Factors affecting students' attitudes toward social studies - a case study in a catholic secondary school
Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Faculty
Faculty of Community Services, Education and Social Sciences
School
School of Education
RAS ID
2213
Abstract
The case study described in this paper sought to investigate secondary students' attitudes towards social studies and factors which influence these attitudes. This paper focuses in particular on findings from the study which relate to two factors, student gender and Year level. In a previous study Moroz (1996) found that Western Australian government primary school students’ liking for social studies declined from Years 4 to 7 more strongly than any other school subject. This case study of Catholic secondary students suggests that the declining support for social studies continues into the lower secondary years (8, 9 &10). The decline is greatest for male students who by Years 9 and 10 have negative attitudes towards the subject. Students disliked the teaching-learning practices associated with social studies which were most frequently homework and reading. This case study appears to have implications for implementation of the new Society and Environment learning area.
Comments
Moroz, W. & Thiveos, K. (2001) Factors affecting students' attitudes toward social studies - a case study in a catholic secondary school. In Proceedings of 2001 AARE International Education Research Conference. Fremantle, Australia.