Measuring Attitude toward Chemistry, Biology, and Math at a Hispanic-Serving Institution

This work describes the evaluation of the Attitude toward the Subject of Chemistry Inventory (ASCI), as well as two modifications (one for measuring attitude toward math and one for measuring attitude toward biology), for college students at a Hispanic Serving Institution. Instrument reliability was tested via multiple administrations of the instruments, and confirmatory factor analysis supported a two-factor structure similar to an existing model of a revised version of the ASCI for all three instruments. The similar factor structure of the three instruments, coupled with interviews with students, provide validity evidence for the instruments and support an interpretation that one of the subscales aligns with a cognitive aspect of attitude while the other subscale aligns with an affective aspect. The results of these instruments indicate that students have a more positive attitude toward biology than either chemistry or math, and more positive affective attitude than cognitive attitude for all three subjects, although student attitudes show little change with respect to biology, chemistry, or math during a typical semester. However, major perturbations, such as switching to remote instruction midsemester, can lead to small but significant increases and decreases in attitude.