Global Patterns in Students’ Views of Science and Interest in Science

Abstract

International studies have shown that interest in science and technology among primary and secondary school students in Western European countries is low and seems to be decreasing. In many countries outside Europe, and especially in developing countries, interest in science and technology remains strong. As part of the large-scale European Union funded 'Science Education for Diversity' project, a questionnaire probing potential reasons for this difference was completed by students in the UK, Netherlands, Turkey, Lebanon, India and Malaysia. This questionnaire sought information about favourite courses, extracurricular activities and views on the nature of science. Over 9,000 students aged mainly between 10 and 14 years completed the questionnaire. Results revealed that students in countries outside Western Europe showed a greater interest in school science, in careers related to science and in extracurricular activities related to science than did Western European students. Non-European students were also more likely to hold an empiricist view of the nature of science and to believe that science can solve many problems faced by the world. Multilevel analysis revealed a strong correlation between interest in science and having such a view of the Nature of Science.

The Use of Cronbach’s Alpha When Developing and Reporting Research Instruments in Science Education

“…Some papers also offered indications of alpha having a threshold or cut-off as an acceptable, sufficient or satisfactory level. This was normally seen as ≥0.70 (five instances) or >0.70 (three instances) although one article more vaguely referred to "the acceptable values of 0.7 or 0.6" (Griethuijsen et al, 2014).…”

“…Griethuijsen et al (2014) reported a cross-national study looking at student interests in science where "several of the values calculated for Cronbach's alpha are below the acceptable values of 0.7 or 0.6" (p.588). For example, an "interest in school science" factor was based on a subset of five questionnaire items with Cronbach's alpha of 0.502 (p.589), and the "interest in domestic activities" factor was based on a subset of three items with alpha of 0.446 (p.590).…”

“…For one thing, as alpha tends to increase with the size of an instrument (Cortina, 1993;Schmitt, 1996), it is generally possible to increase alpha to 0.70 by simply adding more items to a test as long as those items are not completely unlike the existing items. As was seen above, authors may sometimes simply make the argument that had they included more items, they would have reached an acceptable value of alpha as a justification for not considering a value below 0.7 as indicative of a problem with the instrument (Griethuijsen et al, 2014). Cronbach (1951) had suggested that a high value of alpha was 'desirable' when an instrument was used to assign a score to an individual, but he argued that the key point should be that scores obtained when using an instrument had to be interpretable-and this was often possible without needing very high values of alpha.…”

Exploring Students’ Acquisition of Manipulative Skills during Science Practical Work

“…Nevertheless, science education faces a great challenge. Recent international studies have shown that engagement with school science and motivation to choose science related career among secondary school students are alarming, as students actively reject science related career as a future career option (Kudenko & Gras-Velázquez, 2016;McFarlane, 2013;Van Griethuijsen et al, 2015). According to Gilbert and Justi (2016) evidence of students' lack of engagement in science classes is used to support widespread dissatisfaction regarding students' levels of attainment in international studies and with their disinclination to continue to study science related discipline in higher education institutions.…”

“…According to Gilbert and Justi (2016) evidence of students' lack of engagement in science classes is used to support widespread dissatisfaction regarding students' levels of attainment in international studies and with their disinclination to continue to study science related discipline in higher education institutions. This has led to concern among policymakers about their nation's science and technology workforce, as well as the scientific literacy of their populations (Van Griethuijsen et al, 2015). In regard to international studies, for example, the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) has shown disturbing trends among many developing countries.…”