.1299949
• Pell, T., & Jarvis, T. (2001). Developing attitude to science scales for use with children of ages from five to eleven years. International Journal of Science Education, 23(8), 847–862. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500690010016111
• Pey Tee, O., & Subramaniam, R. (2018). Comparative study of middle school students’ attitudes towards science: Rasch analysis of entire TIMSS 2011 attitudinal data for England, Singapore and the U.S.A. as well as psychometric properties of attitudes scale. International Journal of Science Education, 40(3), 268–290. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2017.1413717
• Potvin, P., & Hasni, A. (2014). Interest, motivation and attitude towards science and technology at K-12 levels: A systematic review of 12 years of educational research. Studies in Science Education, 50(1), 85–129. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057267.2014.881626
• Sabah, S., Hammouri, H., & Akour, M. (2009). Validation of a scale of attitudes toward science across countries using Rasch model: findings from TIMSS. Journal of Baltic Science, 12(5), 692–702.
• Sakir, N. A. I., & Kim, J. G. (2021). Comparing biodiversity-related contents in secondary biology textbooks from Korea, Indonesia, and the United States of America. Journal of Biological Education, 55(1), 17–30. https://doi.org/10.1080/00219266.2019.1643760
• Shirazi, S. (2017). Student experience of school science. International Journal of Science Education, 39(14), 1891–1912. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2017.1356943
• Shwartz, G., Shav-Artza, O., & Dori, Y. J. (2021). Choosing Chemistry at different education and career stages: Chemists, Chemical engineers, and teachers. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 30(5), 692–705. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-021-09912-5
• Smith, R. M., & Miao, C. Y. (1994). Assessing unidimensionality for Rasch measurement. In M. Wilson (Ed.), Objective measurement: Theory into practice (pp. 316–327). Albex.
• Steegh, A. M., Höffler, T. N., Keller, M. M., & Parchmann, I. (2019). Gender differences in mathematics and science competitions: A systematic review. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 56(10), 1431–1460. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21580
• Summers, R., & Abd-El-Khalick, F. (2018). Development and validation of an instrument to assess student attitudes toward science across grades 5 through 10. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 55(2), 172–205. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21416
• Suryadi, A., Yuliati, L., & Wisodo, H. (2021). The effect of STEM-based phenomenon learning on improving students’ correlational reasoning. AIP Conference Proceedings, 2330(1), 050005. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0043639
• Susilawati, A. & Nurfina, P. (2022). Attitudes towards science: A study of gender differences and grade level. Attitudes towards science. A Study of Gender Differences and Grade Level, 11(2), 599–608.
• Szalkay, C., Pajor, G., & Kollár, K. N. (2021). Students’ attitudes toward chemistry, environmental protection and information technology in a bilingual vocational secondary school in Budapest, Hungary. International Journal of Science Education, 43(9), 1365–1380. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2021.1916122
• Tai, R. H., Ryoo, J. H., Skeeles-Worley, A., Dabney, K. P., Almarode, J. T., & Maltese, A. V. (2022). (Re-) Designing a measure of student’s attitudes toward science: A longitudinal psychometric approach. International Journal of STEM Education, 9(1), Article 12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-022-00332-4
• Toma, R. B., Greca, I. M., & Gómez, M. L. O. (2019). Attitudes towards science and views of nature of science among elementary school students in terms of gender, cultural background and grade level variables. Research in Science & Technological Education, 37(4), 492–515. https://doi.org/10.1080/02635143.2018.1561433
• Toma, R. B., & Lederman, N. G. (2022). A comprehensive review of instruments measuring attitudes toward science. Research in Science Education, 52(2), 567–582. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-020-09967-1
• Wei, S., Liu, X., & Jia, Y. (2014). Using rasch measurement to validate the instrument of students’ understanding of models in science (SUMS). International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 12, 1067-1082. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-013-9459-z
• Welch, C., & Hoover, H. D. (1993). Procedures for extending item bias detection techniques to polytomously scored items. Applied Measurement in Education, 6(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15324818ame0601_1
• World Population Review. (2023). Religion by Country 2023. Retrieved January 14, 2023, from https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/religion-by-country

License

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.