Factors Impacting Turkish Students’ Attitudes towards Science and Their Academic Performance in Science

Abstract

This case study investigated the factors that impact Turkish high school students’ attitudes towards science and their academic performance in science. The participants were 273 high school students representing students with diverse academic achievements and socioeconomic backgrounds. The results show that students cited their lack of motivation, socialization cost, poor teaching quality, intensity of content coverage and limited background knowledge as the source of their negative attitudes towards science and their low academic performance in science. The majority of participants cited securing their parents’ and teachers’ appreciation and self-appraisal as the main motivators for the time and effort that they invested into studying science. The discussion focuses on the importance of classroom discourse and teaching strategies for addressing students’ low interest and performance in science.