This research is comprised of a three-part examination of equity, access, achievement, and learning in precollege physics. The first study examined teacher-level and school-level predictors of student performance in physics, with a focus on isolated teachers in New York during the 2016-17 academic year. Results indicated 40% of physics teachers…

There is a need for science education research that explores community college student, instructor, and course characteristics that influence student interest and motivation to study science. Increasing student enrollment and persistence in STEM is a national concern. Nearly half of all college graduates have passed through a community college at…

Achievement goal theory distinguishes between mastery goals (the goals of developing competence) and performance goals (the goals of demonstrating competence) [Ames [1992] "Journal of Educational Psychology" 84: 261-271]. In this study, we employed this theory aiming to better understand why adolescents' motivation to learn science…

Master's education is the largest segment of graduate education in the United States yet there is a paucity of research about how master's students experience their programs. Empirical research on student engagement--defined as the time and effort students devote to activities that are linked to educational outcomes and what institutions do to…

The federal government has repeatedly denied the introduction of creationism into public schools as it is a direct violation of the separation of church and state. Little is known about those who would opt to eliminate evolution in scientific curriculum altogether. The authors examined this more extreme anti-evolution perspective in a nationally…

The Environmental Inventory was used to measure environmental values classified as follows: aesthetic, economic, political, social, theoretical, and religious. Findings indicate that these values can be validly measured in junior and senior high school and are affected by grade level (age) and amount of science instruction experienced, but not by…