Positive attitudes towards mathematics and science are mutually beneficial for student achievement : a latent profile analysis of TIMSS 2015

• Published in: Australian educational researcher Vol. 47; no. 3; pp. 409 - 444
• Main Authors: Berger, Nathan, Mackenzie, Erin, Holmes, Kathryn
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.07.2020; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Academic Achievement; Achievement Tests; Addition & subtraction; Adolescents; Attitudes; Biology; Careers; Children & youth; Comparative Analysis; Education; Educational Policy and Politics; Educational Psychology; Elementary Secondary Education; Foreign Countries; Gender Differences; Grade 8; International Assessment; Junior High School Students; Latent profile analysis; Longitudinal Studies; Mathematics; Mathematics Achievement; Mathematics attitudes; Mathematics education; Mathematics teaching; Mathematics Tests; Outcomes of Education; Physics; Positive Attitudes; Preferences; Resistance (Psychology); Science; Science Achievement; Science Curriculum; Science education; Science Teachers; Science Tests; Sciences; Scientific attitudes; Secondary education; Secondary schools; Self esteem; Student Attitudes; Students; Subject selection (Students); Success; Teaching and Teacher Education; Teenagers; Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS); Year 8; Australia; United States > US; Science; Attitudes; Latent profile analysis; Mathematics
• ISSN: 0311-6999; 2210-5328
• DOI: 10.1007/s13384-020-00379-8

Australia has seen declining numbers of students choosing mathematics and science subjects in the senior secondary years, running counter to economic projections of an accelerating need for science and mathematics skills. Many students become less engaged with these subjects in the junior secondary years but attitudes such as self-concept, utility value, and intrinsic value are important for subject selection decisions. We used latent profile analysis to examine the relationship between attitudes towards both subjects using data from 10,051 Australian Grade 8 students sampled by TIMSS 2015 and revealed six discrete groupings. While most students were at least attitudinally receptive to both subjects, there were many students who either resisted both or expressed a strong preference for one over another. Positive attitudes towards both subjects were mutually beneficial, better attitudes towards both were associated with higher achievement in each, but boys tended to be more positive towards both subjects and so benefitted from this relationship more than girls. Implications for educational research and teachers' practices are discussed. [Author abstract]