Evaluating Student Attitudes toward Chemistry Lessons to Enhance Teaching in the Secondary School

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate how a secondary school chemistry teacher in Hong Kong can evaluate his students' attitudes toward chemistry lessons by means of the 12-item Attitude Toward Chemistry Lessons Scale (atcls). The teacher found that overall his students had a slightly positive attitude toward chemistry lessons in school, but the mean scores on two of the four subscales were lower than expected. He was interviewed to identify the underlying reasons. The information about student attitude toward chemistry lessons served as a catalyst to help the teacher to reflect on his curriculum planning and teaching effectiveness. The nature of the four subscales and the interview results are discussed.