Development of Students’ Attitudes towards Technology Education between Years 1993-2022 in Finnish Comprehensive School

Abstract

Technology is affecting our lives more and more. It has consequences to every human being, and we find ourselves faced with both positive and negative aspects of technology. Certainly, this has an effect on our attitudes towards technology. In this study, we tried to find out if there have been any changes in attitudes towards technology among Finnish school children during the last 30 years. The attitudes measured in 1993 were compared with the results from 2012 and 2022. The number of test participants was 267 in the first measurement, 317 in the second and 284 in the last measurement. The age of the student respondents was 11–13 years. The measurements were done with exactly the same Likert scale attitude questionnaire in all three measurements. Some positive changes were found in attitudes towards technology in girls test group. Unfortunately, boys’ development between years 2012-2022 is alarming and should be of great concern The development in attitudes can be explained by the changes in technology education curriculum. From a broader point of view, the development in attitudes can be due to the changes in society as a whole.