Examination of Academic Risk Taking Tendencies of Secondary School Students on Science Laboratory Studies

Abstract

In this research, it is aimed to examinate the academic risk taking tendencies of secondary school students on science laboratory studies. In the study, the survey designs, which is one of the quantitative research methods, was used. The sample of the research consisted of 408 secondary school students who continue their education in the 2019-2020 academic years. Middle School Science Laboratory Academic Risk Taking Scale was used as data collection tool. In the analysis of the data, independent groups t-test was used to examine whether the academic risk taking levels of the participants on science laboratory studies differed in terms of gender and type of school, and ANOVA was used to examine the level of class. It was found that students' risk taking levels on science laboratory studies were moderate. When the answers given to the sub-dimensions of the scale were examined, it was seen that the students' tendency to exhibit cautious risk taking behavior was the highest and the tendency to exhibit uninhibited risk taking behavior was the lowest. In addition, although there was no significant difference in terms of gender between the total scores obtained from the scale and the cautious risk taking and uninhibited risk taking dimensions of the scale, a significant difference was found in favor of male in the analytical risk taking dimension of the scale. It is recommended to create appropriate laboratory environments that allow students to experiment in individual and small groups.