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1.
The rapid growth of analytics is bringing more attention to quantitative core curriculum requirements in undergraduate business programs. Statistical knowledge and skills are unequivocally recognized as essential cornerstone of business analytics. Furthermore, educational research has shown that academic performance in statistics classes is related to the attitudes that students bring to the course. This article assesses the reliability and validity of the Survey of Attitudes toward Statistics (SATS) in measuring noncognitive dimensions of attitudes among undergraduate business students. Sample data from U.S. and Chinese introductory business statistics classes were collected and analyzed to learn more about this aspect of student engagement across business schools located in countries with substantially different levels of success in international mathematics achievement testing, as well as differing cultural and educational practices. Results show that the six‐factor model structure of the SATS provides a good fit in both populations, with students entering business statistics holding only slightly positive attitudes toward the subject. Significant distinctions between four of the six attitude components were identified. Implications of measuring and improving these attitudes are discussed. Business statistics instructors are encouraged to use the survey as a standardized instrument to measure effects of interventions and make evidence‐based pedagogical decisions.  相似文献   

2.
The main purpose of this study is to develop a valid and reliable instrument for measuring the attitudes toward science class of fourth‐ and fifth‐grade students in an Asian school culture. Specifically, the development focused on three science attitude constructs—science enjoyment, science confidence, and importance of science as related to science class experiences. A total of 265 elementary school students in Taiwan responded to the instrument developed. Data analysis indicated that the instrument exhibited satisfactory validity and reliability with the Taiwan population used. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.93 for the entire instrument indicating a satisfactory level of internal consistency. However, both principal component analysis and parallel analysis showed that the three attitude scales were not unique and should be combined and used as a general “attitudes toward science class” scale. The analysis also showed that there were no gender or grade‐level differences in students’ overall attitudes toward science class.  相似文献   

3.
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4.
Relationships between perceived levels of classroom individualization and science-related attitudes were explored for a sample of 712 junior high school science students. Five dimensions of perceived individualization (personalization, participation, independence, investigation, and differentiation) were measured with the Individualized Classroom Environment Questionnaire (ICEQ), while seven distinct attitudes were measured with the Test of Science-Related Attitudes (TOSRA). Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that the set of individualization variables accounted for a significant increment in end-of-year attitude scores, beyond that attributable to corresponding beginning-of-year attitude scores, for four of the seven attitudes considered. Significant associations between an individual individualization variable and an attitudinal dimension were positive in all cases. The study also provided support for the reliability and validity of the ICEQ and TOSRA and for their general usefulness in science education research.  相似文献   

5.
Background: There is a growing interest in investigating attitudes towards science and views of Nature of Science among elementary grade students in terms of gender, cultural backgrounds, and grade level variables.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the attitudes toward science and views of Nature of Science among Spanish students, Spanish students of gypsy ethnicity and second-generation Spanish students with east-European heritage, and to determine if their attitudes are related to their views of Nature of Science.

Sample: Data for this study was gathered from seven elementary schools in Spain, forming a convenience sample of 149 students enrolled from 2nd to 5th grade.

Design and Methods: The Nature of Science Instrument (NOSI) and an adaptation of the Test of Science Related Attitudes scale (TOSRA) were used. Follow-up structured interviews were performed with 15 participants.

Results: Regarding gender, boys had better attitudes toward Science than girls but more naïve views of the empirical Nature of Science. In relation to cultural background, second generation Spanish students with east-European heritage reported significantly better attitudes toward Science than Spanish students and Spanish students of gypsy ethnicity. No differences in Nature of Science views were found. Concerning grade level, third graders had more positive attitudes toward Science than fifth and sixth graders and more informed views of the tentative Nature of Science. Finally, no relation between Nature of Science views and attitudes towards Science were identified.

Conclusion: This study stress the need to address the steady decline in positive attitude toward Science and to improve students’ views of Nature of Science from early elementary grades, and to use gender and culturally inclusive science teaching strategies.  相似文献   

6.
In this article, we present a valid and reliable instrument which measures the attitude of in-service and pre-service primary teachers toward teaching science, called the Dimensions of Attitude Toward Science (DAS) Instrument. Attention to the attitudes of primary teachers toward teaching science is of fundamental importance to the professionalization of these teachers in the field of primary science education. With the development of this instrument, we sought to fulfill the need for a statistically and theoretically valid and reliable instrument to measure pre-service and in-service teachers' attitudes. The DAS Instrument is based on a comprehensive theoretical framework for attitude toward (teaching) science. After pilot testing, the DAS was revised and subsequently validated using a large group of respondents (pre-service and in-service primary teachers) (N = 556). The theoretical underpinning of the DAS combined with the statistical data indicate that the DAS possesses good construct validity and that it proves to be a promising instrument that can be utilized for research purposes, and also as a teacher training and coaching tool. This instrument can therefore make a valuable contribution to progress within the field of science education.  相似文献   

