Academic literature on the topic 'Test of Science-Related Attitudes'

In a case study of over three hundred students in one Canberra high school, the attitudes to science of boys and girls in Years 7-10 were investigated using the Test of Science-Related Attitudes (TOSRA). From this survey population, forty students were selected and interviewed to explore in more detail students' attitudes to science. Parents of the interviewed students were also surveyed to explore possible relationships between students' attitudes and parental expectations and aspirations. For the seven areas of attitudes investigated, students had positive attitudes to science in the areas of social implications of science, normality of scientists, attitudes to scientific enquiry and adoption of scientific attitudes. They displayed neutral to negative attitudes in the areas of enjoyment of science lessons, leisure interest in science and career interest in science. There was a significant difference between boys and girls in two of the seven areas with girls being more negative than boys to a leisure interest in science, and girls more positive than boys towards the normality of scientists. When analysed for year at school and achievement in science, the data indicates that older students and those with higher grades in science generally have a more positive or less negative attitude to science. However, as a group, Year 8 girls were more negative than other groups about the enjoyment of their science lessons, about a leisure interest in science and about a career interest in science. The interviews with students revealed that in general, they liked science and their science teachers but that they would not choose science for leisure activities or for a career. Parents are shown to have high aspirations and somewhat lower expectations for the career prospects of their children. Both parents and students display stereotypical views about certain careers based on gender. Strategies to improve the attitude to science of boys and girls are suggested. These strategies focus on activities for teachers, parents and the students themselves.

The purpose of this research was to determine the condition of evolution education in American parochial schools and the effect of evolution education on students' attitudes toward science. Data were gathered using Eraser's Test of Science Related Attitudes (TOSRA) and Bilica's Teaching Evolutionary Topics Survey (TETS). The research participants consisted of 60.3% of biology teachers currently teaching in Lutheran high schools in the United States, and 479 Lutheran high school biology students grades 9-12 in California, Nevada, and Arizona. In the first attitudinal study done specifically on parochial students, statistical analysis confirmed the reliability and validity of the TOSRA instrument for parochial school students. In a quasi-experimental design, analysis revealed that student science attitudes do change as a result of participating in a unit on evolution in the first year biology classes of secondary parochial schools. The emphasis placed by teachers on particular evolutionary topics was also analysed. It was found that all Lutheran high school biology teachers present evolution to some extent although not all topics are emphasized equally. The results also demonstrate that parochial school teachers have nearly the same emphasis placed on evolution as do public school teachers.

The purpose of this research was to determine the condition of evolution education in American parochial schools and the effect of evolution education on students' attitudes toward science. Data were gathered using Eraser's Test of Science Related Attitudes (TOSRA) and Bilica's Teaching Evolutionary Topics Survey (TETS). The research participants consisted of 60.3% of biology teachers currently teaching in Lutheran high schools in the United States, and 479 Lutheran high school biology students grades 9-12 in California, Nevada, and Arizona. In the first attitudinal study done specifically on parochial students, statistical analysis confirmed the reliability and validity of the TOSRA instrument for parochial school students. In a quasi-experimental design, analysis revealed that student science attitudes do change as a result of participating in a unit on evolution in the first year biology classes of secondary parochial schools. The emphasis placed by teachers on particular evolutionary topics was also analysed. It was found that all Lutheran high school biology teachers present evolution to some extent although not all topics are emphasized equally. The results also demonstrate that parochial school teachers have nearly the same emphasis placed on evolution as do public school teachers.

