An Academic Survey Concerning High School and University Students’ Attitudes and Approaches to Problem Solving in Chemistry

Abstract

The aim of this study is to reveal differences between attitudes and approaches of students from different types of high school and the first grade of university towards problem solving in chemistry. For this purpose, the scale originally developed by Mason and Singh (2010) to measure students' attitude and approaches towards problem solving in physics (AAPS), was adapted for chemistry. The Attitudes and Approaches to Chemistry Problem Solving (AACPS) scale included Likert-type items and was conducted with 552 students from science (2), regular (2), and vocational (2) high schools, plus one university. No statistically significant difference were found among high schools, but there was between high school and university students, and between female and male students in terms of their attitudes and approaches towards problem solving in chemistry. University students demonstrated more expert-like attitudes towards problem solving, and science and regular high school students were similarly expertlike, while the vocational high school students were rather novice-like. The results obtained through the AAPS physics attitude scale conducted in the same sample group were compared with results of the chemistry scale. Variances between these attitudes and approaches towards problem solving in both chemistry and physics were analyzed and some suggestions made.

Introductory students’ attitudes and approaches to Physics problem solving: Major, achievement level and gender differences

“…The results showed that the students' attitudes and approaches were on average slightly positive (3.33 points of 5), which in this case means that they resembled more expert-like attitudes and approaches than novice-like ones. This result is in line with the previous studies (Balta, Mason & Singh, 2016;Mason & Singh, 2010, 2016Sirait, Sutrisno, Balta & Mason, 2017).…”

“…This suggests that females of the sample may have demonstrate more expert-like attitudes and approaches to problem solving than the males. This result is similar to obtained in previous studies (Balta, Mason & Singh, 2016;Duran, 2016) In addition, Selçuk, Çaliskan and Erol (2007) have observed that Turkish female physics teacher candidates have better problem solving strategies than the male candidates when measured with Problem Solving Strategy Scale. This is an interesting result that should be examined more carefully with larger sample because several studies on mathematical problem solving suggest that male are better problem solvers than females (Gallagher et al, 2000).…”

“…(Van MerriëNboer, 2013: page 153) Some amount of research has been conducted to examine the effect of problem solvers' gender on problem solving (e.g. Balta, Mason & Singh, 2016;Duran, 2016;Gallagher, De Lisi, Holst, McGillicuddy-De Lisi, Morely & Cahalan, 2000;Sirait, Sutrisno, Balta & Mason, 2017). However, there is no clear evidence that either of the genders would be better in problem solving than the other, therefore, more research work is needed.…”

Improving the Students' Achievement by Comparing the Effectiveness of Two Methods of Teaching Physics to Undergraduate Students: A Small Number of Complex Tasks and a Large Number of Graded Difficulty Tasks

“…Several studies has been conducted to examine the effect of problem solvers' gender on problem-solving (e.g., Good, Maries, & Singh, 2022;Balta & Asikainen, 2019;Zohar & Sela, 2003;Haeruddin, Kamaluddin, Kade, & Pabianan, 2022;Duran, 2016;Gallagher, De Lisi, Holst, McGillicuddy-De Lisi, Morley & Cahalan, 2000;Sirait, Sutrisno, Balta & Mason, 2017). However, there is no conclusive evidence that suggests that representatives of both sexes have a higher ability to solve problems than representatives of the opposite sex.…”