7.
A test for measuring science attitudes, named Test of Science Related Attitudes (TOSRA), was initially developed in Australia by Fraser (1977, 1978). This study investigated the crosscultural validity of this instrument when used with American high school students. Three hundred and thirty-six students (12th and 11th graders) in three high schools in suburban Chicago took the test. The results of the study, confirming previous validation of the test, revealed that the seven subscales of TOSRA were, in general, highly reliable. The discriminant validity of each of these scales, however, was found to be generally low. The item/scale correlation for all but four items of the test met Shrigley's (Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 20 (1), 87–89, 1983) criterion of being more than 0.30. The results of the principal components with varimax rotation did not support the distinctiveness of the subscale structure of the test.  相似文献   

8.
Due to the important impact that biotechnology has on current Western societies, well-informed critical citizens are needed. People prepared to make conscious decisions about aspects of biotechnology that relate to their own lives. Teachers play a central role in all education systems. Thus, the biotechnological literacy of preservice teachers is an important consideration as they will become an influential collective as future teachers of the next generation of children. The attitudes toward science (and biotechnology) that teachers have affect their behavior and influence the way they implement their daily practice of science teaching in school. This study analyzes the attitudes and knowledge of Spanish preservice teachers toward biotechnology. We designed a new survey instrument that was completed by 407 university students who were taking official degree programs in preschool and primary education. Our results point out that although they are aware of biotechnology applications, topics concerning the structure of DNA, management of genetic information inside the cell, genetically modified organism technology and the use of microorganisms as biotechnological tools were not correctly answered. According to our attitude analysis, Spanish preservice teachers could be defined as opponents of genetically modified product acquisition, supporters of biotechnology for medical purposes and highly interested in increasing their knowledge about biotechnology and other scientific advances. Our results show a positive correlation between better knowledge and more positive attitudes toward biotechnology. A Spanish preservice teacher with positive attitudes toward biotechnology tends to be a student with a strong biology background who scored good marks in our knowledge test.  相似文献   

9.
To maximize the contributions of nanotechnology to this society, at least 60 countries have put efforts into this field. In Taiwan, a government-funded K-12 Nanotechnology Programme was established to train K-12 teachers with adequate nanotechnology literacy to foster the next generation of Taiwanese people with sufficient knowledge in nanotechnology. In the present study, the Nanotechnology Attitude Scale for K-12 teachers (NAS-T) was developed to assess K-12 teachers' attitudes toward nanotechnology. The NAS-T included 23 Likert-scale items that can be grouped into three components: importance of nanotechnology, affective tendencies in science teaching, and behavioural tendencies to teach nanotechnology. A sample of 233 K-12 teachers who have participated in the K-12 Nanotechnology Programme was included in the present study to investigate the psychometric properties of the NAS-T. The exploratory factor analysis of this teacher sample suggested that the NAS-T was a three-factor model that explained 64.11% of the total variances. This model was also confirmed by the confirmatory factor analysis to validate the factor structure of the NAS-T. The Cronbach's alpha values of three NAS-T subscales ranged from 0.89 to 0.95. Moderate to strong correlations among teachers' NAS-T domain scores, self-perception of own nanoscience knowledge, and their science-teaching efficacy demonstrated good convergent validity of the NAS-T. As a whole, psychometric properties of the NAS-T indicated that this instrument is an effective instrument for assessing K-12 teachers' attitudes toward nanotechnology. The NAS-T will serve as a valuable tool to evaluate teachers' attitude changes after participating in the K-12 Nanotechnology Programme.  相似文献   

10.
A questionnaire regarding attitudes toward science and scientific knowledge (Yager & Yager, 1985b) was administered to 143 intellectually gifted (IQ > 130) and intellectually average third-, seventh-, and eleventh-grade students. Measures of internal reliability on four attitude subscales and a content knowledge subscale are reported. Three-way ANOVAs comparing grade, sex, and ability revealed significant differences between average and gifted students in attitudes toward being a scientist, usefulness of science, and, as might be expected, in knowledge of science. Similarly, there were significant differences between grades on attitudes toward teachers and toward science classes, with the most favorable attitudes expressed in third grade, next most favorable in eleventh grade, and clearly more negative attitudes expressed by students in seventh grade. There also was a significant interaction between grade level and ability regarding attitudes toward science classes. In contrast to what might be expected from reported differences between males and females in attitudes toward science, gender as a separate variable did not have a significant main effect in any of the comparisons.  相似文献   

