Declining engineering enrollments: toward a path analytic model of science-related attitudes

A background and methodology are presented for identifying and evaluating secondary school students´ attitudinal relationships between six selected science-related topical areas. This procedure may subsequently be used to formulate a path analytic model in the effective domain for informational reference during current classroom instruction and future science curriculum development efforts. It is hoped that consideration of this attitudinal dimension will assist in reversing the current trend toward decreasing science course enrollments and concurrently enhance the scientific literacy of the general public