Australia has seen declining numbers of students choosing mathematics and science subjects in the senior secondary years, running counter to economic projections of an accelerating need for science and mathematics skills. Many students become less engaged with these subjects in the junior secondary years but attitudes such as self-concept, utility value, and intrinsic value are important for subject selection decisions. We used latent profile analysis to examine the relationship between attitudes towards both subjects using data from 10,051 Australian Grade 8 students sampled by TIMSS 2015 and revealed six discrete groupings. While most students were at least attitudinally receptive to both subjects, there were many students who either resisted both or expressed a strong preference for one over another. Positive attitudes towards both subjects were mutually beneficial—better attitudes towards both were associated with higher achievement in each—but boys tended to be more positive towards both subjects and so benefitted from this relationship more than girls. Implications for educational research and teachers’ practices are discussed.

中文翻译：

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对数学和科学的积极态度对学生的成就是互利的：TIMSS 2015 的潜在概况分析

澳大利亚高中阶段选择数学和科学科目的学生人数下降，这与对科学和数学技能需求加速增长的经济预测背道而驰。许多学生在初中时对这些科目的参与较少，但诸如自我概念、效用价值和内在价值等态度对于科目选择决定很重要。我们使用潜在概况分析来检查对两个科目的态度之间的关系，使用来自 TIMSS 2015 抽样的 10,051 名澳大利亚 8 年级学生的数据，并揭示了六个离散分组。虽然大多数学生至少在态度上接受了这两个科目，但也有许多学生要么抵制这两个科目，要么表示强烈偏爱其中一个科目。对这两个科目的积极态度是互惠互利的——对这两个科目的更好的态度与每个科目的更高成就有关——但男孩往往对这两个科目都更积极，因此比女孩更能从这种关系中受益。讨论了对教育研究和教师实践的影响。