The Influence of Interest and Awareness of Necessity on preference for Home Economics of Middle School Students

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1 , pp The Influence of Interest and Awareness of Necessity on preference for Home Economics of Middle School Students Eun-Jeung Kim *, Yun-Jeong Kim** * Joongdong Middle School, Irwon-ro-8 Gil 37(Irwon-Dong), Gangnam-Gu, Seoul, Korea, coronia3@gmail.com **Dept. of Elderly of Welfare, Hnaseo University, Hanseo 1-ro Haemi-myun Sesan-city Chungnam-do, Korea, twoyun21@hanseo.ac.kr Abstract. The present study has the purpose of demonstrating the influence of interest in and awareness of necessity on middle school students in home economics. The key findings and discussion are as follows. First, the logistic regression analysis that aimed to identify decisive factors of preference for home economics showed that male students had no interest in understanding family but high interest in practice of eco-friendly family life, and career and life planning. Second, Necessity of instruction was more likely to be included in the home economics preference group, and the influence of necessity of instruction was the greatest. Keywords: Home economics, Interest in home economics, Preference of home economics, Necessity of home economics 1 Introduction The Korean home economics curriculum has been revised numerous times over the years (versions 1 ~ 7, in 2007, 2009, and 2011), and home economics is now a subject that both males and females learn. This change reflects the changing role of sex in homes and in society, which actively reflects the value of gender equality in school curricula [1]. Interest in a subject has substantial influence on motivation to learn and on learning itself. Factors that cause interest in a subject are contextual factors such as the adequacy of learning contents, cognitive preferences for subjects, curiosity, immersion, and challenge [2]. Similarly, interest in a subject includes necessity and requirements, and it is a comparatively continuous and stable preferred tendency [4]. Preferences for specific subjects have been determined to be related to interest in the subject contents, confidence in the subject, practicality, and others [2]. These studies related to subject preference have mainly found that interest in and necessity of home economics were higher when the requirement and preference for home economics were higher. Thus, preference for a particular subject means that a person has some degree of interest and accomplishment in that subject [3]. This point was also noted in research that ISSN: ASTL Copyright 2015 SERSC

2 treated subject preference as a dependent rather than a precedent variable. Thus, students preference for home economics can be improved depending on their interest in the subject or the necessity of home economics. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify decisive factors in middle school students preference for home economics. Specifically, the influence of the interest in and awareness of the need for home economics on preference was investigated. 2 Methodology 2.1 Participants and Data Collection Four schools located in Seoul were the sources for the study subjects. Data were collected using a survey. Two hundred thirty male students and 235 female students were administered the survey. Questionnaires were distributed considering local characteristics between May 26 and June 3, A total of 532 surveys from students were used in the final analysis, excluding insincere data. 2.2 Measurement Scale The questionnaires were composed based on the characteristics described in the 2009 reformed national curriculum and measurement scales by Lim [5]. The perception of the necessity of instruction was measured by 8 items scored on a 5-point Likert scale, and higher scores mean a more positive attitude. The Cronbach s alpha was.842. To measure interest in the home economics curriculum content, interest in the subject was separated into 6 units. Fifteen items were measured on a 5-point Likert scale, and the Cronbach s alphas ranged from.842 to.875. For subject preference, What do you think about technology and home economics? was answered with like (1) or not like (0). 2.3 Demographic Characteristics of the Participants Using 2.3 IBM SPSS 21.0, frequency analysis was conducted to understand the social demographic characteristics of the middle school students. The participants were 462 middle school students, 49.6% male and 50.4% female. By school year, 29.4% of students were first-year, 21.2% were second-year, and 49.4% were third-year. The proportion of students at the boys middle school was 21.9%, 22.3% from the girls middle school, and 55.8% from the coeducation school. Most of the students, 70.6%, reported very high grades, 29.4% said their grades were high, and there were no responses for low grades. Regarding family size, 62.5% of students families had 4 members, 20.6% had more than 4 members was 20.6%, 20 Copyright 2015 SERSC

