by V. Nelson,
teacher, Charles F. Tigard Elementary School,
Although we all want students to have positive attitudes towards science, assessing those attitudes among grade five students with a likert scale instrument involves a leap of faith. This is difficult for adults, and very complicated for elementary school children.
Prior to using this scale, teachers will have to teach the likert scale. Most grade five students, while developing their analyzing and critiquing skills, lack the sophistication to differentiate among likert scale choices. My question is - would they have the capacity to use the instrument? A bigger question is how much care should be given to quantifying children's science curiosity. I prefer to spend my time stimulating that curiosity and guiding students through their passage from early learning science fun to more serious practice.
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