Teachers' attitudes to the introduction of integrated science in the fourth year of secondary school in Trinidad and Tobago

Abstract

A 30-item, Likert-type attitude scale was constructed and sent to a sample of 220 science teachers in 57 government or government-assisted secondary schools in Trinidad and Tobago. Teachers were asked to respond to each statement considering the Less Able pupil separately from the More Able pupil. Responses were received from 131 teachers. The study shows that four main factors contribute to teachers' attitudes: 1) acceptance of integrated science; 2) the challenge of teaching integrated science; 3) staff support, preparation, and commitment; and 4) the coherence of science. Further, trained teachers and chemistry teachers were more in favour of integrated science than untrained teachers and biology teachers respectively. In general, teachers held more favourable attitudes for the Less Able pupils than for the More Able pupils