Elementary Teachers Attitudes Towards Science and the Teaching of Science and Technology

Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to examine the relationship between teachers\u27 attitudes, beliefs, and their perceptions of students\u27 attitudes about Science and Technology (S&T), gender differences in students\u27 patterns of S&T learning, and teachers\u27 perceptions of scientists and S&T. A sample of 50 grade 4 to 8 teachers completed an original questionnaire and 10 of those participants were subsequently interviewed. The quantitative results suggested that teachers that perceive their students\u27 attitudes as positive and hold no prejudices about scientists or negative opinions about S&T tend to perceive no gender differences in students\u27 attitudes. The qualitative analyses concerning teachers\u27 beliefs about scientists/S&T principally confirmed all quantitative findings. The further exploration of the relationships between teachers\u27 attitudes and their beliefs concerning scientists/S&T, however, indicated that the results are two-edged