Gender equity is a critical agenda for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education to increase women involvement in the STEM pathway. Our study is about the impact of a project in which all-girl teams participated to an educational robotics program. We used quantitative and qualitative data to determine the impact and…

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is widely visible in education and workforce policies and discussions in the United States (US). However, there is a lack of consensus on what is considered a STEM career. In addition, little is known about how K-12 teachers conceptualize STEM careers and how this information is portrayed to…

The question of whether single-sex or co-ed schooling has any impact on students' attitudes toward science is highly contested and warrants research from all corners of the world. This study adds to our current knowledge by investigating different attitudinal indices of Grade 9 science students (N = 356, M[subscript age] = 14.5 years) in…

This article reports findings from a study of an integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education program on student interest and awareness in science and engineering. The analysis features grade 3-5 students from a high-poverty, urban school system in the Mid-Atlantic region. Through the quantitative analysis of…

Informal Science Education (ISE) programs have been increasing in popularity in recent years. The National Research Council has laid out six strands that ISE programs should try to address, including increasing interest, knowledge, and allowing participants to engage in scientific activities. Past research suggests that informal settings can…

Of great importance for achieving science education reform may be teachers' interest in science and enjoyment of science. This study explores the motivational qualities (rated for "interest," "fun," and "learning" value) of different levels of inquiry of hands-on class activities. The participants, 53 preservice teachers in two sections of a…

This study was designed to examine the impact of participating in an after-school robotics competition on high school students' attitudes toward science. Specifically, this study used the Test of Science-Related Attitude to measure students' social implications of science, normality of scientists, attitude toward scientific inquiry, adoption of…

Examines specific science-related attitudes, informal science-related experiences, future interest in science, and gender of young high-ability students (n=111) who completed the Test of Science Related Attitudes (TOSRA), the Science Experience Survey (SES), and the Course Selection Sheet (CSS). Develops two regression models to predict the number…

Evaluates the attitudes of Chinese boys and girls toward selected science topics. Analysis indicates that male and female Chinese students differed in their response patterns. Females selected more intense responses (strongly agree as opposed to agree, strongly disagree as opposed to disagree). Also, females selected responses suggesting that they…

Significant positive Pearson correlation coefficients were found for students'(N=91) interest in and attitudes toward science (0.58), interest in science and curiosity (0.47), and attitudes toward science and curiosity (0.40). Implications for science instruction and curriculum development are addressed. (JN)

Reports the results of a study to test an instrument which was designed to evaluate science interest. The instrument was fashioned from the scales of evaluation, potency, and activity from Osgood's Semantic Differential, and is presented in its entirety in the appendix. (JR)

Explores the development of science interest among high school students (N=147) chosen to attend 1978 North Carolina Junior Science and Humanities Symposium. A survey was used to determine the intensity, initiation, maintenance, derivation, and areas of interest. Seventy-four percent of the students claimed interest in science developed through…

Investigates the effects of verbal fluency and curiosity in deductive or inductive treatment on tests dealing with various species interactions. Reports that neither psychomoter or written curiosity measures interacted significantly with any of the treatments and that eighth graders with good verbal ability did significantly better in the…

Examines whether extracurricular science activities can reduce the decline in attitude toward school science in junior and senior high school levels. Concludes that students exposed to extracurricular science activities had a more positive attitude toward school science. Sixteen references are listed. (YP)