High school students’ attitudes towards physics and physicists: An analysis based on multiple correspondence analysis

In this paper we describe high school attitudes toward physics using Semiotic Dynamic Cultural Psychology Theory (SDCPT). A View of Physics questionnaire was used to collect data about the views on physics and physicists with 337 high school (16–18 years old) students. Data were analysed through Multiple Correspondence Analysis and Cluster Analysis. We identified four basic generalized meanings of physics. In particular, it turned out that students see physics as either: a) interesting and important for a technology-based society; b) quite interesting, but badly taught at school and not completely useful for society; c) difficult and irrelevant for society; d) fascinating and important to study at school, but with an underrated value for society. Our study supports the use of the SDCPT framework to refine interpretative models of students’ motivation towards physics and develop new ways of teaching physics at secondary and university level