ERIC Number: EJ854263
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004
Pages: 22
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0126-7663
EISSN: N/A
Correlations among Five Variables and the Biology Performance of a Sample of Jamaican High School Students
Blair-Walters, Shonette; Soyibo, Kola
Journal of Science and Mathematics Education in Southeast Asia, v27 n1 p117-138 2004
This study investigates whether or not (a) 252 Jamaican high school students (168 boys, 84 girls, 171 grade 10 and 81 grade 11 students) had favourable attitudes to biology, (b) their level of biology performance was satisfactory, (c) there were significant differences in their performance based on their gender, grade level, school-type, socioeconomic background (SEB), and attitudes to biology, and if there were significant correlations among the five variables and the students' performance in biology. The subjects were selected from four traditional high schools: two all-boys', one all-girls', and one coeducational school, all in Kingston, Jamaica. Two instruments--an attitudes to biology questionnaire and a biology performance test--were used for data collection. The findings indicated that many of the students had highly favourable attitudes to biology; their level of biology performance was fairly good and satisfactory; there were statistically significant differences in their performance related to their (a) gender in favour of the boys, (b) grade level in favour of the 11th-graders, (c) school-type in favour of all-girls' school, and (d) attitudes to biology, in favour of students with highly favourable attitudes to biology; and there were positive, statistically significant but weak correlations among the students' gender, grade level, and attitudes to biology and their biology performance.
Descriptors: Females, Academic Achievement, Performance Tests, Biology, Foreign Countries, Socioeconomic Background, Grade 11, Grade 10, Males, High School Students, Correlation, Student Attitudes, Gender Differences, Questionnaires, Science Tests
Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Regional Centre for Education in Science and Mathematics (SEAMEO RECSAM). Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah, 11700 Gelugor, Penang, Malaysia. Tel: +011-60-4-658-3266; Fax: +011-60-4-657-2541; e-mail: director@recsam.edu.my; Web site: http://www.recsam.edu.my
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Grade 10; Grade 11; High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Jamaica
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A