A STUDY OF FACTOR INFLUENCING ATTITUDE TOWARDS LEARNING OF PHYSICS AMONG SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

Physics is among the significant science subjects taught at the secondary school level in Nigerias education system. There has been a growing concern about the poor performance in physics in Nigeria. The present study was aimed to determine teachers likability as a factor that could influence students attitudes towards physics. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey. The population of the survey includes secondary school students in the Kogi State of Nigeria. Participants comprised males and females senior secondary school students. They were mainly pooled from the science class. One hundred and thirty-nine students participated in the study. Data was collected using a Teachers Likability Scale and the Physics Attitude Scale (PAS). The result revealed that most of the respondents indicated a negative attitude toward the subject (M = 0.87, SD = 0.35), while few (M = 0.18, SD = 0.39) showed a positive attitude towards the subject. A linear regression model was conducted to test the study hypothesis.The result showed that teachers likability statistically significantly predicted attitude towards physics F(1,137), 124.617 P< .05. The study concluded that a teachers likability is a significant predictor of attitude towards physics. Thus, it is recommended that teachers should be more facilitators than strict instructors.