The National Science Board has declared that the production of citizens literate in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is at an all time low in the United States. Schools are not sufficiently preparing students to enter and complete postsecondary studies in STEM areas to ensure their global competitiveness and place the economy in the stable standing experienced over the decades The U.S. has been known for its innovation; however, in the changing global climate, countries like India and China are out-producing, out-graduating and becoming the technological centres of the 21st Century. Thirty-five years ago, several organizations tried to address similar issues while focusing on minorities. Nevertheless, these efforts had not seemed to take a stronghold in school districts until recently, and even then, the question remains - What impact is the program having on eliminating the achievement gap so that all students are prepared to enter postsecondary studies in STEM?This research attempts to examine a precollege engineering program’s impact on minority students’ attitudes and achievement in mathematics and science. The program is called SECME, formerly the Southeastern Consortium for Minorities in Engineering. The study used a research framework for curriculum evaluation to assess the presence and participation of middle school minority students in a precollege engineering program through an analysis of the intent of the program, its implementation and the actual program outcomes. The research incorporated a prepost design with triangulation of methods through the use of pre- and posttest surveys using the modified Test of Science Related Attitudes (TOSRA) and Test of Mathematics Related Attitudes (TOMRA), researcher-developed questionnaires, and observations. Academic achievement was determined by student performance on the state administered Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT).The setting of the study took place in an urban public school district, the fourth largest in the nation, located in the southeast section of the United States of America (USA). In this district, the minority group actually represented the majority of the district population; a demographic trend that is expected to be realised nationally in the next 50 years. The study took place over a two-year period and only sampled students from heterogeneously-mixed or co-educational middle school environments. However, due to problems with collecting post-test data, only the second year of the data are reported in this thesis. The participants in this study were from 10 of the 54 middle schools in the district. In-depth case studies were conducted with three of the schools which were purposefully selected for their diverse representations of student populations across the district.The modified TOSRA and TOMRA were used, along with researcher developed questionnaires, to analyse SECME and non-SECME middle grades students’ attitudes towards science and mathematics, respectively. The criterion-referenced test that held schools accountable for instruction, the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) Sunshine State Standards (SSS), along with the FCAT Norm-Referenced Test (NRT) were used to ascertain and compare student achievement in science and mathematics, respectively. The FCAT SSS assesses the state standards that are expected to be taught in Florida science classrooms, and the FCAT NRT compares Florida students with their peers nationally. An analysis of these data indicated that a comparison in science achievement and attitudes to science between ethnicities for SECME and non-SECME students indicated no significant difference on the subscale posttest attitudinal scores. There were, however, significant differences for the non-SECME students between ethnicities and their scores on the FCAT SSS, in particular between White American and African American and between Others and African American students.In mathematics, there was a significant difference with respect to the FCAT SSS Mathematics and Achievement Levels, in favour of non-SECME students. Of note, there were no significant differences in the NRT Mathematics percentile and posttest attitudinal scores of the TOMRA for SECME and non-SECME males. This is of particular interest because the NRT compares students nationally as opposed to the FCAT SSS that assesses the student’s knowledge solely of the state’s curriculum content. Overall analysis, also indicated no statistically significant differences between ethnicities for the SECME students on the TOMRA scales or the Mathematics Achievement tests as opposed to the non-SECME students that demonstrated a statistically significant difference between ethnicities. This finding appears to be an indication that the achievement gap across ethnicities in this sample of SECME students did not exist. Another finding of interest was that Adoption of Scientific Attitude is a significant, independent predictor of FCAT Mathematics Achievement Level, and for SECME students, Enjoyment of Mathematics Lessons correlated positively with FCAT SSS Mathematics scores and FCAT NRT Mathematics percentile scores.The implementation of the program seems to be addressing the needs of minority participation with respect to Hispanic males, but insufficiently for the African American males and females. This finding was evident with the number of respondents on the surveys and participation in SECME program offerings and in the case studies. Qualitative data revealed that there is a lack of African American male coordinators and role models for the students participating in the SECME program which could result in fewer numbers of these students participating in events. There was also commentary that transportation was an issue for these students which may have contributed to the low participation of these students in Saturday seminars.A more extensive representation of the SECME program’s achieved curriculum would have been better analysed without certain limitations to the study. One such limitation was the fact that the FCAT SSS and NRT for science were only administered in the middle school years during grade 8. This limited the study sample for the quantitative data collection. Additionally, a longitudinal study of these same students as they move through senior high school, college, and eventually careers, should be forefront for further research to assess the efficacy of this and any other precollege engineering program.

This study consolidates a long tradition of research involving the development/adaptation and validation of instruments assessing students' perceptions of psychosocial aspects of their classroom learning environments, and their use in investigating both the effects of classroom environment on student outcomes and determinants of classroom environment. The present study is distinctive, however, in that it is one of the few such studies conducted in Nigeria and the first classroom environment study conduced specificallly in agricultural science classrooms.The sample consisted of 1 175 students in 50 classes in 20 schools in eight states and the Federal Capital Territory. Both the individual student and the class mean were used as units of statistical analysis. The classroom environment instrument assessed negotiation, autonomy, student centredness, investigation and differentiation, and the student outcomes were attitudes, enquiry skills and practical performance.Each classroom environment scale was found to have satisfactory internal consistency reliability and discriminant validity and to differentiate between the perceptions of students in different classrooms. Satistically significant associations were found between classroom environment and the two student outcomes of attitudes and enquiry skills, but not for practical performance. When classroom environment dimensions were used as dependant variables, significant differences were found between schools with different school-level environments and between schools in forest and savanna regions.

