Examination of Gender Differences on Cognitive and Motivational Factors that Influence 8th Graders’ Science Achievement in Turkey

Ömer Acar; Lütfullah Türkmen; Ahmet Bilgin

doi:10.12973/eurasia.2015.1372a

Full Text (PDF)

Ömer Acar ¹ ^* , Lütfullah Türkmen ², Ahmet Bilgin ¹

More Detail

¹ Kocaeli University² Uşak University^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

Background:
We examined the influence of several students’ cognitive and motivational factors on 8th graders’ science achievement and also gender differences on factors that significantly contribute to the science achievement model.

Materials and methods:
A total of 99 girls and 83 boys responded all the instruments used in this study.

Results:
Results showed that girls outperformed boys on science achievement. Furthermore, regression analyses showed a model including initial conceptual knowledge, scientific reasoning, and utility value of science as independent variables best predicted science achievement. Results also showed girls and boys did not differ on initial conceptual knowledge and scientific reasoning but on utility value of science.

Conclusions:
Implications for science education were discussed according to the findings.

Keywords

gender differences
conceptual knowledge
science achievement
scientific reasoning
utility value of science

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.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, 2015, Volume 11, Issue 5, 1027-1040

https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2015.1372a

Publication date: 25 Aug 2015

Article Views: 2205

Article Downloads: 640

Open Access References How to cite this article

References

Acar, Ö (2014). Cinsiyet değişkeninin argümantasyon ve geleneksel öğretim metotlarının kullanıldığı sınıflardaki öğrencilerin fen öğrenimine olan etkisinin incelenmesi. Paper presented at 1. International Eurasian Educational Research Congress, İstanbul, Turkey. Retrieved from http://ejercongress.org/pdf/Congress.pdf.
Acar, Ö (2015). Examination of science learning equity through argumentation and traditional instruction noting differences in socio-economic status. Science Education International, 26(1), 24-41.
Adamuti-Trache, M., & Sweet, R. (2013). Academic effort and achievement in science: Beyond a gendered relationship. Research in Science Education, 43, 2367-2385.
Alparslan C., Tekkaya, C., & Geban, Ö. (2003). Using the conceptual change instruction to improve learning. Journal of Biological Education, 37(3), 133-137.
Ates, S., & Cataloglu, E. (2007). The effects of students’ reasoning abilities on conceptual understandings and problem-solving skills in introductory mechanics. European Journal of Physics, 28, 1161-1171.
Barmby, P., Kind, P. M., & Jones, K. (2008). Examining changing attitudes in secondary school science. International Journal of Science Education, 30(8), 1075-1093.
Breakwell, G. M., & Robertson, T. (2001). The gender gap in science attitudes, parental and peer influences: Changes between 1987-88 and 1997-98. Public Understanding of Science, 10, 71-82.
Bursal, M. (2013). Longitudinal investigation of elementary students’ science academic achievement in 4-8th grades: Grade level and gender differences. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 13(2), 1151-1156.
Cavallo, A. M. L., Potter, W. H., & Rozman, M. (2004). Gender differences in learning constructs, shifts in learning constructs, and their relationship to course achievement in a structured inquiry, yearlong college physics course for life science majors. School Science and Mathematics, 104(6), 288-300.
Ceylan, E., & Berberoglu, G. (2007). Factors related with students’ science achievement: A modeling study. Education and Science, 32(144), 36-48.
Chiu, M. M., & Chow, B. W. Y. (2010). Culture, motivation, and reading achievement: High school students in 41 countries. Learning and Individual Differences, 20, 579-592.
Coletta, V. P., & Philips, J. A. (2005). Interpreting FCI scores: Normalized gain, preinstruction scores, and scientific reasoning ability. American Journal of Physics, 73(12), 1172-1182.
Cortina, J. M. (1993). What is coefficient alpha? An examination of theory and applications. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78(1), 98-104.
Dogru-Atay, P., & Tekkaya C. (2008). Promoting students’ learning in genetics with the learning cycle. The Journal of Experimental Education, 76(3), 259-280.
Eğitimi Araştırma ve Geliştirme Dairesi Başkanlığı. (2007). PISA 2006: Uluslararası öğrenci değerlendirme programı ulusal ön rapor. Ankara: Earged.
Eğitimi Araştırma ve Geliştirme Dairesi Başkanlığı. (2009). ÖBBS 2008: İlköğretim öğrencilerinin başarılarının belirlenmesi: Fen ve teknoloji raporu. Ankara: Earged.
Eğitimi Araştırma ve Geliştirme Dairesi Başkanlığı. (2010). Uluslararası öğrenci değerlendirme programı PISA: 2009 ulusal ön raporu. Ankara: Earged.
Elder, A. D. (1999). An exploration of fifth-grade students’ epistemological beliefs in science and an investigation of their relation to science learning. Unpublished doctoral thesis, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Hong, J. C., Lu, C. C., Wang, J. L., Liao, S., Wu, M. R., Hwang, M. Y. et al. (2013). Gender and prior science achievement affect categorization on a procedural learning task. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 8, 92-101.
Jocz, J. A., Zhai, J., & Tan, A. L. (2014). Inquiry learning in the Singaporean context: Factors affecting student interest in school science. International Journal of Science Education, 36(15), 2596-2618.
Johnson, M. A., & Lawson, A. E. (1998). What are the effects of reasoning ability and prior knowledge on biology achievement in expository and inquiry classes. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 35(1), 89-103.
Karaarslan, G., & Sungur, S. (2011). Elementary students’ self-efficacy beliefs in science: Role of grade level, gender, and socio-economic status. Science Education International, 22(1), 72-79.
Kaya, S. & Rice, D. C. (2010). Multilevel effects of student and classroom factors on elementary science achievement in five countries. International Journal of Science Education, 32(10), 1337-1363.
