This meta-analysis explores the impact of informal science education experiences (such as after-school programs, enrichment activities, etc.) on students' attitudes towards, and interest in, STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). The research addresses two primary questions: (1) What is the overall effect size of…

Background: A controversy over the distinction between curiosity and situational interest has recently resurfaced. Nonetheless, empirical research comparing the two is noticeably lacking. Aims: We attempted to fill this gap and provide much-needed evidence of the distinction between curiosity and situational interest by examining the antecedents…

For students who face marginalization in a discipline, counterspaces are safe spaces of refuge that allow them to express their multiple identities and foster their sense of belonging. While prior qualitative work on counterspaces has highlighted how and why these spaces support marginalized students, there is little quantitative work that…

Open science movement gains attention since it might enable a second scientific revolution that fundamentally changes research methods and standards across science. However, the discussion topics towards opens science both from the academia and the environments outside the scholarly communication process have not been formally identified. This…

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…

Plant morphology courses develop students' understanding of plant structures and identification skills through mini-research activities. Effective species identification requires a literature review and the ability to find, evaluate, and use relevant information. This qualitative study examines students' information literacy skills in completing…

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…

This study examines the individual contextual characteristics of elementary school students in Korea during the phase of interest development, using Phase of Interest Development (PIT) and Process-Person-Context-Time (PPCT) models. Four students from each level of interest development were selected to participate, and they wrote photo-journals for…

Lab activities are a vital part of physics courses, providing students with hands-on experiences of classroom topics. At the same time, building self-efficacy is vital to student learning and retention; however, females traditionally have lower self-efficacy in STEM fields. This research explores the role of gender and the changes in interest in…

Declining interests in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) related careers are concerning at a time when the society is becoming more reliant on complex technologies and science. Our study examined the predictors of students' STEM career interests within cohort data (N = 601) collected from Finnish general upper secondary…

Contribution: This article applies science capital research to computing education in order to understand why students engage with a programme involving computing, and what they aspire to get out of their education. Background: Capital is a concept which has been used in educational research to study inequality, aspiration and achievement.…

High-impact practices (HIPs) are educational practices that foster student success. HIPs have not been widely used in cancer education and research despite the need for students to develop key transferable skills and cultivate social responsibility. Our study addresses this need by implementing four community-based learning HIPs within the context…

Science learning takes place not only in the context of science class but also after class. Students' internal forms of motivation, such as curiosity and interest, affect the entire science learning process in both in-class and after-class contexts. In addition, both stable existing learner characteristics, such as science curiosity and interest…

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…

The Chain Experiment competition has been held successfully for 6 years in Poland and is attracting growing interest. The competition provides participants with a task that involves designing and constructing a contraption that is an element in a chain of events that are based on various physical phenomena. The contraptions are then linked…