3 and 16.0% had 3 family members. Regarding birth order, the highest proportion, 42.5%, were second children, 34.9% were first children, and 14.6% were only children. Regarding family structure, the great majority, 85.2%, of students lived in a nuclear family composed of parents and children. 2.4 Data Analysis Frequency analysis and logistic regression were run using IBM SPSS Decisive Factors of Middle School Students Preferences for Home Economics 3.1 Influence of Middle School Students Interest in and Awareness of Necessity preference for Home Economics Preference or not(1=yes, 0=No) Division B Wald Exp(B) Constant *** Charateristics Gender (1=male) School year Grade Family number Birth Order (1=the oldest) Structure (1=Nuclear).598 * Interest Understanding adolescence Life of Adolescents Adolescent Self-management Understanding the Family Practice of Eco-Friendly Family Life Career and Life Planning *.671 **.625 * Necessity of Instruction.756 *** correct classification chi-squre Nagelkerke R % ***.471 *p<.05 **p<.01 ***p<.001 Copyright 2015 SERSC 21

4 Logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify factors that could predict middle school students home economics preferences. The model was significant, with a chi-square of (p=.000). The model s explanatory power model was 47.1%, and validity was high at 84.6%. Significant variables that influenced preference were gender, necessity of instruction, and the textbook sub-chapters Understanding Family, Practice of Eco-friendly Family Life, and Career and Life Planning. It was shown that male students had no interest in Understanding Family but showed high interest in Practice of Eco-friendly Family Life, Career and Life Planning, and necessity of instruction; the influence of necessity of instruction was highest. Investigating in more depth, male students were times more likely than female students to prefer home economics, and that preference increased by times when interest in Practice of Eco-friendly Family Life increased by 1 point. It was also shown that the likelihood of liking home economics class increased by times when interest in the Career and Life Planning area increased by 1 point and by times when awareness of the need for home economics increased by 1 point. In contrast, it was shown that likelihood of liking the home economics course decreased by times when interest in Understanding Family increased by 1 point (Table 2). 4 Conclusion and recommendations In this paper, a survey investigation was conducted with 462 middle school students from May to June 2015 to identify decisive factors of preference for home economics. Sociodemographics, family characteristics, interest in the subject, and awareness of subject necessity were decisive factors for subject preference. The logistic regression analysis showed that male students reported no interest in Understanding Family but high interest in Practice of Eco-friendly Family Life, Career and Life Planning, and necessity of instruction showed a higher likelihood of preferring the home economics course, and influence of necessity of instruction was highest. These results are similar to those found by Kim [6]. It was shown that the likelihood of preferring the course increased by times when awareness of home economics necessity increased by 1 point. This result shows that the importance of a more macroscopic and lifetime contextual approach is proposed to increase middle school students preference for home economics. It is suggested that related contexts should be supplemented in home economics texts. This will be connected to the continued availability of home economics as an elective course in high school. References 1. June, Kyungsook, Choi, Dongsook.: The Unit Classification and Gender-Difference Analysis of Technology Home Economics Subject Based on Estimation of the Degree of 22 Copyright 2015 SERSC

5 Practical Use and Preference among Male and Female Middle High School Students in Chuncheon city'. Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association, 19(3), (2007) 2. Yoon, Misun, Kim, Sungil.: A Study on Constructs of subject-specific interests and Its Relationship with Academic Achievement. The Korean Journal of Educational Psychology, 17(3), (2003) 3. Lee, Jeonghee.: A Study about Subject Preference and Self-Concepts Accorded by Learning Style in Elementary School Students. Pukyong National University master s thesis, Busan, Korea (2008) 4. Park, Hyunsong.: Differences in Subject Interest and Academic Achievement by Types of Learning Styles. Chonnam national university master s thesis, Gwangju, Korea (2008) 5. Lim, Sookyung.: The Perception and Sectional Needs Degree of Home Economics Education of Male Middle School Students. Ewha Womans University master s thesis, Seoul, Korea (2003) 6. Kim, Eunjueng.: The Perceptional Difference of Home Economics Education and Necessity of the Subject Instruction depending on Characteristics of Youth. Information Journal, 18(9), (2015) 7. Lee, Seoulbi, Lee, Yonsuk.: Middle School Student's Educational Interest and Perception of Usefulness on the Contents of the Unit of 'Understanding of Adolescents' in Technology ㆍ Home Economics Textbook. Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association, 23(1), (2011) Copyright 2015 SERSC 23