Determinant Factors of Students’ Attitudes Toward Learning

AbstractIn specialized literature the issue of students’ mentality is analysed in relation to their attitudes. Some authors believe that the students’ attitude towards learning is influenced by the characteristics of the classroom environment (Fabunmi, 2007), or by students’ commitment and acceptance of tasks (Riaz, 2011). The paper aims at discussing Romanian students’ ways of thinking about learning and the factors that influence them. It is based on experimental research conducted on a group of 200 subjects, all students from various faculties of “Dunărea de Jos” University of Galaţi, Romania. A questionnaire was prepared with the aim of determining the students’ ways of thinking about learning. Among the methods of statistical assessment used, the following could be mentioned: frequency analysis, to illustrate the composition of the group of subjects; the calculation of the median for students’ ways of thinking about learning as variables; Pearson's correlation coefficient, to verify the correlation among such variables as students’ ways of thinking about learning, personal involvement factors, purpose, etc. Partial results seem to indicate the fact that students’ ways of thinking about learning are influenced by such factors as: involvement, purpose, achievement, etc. Students react differently to school tasks: some lay stress on involvement for successful educational outcomes, while others believe that success can be achieved in other ways as well