Since its creation in 1998, the Implicit Association Test (IAT) has become a commonly used measure in social psychology and related fields of research. Studies of the cognitive processes involved in the IAT are necessary to establish the validity of this measure and to suggest further refinements to its use and interpretation. The current thesis used ERPs to study cognitive processes associated with the IAT. The first experiment found significant differences in P300 amplitude in the Congruent and Incongruent conditions, which were interpreted as a reflection of greater equivocation in the Incongruent condition. The second experiment tested the task-set switching account of the IAT in much greater detail by analyzing each trial type separately. In the Congruent condition, all trial types elicited the same amplitude P300. Local probability, and the consequent checking and updating of working memory, was thought to be responsible for differences between trials of the Incongruent condition that required or did not require a task switch. The final experiment examined the role of working memory in the IAT by introducing obtrusive and irrelevant auditory stimuli. The results of Experiment 3 indicated that the introduction of an obtrusive and irrelevant auditory increment deviant has little overall effect on the IAT, and a similar effect on switch and no-switch trials within the Incongruent condition. This could have been because both the Congruent and Incongruent conditions of the IAT make such extensive demands on central processing resources that few are available to allow for the switching of attention, or it is possible that the IAT does not require significant updating of working memory. The usefulness of ERPs in the study of the IAT effect is demonstrated by the current research. In particular, the finding that behavioural results were not always consistent with the ERP results demonstrates that electrophysiological measures can complement traditional behavioural measures.

This study consolidates a long tradition of research involving the development/adaptation and validation of instruments assessing students' perceptions of psychosocial aspects of their classroom learning environments, and their use in investigating both the effects of classroom environment on student outcomes and determinants of classroom environment. The present study is distinctive, however, in that it is one of the few such studies conducted in Nigeria and the first classroom environment study conduced specificallly in agricultural science classrooms.The sample consisted of 1 175 students in 50 classes in 20 schools in eight states and the Federal Capital Territory. Both the individual student and the class mean were used as units of statistical analysis. The classroom environment instrument assessed negotiation, autonomy, student centredness, investigation and differentiation, and the student outcomes were attitudes, enquiry skills and practical performance.Each classroom environment scale was found to have satisfactory internal consistency reliability and discriminant validity and to differentiate between the perceptions of students in different classrooms. Satistically significant associations were found between classroom environment and the two student outcomes of attitudes and enquiry skills, but not for practical performance. When classroom environment dimensions were used as dependant variables, significant differences were found between schools with different school-level environments and between schools in forest and savanna regions.

The purpose of this study was to compare the achievement and test anxiety level of students taking a conventional paper-and-pencil science test comprising multiple-choice questions, and a computer-based version of the same test. The study assessed the equivalence of the computer-based and paper-and-pencil tests in terms of achievement scores and item characteristics, explored the relationship between computer anxiety and previous computer experience, and investigated the affective impact of computerized testing on the students. A 2 X 2 (mode of test administration by gender) factorial design was used. A sample of 54 male and 51 female Grade 10 students participated in the study. Subjects were blocked by gender and their scores on a previous school-based science exam. They were then randomly assigned to take either the computer-based test or the paper-and-pencil test, both versions of which were identical in length, item content and sequence. Three days before the test, all students were given the "Attitude questionnaire" which included pre-measures of test and computer anxiety. Immediately after taking the test, students in the computer-based group completed the "Survey of attitudes towards testing by computers" questionnaire which assessed their previous computer experience, their test anxiety and computer anxiety level while taking the test, and their reactions towards computer-based testing. Students in the paper-and-pencil test group answered the "Survey of attitudes towards testing" questionnaire which measured their test anxiety level while they were taking the paper-and-pencil test. The results indicate that the mean achievement score on the science test was significantly higher for the group taking the computer-based test. No significant difference in mean scores between sexes was observed; there was also no interaction effect between mode of test administration and gender. The test anxiety level was not significantly different between the groups taking the two versions of the test. A significant relationship existed between students' prior computer experience and their computer anxiety before taking the test. However, there was no significant relationship between previous computer experience and the computer anxiety evoked as a result of taking the test on the computer. Hence, the change in computer anxiety due to taking the test was not explained by computer experience. Of the students who took the computer-based test, 71.2 % said that if given a choice, they would prefer to take the test on a computer. Students indicated that they found the test easier, more convenient to answer because they did not have to write, erase mistakes or fill in bubbles on a scannable sheet, and faster to take when compared to a paper-and-pencil test. Negative responses to the computer-based test included the difficulty involved in reviewing and changing answers, having to type and use a keyboard, fear of the computer making mistakes, and a feeling of uneasiness because the medium of test presentation was unconventional. Students taking the computer-based test were more willing to guess on an item, and tended to avoid the option "I don't know." It is concluded that the computer-based and the paper-and-pencil tests were not equivalent in terms of achievement scores. Modifications in the way test items are presented on a computer-based test may change the strategies with which students approach the items. Extraneous variables incidental to the computer administration such as the inclination to guess on a question, the ease of getting cues from other questions, differences in test-taking flexibility, familiarity with computers, and attitudes towards computers may change the test-taking behaviour to the extent that a student's performance on a computer-based test and paper-and-pencil test may not be the same. Also, if the tasks involved in taking a test on a computer are kept simple enough, prior computer experience has little impact on the anxiety evoked in a student taking the test, and even test-takers with minimal computer experience will not be disadvantaged by having to use an unfamiliar machine.<br>Education, Faculty of<br>Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of<br>Graduate

