Middle School Students’ Attitudes Towards Technology In Relation To Demographic And Affective Domain

Abstract

The study investigates middle school students’ attitudes towards technology and key variables influencing these attitudes. For this purpose, the present study was carried out among 1,396 students in the 6 th 7 th and 8 th grades (age range 12-15) attending 23 middle schools, of which 708 (50.7%) were female and 688 (49.3%) were male. A validated national version of Pupils’ Attitude towards Technology (TR-PATT) was used to determine their attitudes towards technology. A majority of the students had positive attitudes towards technology. There were significant differences between male and female students’ attitudes. Moreover, it was found that attending schools in urban areas, having prior technology training, and having parents with technology-related jobs had positive impacts on attitudes towards technology. However, as grade level increased, trust in technology decreased. They described technology in terms of household appliances, computers, and the internet and stated that it made life easier. A large majority of  the students stated that technology was useful for the country; that, because of technology, everything works well; and that technology is the future.   Keywords: Technology education; attitude; motivation; middle school