Some factors of forming attitudes towards curricular subjects

Abstract

The paper presents a portion of the extensive research results related to positive and negative attitudes of the eighth year primary school students towards curricular subjects that they study. The analysis focuses on the distribution of attitudes in the sample of 335 students according to sex general students' attainments and their attainments in particular subjects at the end of the first semester of the eighth grade. According to the obtained results, the most popular subjects are biology and physical education, followed by foreign language and mathematics. Boys expressed, to a higher degree, positive attitudes towards technical and physical education and history, while girls preferred Serbian, foreign language, and biology. No significant correlation was found between attitudes towards particular subjects and general attainment. The most pronounced negative attitudes were related to foreign language, physics and chemistry, and, to a lesser degree, towards history and mathematics. More frequently boys do not like biology, Serbian, and foreign language, while girls do not like technical education, history and physics. The correlation between negative attitudes and general attainment is significant according to these results. The data also revealed which subjects the students found difficult to study. The results correlate highly with the mentioned negative attitudes. Some basic findings on the most prominent causes of difficulties in studying particular subjects are also presented.

U radu su prikazani nalazi obimnijeg istraživanja koji se odnose na pozitivne i negativne stavove učenika osmog razreda osnovne škole prema nastavnim predmetima koje uče. Analizirana je zastupljenost stavova na ukupnom ispitanom uzorku (N=335), kao i posebno u odnosu na pol učenika opšti školski uspeh i školske ocene iz pojedinih nastavnih predmeta na kraju prvog polugodišta osmog razreda. Prema dobijenim rezultatima, najomiljeniji predmeti su biologija i fizičko vaspitanje; a za njima slede strani jezik i matematika. Dečaci u većoj meri izražavaju pozitivne stavove prema tehničkom obrazovanju, fizičkom vaspitanju i istoriji, a devojčice prema srpskom i stranom jeziku i biologiji. Nema značajnih razlika u stavovima prema nastavnim predmetima u odnosu na školski uspeh. Najizrazitiji su negativni stavovi učenika prema stranom jeziku, fizici i hemiji, a u nešto manjoj meri prema istoriji i matematici. Dečaci češće ne vole biologiju, srpski i strani jezik, a devojčice ne vole tehničko obrazovanje, istoriju i fiziku. Dobijeni podaci pokazuju da ima razlika u negativnim stavovima s obzirom na školski uspeh učenika. Ispitano je i koje predmete učenici izdvajaju kao teške za učenje. Dobijeni nalazi se velikoj meri podudaraju sa nalazima o navedenim negativnim stavovima. Prikazani su i neki osnovni nalazi o najizraženijim uzrocima teškoća u učenju pojedinih nastavnih predmeta.