COGNITIVE PREFERENCE ORIENTATIONS IN STUDENTS OF CHEMISTRY

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Abstract
Summary. A 40‐item chemistry‐based ‘cognitive preference test’ was developed and administered to 284 students subsequent to their study of O‐level chemistry, in an attempt to identify preferred modes of attending to scientific subject matter. The results allow two major cognitive styles scales to be formulated: the first measures students' ‘scientific curiosity,’ i.e., their willingness to extend their knowledge of chemistry beyond existing confines; the second scale measures students' orientation towards the ‘pure’ or ‘applied’ science side. Cognitive styles were found to vary considerably with academic ability in chemistry: high achievers are strongly inclined towards further learning of the subject and oriented towards the ‘pure’ science domain. Low achievers display the reverse characteristics.

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