SOCIAL CLASS AFFECTS

Social Class Affects



How social class affects the educational attainment of boys and girls

At the age of 10, pupils already have ideas about technology and it seems that they have already developed attitudes towards technology. Boys seem to have a more positive attitude towards technology than girls. However, there is little research available to support these assumptions. Smail and Kelly (2003) did an extensive study among this age group. They used three instruments to measure attitudes towards science and technology: a Science Curiosity Test, a Science Activity Scale and an Image of Science Test. Their results show that at the age of 11, the attitude towards science and technology of boys and girls differs more greatly than the cognitive differences between boys and girls. Boys have a more positive attitude towards technology than girls. Also, boys are more interested in subjects related to physics and girls are more interested in biological subjects. Moore (2003a, 2003b) used drawings and developed a Technology Picture Questionnaire (TPQ) to investigate pupils' ideas about technology. He used drawing methods because young pupils may not have the writing and reading skills needed for written tests. From the drawing analyses, it appears that boys and girls associate technology with “making something.” The products they draw differ: boys mainly draw “transportation” and “computers” and girls draw “electrical equipment in general.” Pupils believe that a “technologist” is a “scientist,” doing “difficult things.” The TPQ, which is based on the results of the drawing analysis, consists of drawings of people who are working.

Methodology

Research Questions

The study focused on two questions:

1. What is the concept of and the affection towards technology of 10 to 12-year-old pupils?

2. Which variables affect attitudes towards technology?

Population and Sample

The total population of 10 to 12-year-olds consists of about 50,000 pupils belonging to 8,000 primary schools in the Britains. The sample consisted of 2,050 pupils belonging to 60 schools. This sample was representative of the whole population with respect to sex, geographical variations and schooltypes. To fulfill statistical requirements for an independent random sample, 900 pupils should have been required. But a larger sample was necessary because the sample consisted of whole school classes.

Instrumentation

The attitude towards technology is multi-dimensional. This is reflected in the instrument. It consists of 6 scales measuring the Affective and Behavioral components of the attitude towards technology (so called AB-scales) and 4 scales measuring the Cognitive component of the attitude toward technology (so called C-scales). The AB-scales are: a) Interest - the extent to which pupils engage in technological activities outside school; b) Role pattern - the extent to which technology as a career or study is equally suitable for boys and girls; c) Consequences - the extent to which pupils think that the effects of technology are negative; d) Difficulty - the perceived difficulty of technology as a school subject or a profession; e) School - the extent to which pupils like technology as a school subject; and f) Career - the extent to which pupils like technology as ...