Keselman, H. J., Carriere, K. C. & Lix, L. M. (1993). Testing repeated measures hypotheses when covariance matrices are heterogeneous. Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, 18(4), 305-319.
Kind, P., Jones, K., & Barmby, P. (2007). Developing attitudes towards science measures. International Journal of Science Education, 29(7), 871-893.
Kizilgunes, B., Tekkaya, C., & Sungur, S. (2009). Modeling the relations among students’ epistemological beliefs, motivation, learning approach, and achievement. The Journal of Educational Research, 102(4), 243-256.
Kutnick, P. (2000). Girls, boys and school achievement: Critical comments on who achieves in schools and under what economic and social conditions achievement takes place-a Caribbean perspective. International Journal of Educational Development, 20(1), 65-84.
Kwon, Y. J., & Lawson, A. E. (2000). Linking brain growth with the development of scientific reasoning ability and conceptual change during adolescence. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 37(1), 44-62.
Larson, L. M., Stephen, A., Bonitz, V. S., & Wu, T. F. (2014). Predicting science achievement in India: Role of gender, self-efficacy, interests, and effort. Journal of Career Assessment, 22(1), 89-101.
Lawson, A. E. (1978). The development and validation of a classroom test of scientific reasoning. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 15(1), 11-24.
Lawson, A. E. (2000). Classroom test of scientific reasoning. Retrieved 01 Jan. 2008 < http://www.public.asu.edu/~anton1/LawsonAssessments.htm>.
Lawson, A. E., Banks, D. L., & Logvin, M. (2007). Self-efficacy, reasoning ability, and achievement in college biology. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 44(5), 706-724.
Leach, J., Millar, R., Ryder, J., & Sere, M. G. (2000). Epistemological understanding in science learning: The consistency of representations across contexts. Learning and Instruction, 10, 497-527.
Liao, Y. W., & She, H. C. (2009). Enhancing eight grade students’ scientific conceptual change and scientific reasoning through a web-based learning program. Educational Technology & Society, 12(4), 228-240.
Louis, R. A., & Mistele, J. M. (2012). The differences in scores and self-efficacy by student gender in mathematics and science. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 10, 1163-1190.
Marquaridt, D. W. (1970). Generalized inverses, ridge regression, biased linear estimation, and nonlinear estimation, Technometrics, 12, 591-612.
Martin, M. O., Mullis, I. V. S., Foy, P., & Stanco, G. M. (2012). TIMSS 2011 international results in science. Chestnut Hill: TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center.
Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı. (2006). İlköğretim Fen ve Teknoloji Dersi (6, 7 ve 8. sınıflar) Öğretim Programı. Ankara: Talim ve Terbiye Kurulu Başkanlığı.
National Research Council. (1996). The national science education standards. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
O’Reilly, T., & McNamara, D. S. (2007). The impact of science knowledge, reading skill, and reading strategy knowledge on more traditional “high-stakes” measures of high school students’ science achievement. American Educational Research Journal, 44(1), 161-196.
Özdemir, E. (2003). Modeling of the factors affecting science achievement of eighth grade Turkish students based on the third international mathematics and science study-repeat (TIMMS-R) data. Unpublished master dissertation, The Middle East Technical University, Ankara.
Özmusul, M. (2012). Upper primary school students’ views towards scientific knowledge: An analysis for information literacy. Elementary Education Online, 11(3), 629-645.
Preece, P. F. W., Skinner, N. C., & Riall, R. A. H. (1999). The gender gap and discriminating power in the national curriculum key stage three science assessments in England and Wales. International Journal of Science Education, 21(9), 979-987.
Schommer-Aikins, M., Duell, O. K., & Hutter, R. (2005). Epistemological beliefs, mathematical problem-solving beliefs, and academic performance of middle school students. The elementary School Journal, 105(3), 289-304.
Sencar, S., & Eryilmaz, A. (2004). Factors mediating the effect of gender on ninth-grade Turkish students’ misconceptions concerning electric circuits. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 41(6), 603-616.
Stark, R., & Gray, D. (1999). Gender preferences in learning science. International Journal of Science Education, 21(6), 633-643.
Sun, L., Bradley, K. D., & Akers, K. (2012). A multilevel modelling approach to investigating factors impacting science achievement for secondary school students: PISA Hong Kong sample. International Journal of Science Education, 34(14), 2107-2125.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2006). OECD programme for international student assessment 2006: Student questionnaire. Retrieved on 17-October 2013, at URL: http://pisa2006.acer.edu.au/downloads.php.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2013). PISA 2012 results: Excellence through equity: Giving every student the chance to succeed (Volume II). PISA, OECD publishing.
Topçu, M. S., & Yılmaz-Tüzün, Ö. (2009). Elementary students’ metacognition and epistemological beliefs considering science achievement, gender and socioeconomic status. Elementary Education Online, 8(3), 676-693.
Yenilik ve Eğitim Teknolojileri Genel Müdürlüğü. (2013). Pisa uluslararası öğrenci değerlendirme programı: Pisa 2012 ulusal ön raporu. Ankara: Yeğitek.
Yenilmez, A., Sungur, S., & Tekkaya, C. (2006). Students’ achievement in relation to reasoning ability, prior knowledge and gender. Research in Science & Technological Education, 24(1), 129-138.
Yetişir, M. İ. (2014). The multilevel effects of student and classroom factors on the science achievement of eight graders in Turkey. Education and Science, 39(172), 108-120.
Yıldırım, U., & Eryılmaz, A. (1999). Effects of gender, cognitive development and socioeconomic status on physics achievement. Hacettepe Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 15, 121-126.