The purpose of this study is to analyse the differences between upper-stream, lower-stream and mixed-ability mathematics classes in terms of student perceptions of their classroom learning environment. Both quantitative and qualitative data has been collected from students while qualitative data only was collected from pre-service teachers, practising teachers and parents. The sample for the quantitative data collection was comprised of 581 Year 9 and 10 students in 36 different classes taught by 28 different teachers in 7 schools covering 4 states of Australia. All of the schools are private schools and part of the Seventh-day Adventist school system. The questionnaire used an actual and preferred form of the 56 item version of the What is Happening in the Classroom? (WIHIC) survey along with 10 questions from the Test of Science Related Attitudes (TOSRA) modified for mathematics classrooms. For the qualitative data collection 40 interviews and 8 focus groups were conducted. Apart from comparing upper and lower-streams, other variables examined were: actual and preferred perceptions of the classroom learning environment, Year 9 with Year 10, males with females, English speakers with second language students, and attitudes with perceptions of learning environments. The most significant finding of the study was not only that lower-stream students have a more negative perception of their classroom learning environment, but that they seek less change. This negative perception is seen to be worse in Year 10 than Year 9, particularly in the areas of teacher support and task orientation. This study found a positive correlation between attitude and perceptions of classroom learning environment. This study also found a tacit acceptance of streaming as a practice by most participants in the study.

This study investigated sex, age, and ethnicity as determinants of classroom environment, as well as the effects of classroom environment on student attitudes at an urban two-year or junior college in Florida, USA. The sample consisted of 544 students in 29 classes that were randomly chosen.The Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES) was used to assess the way in which students perceived their classroom environment, whereas a modified version of the Enjoyment of Science Lessons scale from the Test of Science-Related Attitudes (TOSRA) was used to assess students’ attitudes toward the subject taught in the classes surveyed. Data analyses supported the CLES’s factorial validity, internal consistency reliability, and its ability to differentiate between classrooms when used with adult learners in a post-secondary setting. Similarly, results from analyses conducted on the revised TOSRA scale revealed satisfactory internal consistency reliability.A three-way MANOVA for sex, age and ethnic differences in classroom environment perceptions and enjoyment revealed that: females enjoyed their classes significantly more than did males; students 25 years and older had higher Shared Control and Enjoyment scores, but lower Student Negotiation scores, than did students younger than 25 years; and there were no significant differences between African-Americans and students of other ethnicities for any learning environment scale or for enjoyment. A large effect size of 0.88 standard deviations, suggesting an educationally important sex difference, was found for the attitude scale. However, effect sizes of modest magnitude, ranging from 0.21 to 0.29 standard deviations, were found for age difference.Past research was replicated in that positive and statistically significant bivariate and multivariate associations were found between students’ enjoyment of classes and their perceptions of classroom learning environment. In particular, students enjoyed their classes more when there was a greater emphasis on Shared Control and Student Negotiation. In other words, students responded more positively when they perceived that they had a role to play in the design and management of the learning environment, as well as when opportunities existed for them to explore among their peers the viability of newly developing ideas.Overall, my results suggest that the CLES and the TOSRA are valid and reliable instruments that researchers can use with confidence to measure adult students’ perceptions of learning environment and attitudes, respectively, in the two-year college setting. While no significant sex difference was found for any learning environment scale, females enjoyed their classrooms more than did males. Relative to younger students, older students had higher Student Negotiation and Enjoyment scores. A possible implication is that teachers should make classrooms more appealing and enjoyable to males, while making younger adults feel a greater sense of inclusion in their classrooms.