Abstract
As the results of PISA2006 have been realized, there are concerns in Japan that although students here show an overall high score in scientific literacy, their attitudes toward science were low (NIER, 2007). This study was conducted utilizing the latent structure model that analyzes Japanese students’ attitudes toward science and scientific literacy using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). As the result of this latent structure model estimated by Mplus, information that fit the model’s criteria indicated the existence of two latent classes. The key difference between the two latent classes was the direct effect from F6 (INM) to F7 (SCL) in that class 1 was larger than class 2. The mean values of all constructs (F1-F7) of class 1 were higher than class 2. These results indicated the heterogeneity of Japanese students, so we need to consider this difference when we try to enhance the relationship between students’ attitudes toward science and overall scientific literacy.
