Attitudes of B.Ed Students Towards Learning: A Gender and Age-Based Comparative Study at University of Malakand

Abstract

The attitudes towards learning have a significant impact on the students' motivation, engagement, and professional development, especially among prospective teachers. This study examined the level of attitudes towards learning among B.Ed. students. This study was conducted at the Department of Education, University of Malakand, Pakistan and involved B.Ed. students. In the department of Education University of Malakand, Pakistan, the study conducted with the B.Ed students and investigated the differences based on gender and semester. A quantitative descriptive-comparative study design was used. A self-developed and validated 28 item Attitude towards Learning Scale (ATLS) was used to gather data. A sample of 130 B.Ed students was used.  Students were selected using stratified random sampling from 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th semester. Results revealed a moderate overall level of attitudes towards learning (M = 32.58, SD = 8.14). There was no significant difference between gender (p = 0.518). An interesting variation was found from semester to semester, F(3, 126) = 3.701, p = 0.014. The result of the post-hoc analysis showed that the attitude of the students in 2nd semester was significantly lower than that of students in 6th and 8th semester. The results indicate that the attitudes of students in learning get better when they study B.Ed program. In this research, the importance of early interventions to build positive learning attitudes in junior B.Ed was stressed. Students. Implications for teacher education programs in Pakistan are discussed.