Relationship between Student Attitudes and Student Achievement in Chemistry Subject Area of Science

Identifying the problems faced by students is essential in building science education. Through the analysis of the results of the Sri Lanka Examination Department, it is clear that the science subject as a whole gets the minimum number of marks compared to other subjects. Therefore, it was a major requirement of this research to find out the multivariate correlation and effect between students’ attitude towards the subject of chemistry and student achievement. For that, research was carried out through a quantitative design. 111 teachers and 302 students from 13 secondary schools in Kegalle Education Zone, Kegalle District, Sri Lanka were selected as the sample. Cluster random sampling method was chosen as the sampling method. A pilot test was conducted for a validation test based on the research instrument and Bloom’s taxonomy. In addition, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was also conducted to further confirm the validity of the identified research instrument for measuring students’ attitude towards the subject. An exploratory data analysis (EDA) was first conducted to validate the data collected. Then, data analysis related to the main study was conducted using descriptive and inferential statistical methods. It was identified that there is a positive correlation between attitude towards the subject and student achievement in answering the research questions related to the research.