Examination of Secondary School Students’ Views towards Scientific Knowledge

The aims of this study are to identify the views of the secondary students about scientific knowledge and to analyze the relationship between their views about scientific knowledge and their academic achievement and attitudes scientific. The participants of the study are a total of 634 sixth, seventh and eighth grade students attending those schools serving to the students with a lower, medium or higher socio-economic status in a city in western Turkey. The data of the study were collected through the use three different tools, namely “ Scale on Views about Scientific Knowledge ”, “S cientific Attitude Scale ” and “ Demographic Form ”. The findings of the study showed that students have nearly positive views about scientific knowledge. It is further found that their views about scientific knowledge significantly vary based on their gender and grade level. In addition, the total scores of students in regard to their views about scientific knowledge are positively correlated with their academic achievement and total scores of scientific attitude.