How to cite this article

APA

Acar, Ö., Türkmen, L., & Bilgin, A. (2015). Examination of Gender Differences on Cognitive and Motivational Factors that Influence 8th Graders’ Science Achievement in Turkey. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 11(5), 1027-1040. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2015.1372a

Vancouver

Acar Ö, Türkmen L, Bilgin A. Examination of Gender Differences on Cognitive and Motivational Factors that Influence 8th Graders’ Science Achievement in Turkey. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2015;11(5):1027-40. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2015.1372a

AMA

Acar Ö, Türkmen L, Bilgin A. Examination of Gender Differences on Cognitive and Motivational Factors that Influence 8th Graders’ Science Achievement in Turkey. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2015;11(5), 1027-1040. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2015.1372a

Chicago

Acar, Ömer, Lütfullah Türkmen, and Ahmet Bilgin. "Examination of Gender Differences on Cognitive and Motivational Factors that Influence 8th Graders’ Science Achievement in Turkey". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2015 11 no. 5 (2015): 1027-1040. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2015.1372a

Harvard

Acar, Ö., Türkmen, L., and Bilgin, A. (2015). Examination of Gender Differences on Cognitive and Motivational Factors that Influence 8th Graders’ Science Achievement in Turkey. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 11(5), pp. 1027-1040. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2015.1372a

MLA

Acar, Ömer et al. "Examination of Gender Differences on Cognitive and Motivational Factors that Influence 8th Graders’ Science Achievement in Turkey". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 11, no. 5, 2015, pp. 1027-1040. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2015.1372a