A study of the attitudes toward social studies exhibited by grade twelve students in the Placentia-St. Mary's School District

McCarthy, Thomas J. (1992) A study of the attitudes toward social studies exhibited by grade twelve students in the Placentia-St. Mary's School District. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

Social studies is a core subject for students registered in the senior high school program in Newfoundland and therefore is important. The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes toward social studies held by the grade twelve students in the Placentia-St. Mary's R.C. School District to see how they ranked it and to determine whether there was any relationship between the attitudes toward social studies and the teaching strategies that are used in the classroom. -- The sample was the entire student population registered in grade twelve for the 1990/91 school year and those teachers who were teaching senior high social studies courses that year. The number of students was 191 and the number of teachers was 18. -- Analysis of data showed a difference in how students and teachers ranked the social studies with teachers being more positive than students in their ranking. The researcher also found that there were no significant differences in how the grade twelve boys and girls ranked the social studies. -- There were differences found between the perceptions of students and the perceptions of teachers based on the frequency that particular strategies were perceived to have been used in the classroom. Students were more likely than teachers to say that certain strategies were never used in the classroom. -- A regression analysis was used by the researcher to determine whether there were differences in attitude toward social studies between students who identified their classroom as traditional-oriented or those who identified their classroom as non traditional oriented. Differences at the p < .05 level of significance were found with students in the non traditional classroom being more positive in their attitudes toward the social studies than the students in the traditional classroom. -- The researcher also found differences in the perceptions of the teaching strategies between the boys and girls as well as differences in the attitudes toward social studies. The girls tended to be more positive in their attitudes toward social studies than the boys were.

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