Computer Inclination of Students and Teachers in Relation to Their STS Views

Abstract

The computer inclination (CI) of 881 eleventh-grade students and of their 181 teachers in relation to their Science-Technology-Society (STS) views was assessed in randomly selected high schools in British Columbia using a two-part questionnaire: a short, modified version of the Survey of Attitudes Toward Learning About and Working With Computers for the CI, and a condensed form of the Views on Science-Technology-Society (VOSTS) Inventory for the STS views. Significant differences between the computer inclinations of non-STS and STS students and between the STS views of non-STS and STS teachers and students in the “attitude” category were found, but there were no differences between other subgroups on these dimensions. Computer Inclination Indices (CII) and Science/Technology Indices (ST_x) have been defined and used for the elucidation of possible correlations between the CIIs and the ST_xs. It is argued that the CIs and STS views of both students and teachers should be assessed and taken into consideration by the educational policy makers and developers of future science curricula and teacher training programs, if the goals of the currently sought reforms in science education are to be attained.