11.
The number of students in the United States choosing science, technology, engineering or mathematics careers is declining at a time when demand for these occupations is rapidly increasing. Numerous efforts have been undertaken to reverse this trend, yet results are uncertain. One’s attitude is key to many choices one makes, and this includes, for many, what career is pursued. Hence, teachers, informal science educators and researchers often wish to measure children’s attitudes towards science using a pretest and a posttest to determine the effects of a curriculum, an activity or an intervention. However, measuring children’s attitudes toward science has been problematic because of both the limited use of basic psychometrics in checking reliability and validity of instruments and the lack of a single construct of students’ attitudes towards science being surveyed. This article reports the development and testing of an instrument for measuring students’ science attitudes across several dimensions. Thirty-two scientists and teachers from the northeastern and south central United States participated in content validity trials. The instrument was field tested with 549 children (92 elementary-school students, 327 middle-school students and 130 high-school students) from 6 rural and suburban school systems located in the northeastern United States to determine inter-item reliability for each dimension. The resulting instrument, entitled My Attitudes Toward Science (MATS), has 40 items that measure four dimensions: (1) Attitude towards the subject of science; (2) Desire to become a scientist; (3) Value of science to society; and (4) Perception of scientists. The MATS, as a multidimensional instrument, can measure several facets of students’ attitude toward science and is designed to be used across grades levels and to be scored easily.  相似文献   

12.
This investigation addresses the need for valid and reliable instruments that contribute to understanding the factors that lead to the rejection of science-related studies. We discuss the theoretical and methodological limitations of published attitudes toward science questionnaires and describe the development and validation of a short instrument rooted in the cost construct of the expectancy-value model of achievement motivation. We collected data from a sample of six hundred thirty-two 5th and 6th (Mage = 10.87; SD = .76) elementary students in Spain. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis revealed a parsimonious structure measuring loss of valued alternatives and task effort ​cost. Further psychometric evaluation displayed evidence for convergent, discriminant, and concurrent validity. Likewise, the reliability was acceptable for both three-item scales. These findings support the proposed instrument to measure barriers experienced by Spanish children when studying school science.  相似文献   

13.
The purpose of this review is to present a comprehensive evaluation of science attitude instruments based on published psychometric evidence. A multitude of instruments have been used through the years and some have been linked to career choice and school performance. Substantiating such associations is of paramount importance if researchers wish to influence educational policy. However, associations are reduced, or hard to discover, if instruments have weak psychometric properties. Several databases were searched for peer‐reviewed articles that discussed the development and use of science attitude instruments. Instruments were grouped into the following categories: attitudes toward science, scientific attitudes, nature of science, scientific career interests, and other. A data abstraction and scoring rubric was used to summarize and evaluate 150 published articles that spanned 66 instruments. Most instruments had single study usage and showed an absence of psychometric evidence. This review demonstrated that there are few instruments available with the necessary psychometric data to merit recommendation. The review quantifies the current state of the research regarding the measurement of science attitude in students; the results should elicit further discussion and encourage more rigorous analyses of instruments. The findings may assist other researchers to select an instrument and alert them to its strengths and weaknesses. This review points the way forward for research in this field. Instruments already in existence should be used in repeat studies, and reliability and validity evidence should be collected and shared.  相似文献   

14.
The purpose of this investigation has been to explore whether differences existed between gifted and nongifted fifth graders and between genders and related subgroups with respect to attitudes toward science. Both groups (N = 25) were matched on the demographic characteristics of school-site, race, sex, and socio-economic background. Gifted students were found to have more positive attitudes toward science than nongifted students; however, no significant differences were found. In all cases, boys (all boys, gifted boys, and nongifted boys) exhibited more positive attitudes toward science; again, no significant differences were uncovered between the boys and their counterpart group or subgroups. The item which consistently reflected the most positive rating (gifted students, all boys and gifted boys, and all girls and nongifted girls) was “usefulness of things done in science class.” Items where discrepancies surfaced included “usefulness of science when playing at home” where nongifted students and gifted girls were significantly more positive than their counterparts, and “spending more time doing science experiments” where all boys and gifted boys were significantly more positive than their counterparts.  相似文献   

