CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
2.1. Introduction
Inn this chapter, literature pertinent to the study is reviewed. This was done under the following sub-headings: Concept of attitude
Concept and framework for integrated science
Rationale for integrated science
Methods of integrated science learning
Teaching resources in integrated science
Factors hindering students attitude towards the learning of integrated science
Summary of reviewed literature
2.2 Concept of Attitude
Psychologists have diverse views about the concepts of attitude and this has led to the problem of lack of unanimity on the concept with different individual defining it differently.According to Balogun (2005) attitude is a particular entity with some degree of favourable or disfavour. To him attitude is a response to stimuli which could be positive or negative.
Balogun (2005) define psychological tendency as a state that is interval of evaluation response whether overt or covert, cognitive, affective or psychomotor behaviour.
This psychological tendency can be regarded as a type of bias that people put forward as responses. This may be positive or negative. Behaviour is based according to Balogun (2005) because it is self centered. An individual does not have an attitude until he or she responds individually to an entity on an affective, cognitive or psychomotor basis to him attitude is similar to character.
However, it may not always be the case as there can be character without any stimulus but there cannot be attitude without stimulus.
According to Bavis (2004) evaluative responses whether overt or covert can produce a psychological tendency to respond with a particular degree of evaluation when subsequently encountered to respond is established, the person has formed an attitude towards the object. Thus the concept of attitude is a conscious effort and behaviour towards an entity or object (Balogun, Bavis, 2004:05). In terms of definition, attitude is of the basic constructs used by psychologists hypothetically.
Starlet (2002) said that like other hypothetical constructs, attitude is not directly observable response. Attitude is one of the numerous implicit state or mind of disposition that psychologist have constructed to explain why people react in certain ways in the pressure of certain stimuli.
In referring to attitude as tendency we mean that it is an internal state that lasts for at least a short period of time.
Attitude can be defined as a positive or negative evaluation of people, object, event, activities and ideas or just about anything in your environment.
Attitude is a tendency to act towards or against something in the environment which reflects a positive or negative value (Osam, 2008). It is a pattern of thinking, responding or acting in a given set of circumstances. Allports (2012) attempts a comprehensive definition of attitude when he writes that; an attitude is a mental or neural state of readiness organised through direct experiences exerting a directive or dynamic influence upon the individual’s response to all objects and situations with which it is related.
The central feature of Allport’s definition is the idea of readiness for response. That is, an attitude is not behaviour, not something that a person does, rather it is a preparation for behaviour, a predisposition to respond in a particular way to the attitude object. The term attitude object according to Osam (2008) is used to include things, people, places, ideas or situations.
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