Though documented extensively using self-report measures - especially in post-secondary course contexts - the relations among students' interest, engagement, and academic achievement in high school science courses has been studied far less - especially when considering online versions of these courses. Self-reported interest collected at the…

A learner's perception of what a career in physics is like has a major impact on their decision to pursue physics professionally. This decision can also be influenced by a high school student's awareness of issues concerning diversity within the physics community. We surveyed current high school physics students and investigated their perception…

Students' strongly positive STEM interest and identity predict their future study and career choices in a STEM field. STEM education studies addressing multiple disciplines together are insufficient, as they have produced mixed findings and inadequate direction for advancing integrated STEM education. Self-determination theory (SDT) provides an…

This study aimed (i) to investigate how epistemic cognition in physics and metacognition, together with three dimensions of physics identity framework--recognition, physics self-efficacy, and interest-- predicted the overall physics identity of Turkish high school students and also (ii) to investigate gender differences in study constructs. A…

We investigated potential drivers of interest in topic-context and topic-activity combinations, as well as interactions between the different elements of situational interest in evolutionary biology. High school students (n = 982, age 17 years) were asked to rate their interest in two sets of items consisting of topic-context and topic-activity…

To investigate students' interest in physics, this study explores the impact of a brief teaching intervention on the increase of interest. The intervention focused on modern physics, specifically exploring Einstein's theory of gravity and the dual nature of light. A total of 325 Greek students participated in the survey, comprising 83 students in…

Science competitions target students interested in science with the aim to support them in developing science competence and career aspirations. Contrary to the common belief that science competition participants are exceptionally competent and strongly motivated to pursue a science career, there is growing evidence that the entirety of…

Unstructured out-of-school time (OST) science activities, such as reading a science book, watching a science television show, or researching on the internet about science, constitute a self-sustaining way for adolescents to engage in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Although it is suggested that long-term engagement in…

The call to increase student interest in science and related careers continues to receive national attention in the United States. While many current efforts have focused on infrastructure support and innovative pedagogies to better reach and engage students, research suggests that having a career role model can influence adolescents' interest in…

It is critical to develop students' science communication skills as they progress through their education. One way this goal can be accomplished is by integrating Flip into educational programs. Through Flip educators create prompts that students respond to in video form, which leads to deeper discussion on various topics. This brief will share an…

The purpose of this study was to analyse Italian high school and university students' attitudes towards physics using the Semiotic Cultural Psychological Theory (SCPT). In the SCPT framework, attitudes represent how individuals interpret their experience through the mediation of "generalized meaning" with which they are identified. A…

In trying to understand women's underrepresentation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics), most existing research focuses on one STEM-field or collapses across all STEM-fields. However, these fields differ vastly in female representation: women tend to be most strongly underrepresented in technological and computer science…

Students' interest is considered an important learning outcome, but it is also a relevant predictor for student learning, and future vocational choices. According to numerous studies, however, students' interest in STEM fields usually declines during the course of secondary education. From the perspective of science education, it is therefore…

Given the importance of fostering students' interest as a goal of physics education in meeting international science standards, empirical support for the theoretical description of the interest construct is essential. Empirical studies require the use of psychometrically sound measurement instruments. This study developed an instrument to measure…

The purpose of this study is to develop an up-to-date scale with high validity and reliability that could reveal the attitudes of high school students towards the physics course. In the process of developing the scale in question, three independent samples were formed, and the data obtained from a total of 1118 high school students were analyzed.…