Abstract
In the present study, scales to measure cognitive behavioral, and emotional aspects of students’ attitudes toward learning were developed, and the reliability and validity of the scales were confirmed. The participants were middle school and high school students (7th through 12th grades, N=1,361). The results of factor analyses revealed that each of the scales consisted of 3 factors: “affirmation of concern,” “acceptance of cost,” and “valuing performance goals” on the cognitive aspect; “habitual positive behavior,” “dealing with test tasks,” and “avoidance of coping” on the behavioral aspect; and “sense of fulfillment,” “sense of control,” and “anxiety about learning” on the emotional aspect. Differences in attitudes in relation to level in school and grade, and features of the attitude profiles were also examined. The results were as follows: in the middle school students’ scores, a strong negative correlation was found between positive attitudes and avoidance of coping; in the high school students’ scores, strong positive correlations were found between dealing with test tasks and valuing performance goals, and between dealing with test tasks and anxiety about learning. Habitual positive behavior and dealing with test tasks decreased as the students’ progressed higher through school grades, and sense of fulfillment and sense of control were low, and anxiety about learning was high in school transition. The number of students with positive attitudes was smallest in the middle school group, whereas in the high school group, the number of students reporting negative emotions decreased, and of those having interests other than learning increased.