15.
We report here on a comparative study of middle school students’ attitudes towards science involving three countries: England, Singapore and the U.S.A. Complete attitudinal data sets from TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) 2011 were used, thus giving a very large sample size (N?=?20,246), compared to other studies in the journal literature. The Rasch model was used to analyse the data, and the findings have shed some useful light on not only how the Western and Asian students responded on a comparative basis in the various scales related to attitudes but also on the validity, reliability, and unidimensionality of the attitudes instrument used in TIMSS 2011. There may be a need for TIMSS test developers to consider doing away with negatively phrased items in the attitudes instrument and phrasing these positively as the Rasch framework shows that response bias is associated with these statements.  相似文献   

16.
The impact of biotechnologies on peoples’ everyday lives continuously increases. Measuring young peoples’ attitudes toward biotechnologies is therefore very important and its results are useful not only for science curriculum developers and policy makers, but also for producers and distributors of genetically modified products. Despite of substantial number of instruments which focused on measuring student attitudes toward biotechnology, a majority of them were not rigorously validated. This study deals with the development and validation of an attitude questionnaire toward biotechnology. Detailed information on development and validation process of the instrument is provided. Data gathered from 326 university students provided evidence for the validity and reliability of the new instrument which consists of 28 attitude items on a five point likert type scale. It is believed that the instrument will serve as a valuable tool for both instructors and researchers in science education to assess students’ biotechnology attitudes.  相似文献   

17.
The rise in the prevalence of autism creates a need for a reliable and valid measure of attitudes towards autism. The current study describes the development of a brief 16‐ item measure of Societal Attitudes towards Autism (SATA) that exhibits sound psychometric properties and has a demonstrated ability to discriminate between expert and general college student samples. The final SATA was the result of pilot work on 75 items and exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses on a 45‐item version with 475 undergraduates. Knowledge and personal distance subscales yielded inconsistent reliability and validity outcomes. The SATA showed strong content and construct validity as evidenced by known groups discrimination, and predicted associations with an attitude towards disability measure, an autism preference item, and a measure of implicit attitudes towards disabilities.  相似文献   

18.
This study aims to explore preschool teachers’ attitudes toward science teaching and its impact on classroom practices through the frequency of science activities provided in the classroom. In addition, the study investigates if their attitudes are related to factors such as educational level, years of teaching experience, and the school type they work in. The present research was conducted with 292 preschool teachers who work in public and private schools in different districts of Ankara, Turkey. The data were collected by administering the Early Childhood Teachers’ Attitudes toward Science Teaching Scale. Our analyses indicate that there is a significant but weak link between preschool teachers’ attitudes toward science teaching and the frequency of science activities that they provide in the classroom. Further, while teachers’ characteristics such as educational level and experience are found to play an insignificant role on the overall measures of the scale, type of school appears to be a major factor in explaining the attitudes toward science teaching.  相似文献   

19.
The purpose of this study is to validate a multidimensional measure assessing attitudes toward education for older adults. As the elderly population and the demands of education among older adults have increased, the engagement of social workers in educational settings for older adults has also increased. Therefore, assessing social workers’ attitudes toward education for older adults is critical to better understand the appropriate circumstances for successfully providing and expanding educational programs for older adults. Using a sample of 227 social work students, a multidimensional scale consisting of 38 items was developed by focusing on the three subconstructs of attitudes: cognition, emotion, and behavior. Across various statistical analyses such as the examination of coefficient α and the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), this scale consistently demonstrated strong reliability and validity. This new reliable and valid scale may contribute to the quality of educational programs for older adults by providing for social workers and other helping professionals with an opportunity to examine their attitudes toward educational services for older adults.  相似文献   

20.
Little is known about preschool teachers’ attitudes and beliefs toward science teaching, in part, because the field lacks valid and reliable measures of these teacher-related factors. To address this need, the current study developed and validated a rating scale (P-TABS) using a statewide sample of Head Start teachers (N = 507). A series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted. Generalizability and invariance of the final factor solution was examined across important subgroups of the standardization sample (i.e., teacher ethnicity, education level, and years of teaching experience). Three distinct factors were identified (Teacher Comfort, Child Benefit, and Challenges), with strong evidence for validity found for the first two factors. The P-TABS expands the availability of reliable and valid assessment tools for measuring preschool teachers’ attitudes and beliefs toward science teaching and for examining how these teacher-related factors affect classroom practices and student outcomes.  相似文献   

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