In the last decades, secondary school students have indicated a low interest in science and a lack of awareness of authentic science careers that may impede their aspiration to work in science-related fields in future. To raise students' aspirations, several studies used context-based approaches, but few integrated career aspects into the school…

We present a quantitative study of responses to voluntary and anonymous surveys of undergraduate geology students enrolled at an English-medium, research university in South Africa. This research captured student interest in geology, their perceived level of understanding of key geological concepts, and the extent to which in-class and in-field…

This study belongs to assessment-related research and aimed to investigate Finnish high-school students' (n = 211) topic-specific epistemic beliefs about climate change and whether the Norwegian topic-specific epistemic beliefs questionnaire (TSEBQ) was also valid among Finnish respondents. Thus, research data were not only derived from the TSEBQ…

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…

In this article, we present kindergarten children's ideas about thermal phenomena before any educational intervention took place. In order to capture and account for the heterogeneity of the kindergarten group in this study, first teachers observed children's exploration behavior, task orientation, science interest, and language comprehension in…

A survey was carried out to investigate the knowledge, perception and interest of secondary school students about biotechnology. A total of 334 questionnaires were distributed to students in Senior Secondary 3 classes from eight secondary schools within Calabar metropolis. Data was collected and analyzed using SPSS version 7.5. Results revealed…

Background: Given the scarce but promising practice of educational interventions based on the creation of teaching materials by students, Bikos Project has been designed. Purpose: This article presents and assesses Bikos Project. Pairs of students cooperatively create video tutorials from questions that arise from their scientific curiosity. Four…

Guided by the theory of planned behavior and the science communication learning goals model, we conducted a survey to identify science communication training needs of university scientists (n = 266) at a large US land-grant university. Results indicate that most respondents believed scientists and media relations offices were most responsible for…

The informal learning environment of the Museum of Science Fiction's "Escape Velocity" event offers an integration of science and science fiction in a variety of activities, talks, events, exhibits, and panels to further attendees' interest. This study examined the efficacy of this event as a learning experience through a survey of…

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…

This study assessed the extent to which an adapted robotics programme fostered interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) among children with disabilities. This study included pre- and post-programme surveys. The sample involved 57 children with disabilities who participated in an adapted robotics programme held in a…

Undergraduate students have different attitudes toward the geosciences, but few studies have investigated these attitudes using Q methodology. Q methodology allows the researcher to identify more detailed reasons for students' attitudes toward geology than Likert methodology. Thus this study used Q methodology to investigate the attitudes that 15…

Citizen science projects are an increasingly popular way to engage the public in the process of science. However, few studies have evaluated learning outcomes beyond knowledge gains in formal learning settings with youth. This study evaluated the effects of a classroom-based citizen science project in which middle and high school students…

For decades science educators and educational institutions have been concerned with the status of science content being taught in K-12 schools and the delivery of the content. Thus, educational reformers in the United States continue to strive to solve the problem on how to best teach science for optimal success in learning. The constructivist…

Despite attempts to generate interest in science and technology careers, US students continue to show reduced interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) majors at the collegiate level. If girls are not engaged in STEM learning by the middle school level, studies show that they are even less likely to choose a science- or…