International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume VI, Issue VIII, August 2022 | ISSN 2454–6186
Students’ interest in physics by gender, school type and programme of study
Messiah Abeku Morgan1, Godwin Kwame Aboagye (PhD)2
1Seventh Day Adventists College of Education, Asokore-Koforidua, Ghana
2University of Cape Coast, Ghana
Abstract: Studies in Ghana and globally have reported a dwindling in students’ interest in pursuing higher degrees in physics and physics related programmes. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate students’ interest in physics according to gender, type of school and programme of study. The overarching design employed in this study was the cross-sectional survey design. The population of this study was made up of all Form three students who offered physics as elective in public senior high schools (SHS) in the Eastern region of Ghana. In this survey, a questionnaire-Srudents’ Interest in Physics (SIP), was used to gather information about students’ interest in physics from 415 physics students, comprising of 161 females and 254 males sampled randomly from 14 schools (comprising Boys only, Girls only and Mixed Sex Schools) in the Eastern region of Ghana, about their interest in physics. The sample was taken from different gender, school type (Boys only, Girls only and Mixed) and programmes (General science, Agricultural science and Technical) using a multistage sampling technique. It was found that students’ interest in physics was generally moderate. Male students were found to be more interested in physics than female students. Similarly, Technical students were more interested in physics than General Science students whereas students from Boys’ only schools were found to have higher interest in physics than students from mixed and Girls schools.
Students’ interest in physics by gender, schooltype and programme of study
I. INTRODUCTION
Background
Physics is accepted widely as the most central among the sciences and forms the basis for the present technological world. It is so because many of the world’s development existing today have come about as a result of research in physics (Kiruki & Orodho, 2015). Looking at how crucial physics is to the technological advancement of a nation and to the building of the economy, one would have expected that it will attract the attention of many students and get them to develop interest in the subject at school, pursue it further to the tertiary level, and develop a greater willingness to work in a field that involves physics. However, the available literature paints a gloomy picture of students’ interest in the study of physics (Buabeng, Ossei-Anto & Ampiah, 2014; Oon & Subramaniam, 2013; Adeyemo, 2010). Studying students’ interest in a subject is important since interest influence subject achievement and career choice (Mabee, Haruna & Salifu, 2021; Harackiewicz & Hulleman, 2015).