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Science learning self-efficacy could be regarded as a multi-factor belief which comprises different aspects such as cognitive skills, practical work, and everyday application. However, few studies have investigated the relationships among these factors that compose science learning self-efficacy. Also, culture may play an important role in explaining the relationships among these factors. Accordingly, this study aimed to investigate cultural differences in science learning self-efficacy and examine the relationships within factors constituting science learning self-efficacy by adopting a survey instrument for administration to students in the U.S. and Taiwan. A total of 218 university students (62.40% females) were surveyed in the U.S.A, and 224 university students (49.10% females) in Taiwan were also invited to take part in the study. The results of the structural equation modelling revealed cultural differences in the relationships among the factors of science learning self-efficacy. It was found that U.S. students’ confidence in their ability to employ higher-order cognitive skills tended to promote their confidence in their ability to accomplish practical work, strengthening their academic self-efficacy. However, the aforementioned mediation was not found for the Taiwanese participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting student engagement in learning activities and tasks has been a pivotal issue and goal of science education. Relevant literature has not yet addressed the underlying associations among students' self-efficacy and engagement in science learning from a multi-dimensional perspective. Thus, this study aimed to examine the structural relationships between the two constructs through the structural equation modelling technique to differentiate the predictive powers of multi-faceted self-efficacy on various forms of engagement. A total of 478 Taiwanese senior high school students were invited to answer two survey instruments concerning self-efficacy and engagement in science learning, respectively. The main findings indicate that, first, the 'Science Learning Engagement Instrument' was proven to be valid and reliable to assess the students' five distinct forms of engagement, including Cognitive, Behavioral, Emotional, Social, and Agentic engagement. It seems that the students had less agentic engagement experiences compared to the other forms of learning engagement. Moreover, this study further identified the multifaceted effects of self-efficacy on the manifold aspects of learning engagement in the literature. Overall, the path analysis results provide evidence that, in order to deeply engage learners in science learning, promoting their science learning self-efficacy from various aspects is of great importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite the growing body of research on self-efficacy, previous studies have failed to clarify exactly how it is constructed. Meanwhile, the literature indicates that, in Taiwan, junior high school students tend to show lower self-efficacy in learning science compared with elementary and senior high school students. Purpose: This study aimed to develop a mediational model providing the factors accounting for Taiwanese junior high school adolescents' science learning self-efficacy (SLSE), especially from the perspectives of both interpersonal and intrapersonal factors. Design: We therefore proposed a mediational model to delineate the relationships among students' perceived responses to capitalization attempts - science learning (PRCA-SL), science learning hardiness (SLH) and SLSE by conducting structural equation modeling (SEM). Sample: A total of 1,170 junior high school students in Taiwan were invited to take part in the study. Results: The results confirmed our hypothesis that students' PRCA-SL fostered their science learning hardiness, which in turn contributed to their science learning self-efficacy. Conclusions: The findings confirmed the mediational model wherein science learning hardiness completely mediated the relationship between PRCA-SL and science learning self-efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Past studies have shown significant associations between students’ conceptions of learning science and their science learning self-efficacy. However, in most of the studies, students’ science learning self-efficacy has often been measured by a singular scale. Purpose: Extending the findings of these studies, the present study adopted a multi-dimensional instrument to assess Taiwanese high school students’ science learning self-efficacy and investigate the relationships with their conceptions of learning science. Sample: A total of 488 Taiwanese high school students (265 male and 223 female) were invited to participate in this survey. Design and method: All the participants responded to the Conceptions of Learning Science (COLS) questionnaire regarding ‘Memorizing’, ‘Testing’, ‘Calculating and practicing’, ‘Increase of knowledge’, ‘Applying’ and ‘Understanding and seeing in a new way’ and the Science Learning Self-Efficacy (SLSE) instrument, including ‘Conceptual understanding’, ‘Higher-Order cognitive skills’, ‘Practical work’, ‘Everyday application’ and ‘Science communication’. Results: The path analysis results derived from the structural equation modeling method indicated that, of all five SLSE dimensions, the ‘Understanding and seeing in a new way’ COLS displayed as a positive predictor, while the ‘Testing’ COLS was a significant negative predictor. The ‘Applying’ COLS item can only positively contribute to the SLSE dimensions of ‘Higher-Order thinking skills’, ‘Everyday application’ and ‘Science Communication’. Conclusions: In general, students in strong agreement with learning science as understanding and seeing in a new way or the application of learned scientific knowledge are prone to possess higher confidence in learning science. However, students who consider learning science in terms of preparing for tests and examinations tend to hold lower science learning self-efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the scarcity of cross-cultural comparative studies in exploring students' self-efficacy in science learning, this study attempted to develop a multi-dimensional science learning self-efficacy (SLSE) instrument to measure 316 Singaporean and 303 Taiwanese eighth graders' SLSE and further to examine the differences between the two student groups. Moreover, within-culture comparisons were made in terms of gender. The results showed that, first, the SLSE instrument was valid and reliable for measuring the Singaporean and Taiwanese students' SLSE. Second, through a two-way multivariate analysis of variance analysis (nationality by gender), the main result indicated that the SLSE held by the Singaporean eighth graders was significantly higher than that of their Taiwanese counterparts in all dimensions, including ‘conceptual understanding and higher-order cognitive skills’, ‘practical work (PW)’, ‘everyday application’, and ‘science communication’. In addition, the within-culture gender comparisons indicated that the male Singaporean students tended to possess higher SLSE than the female students did in all SLSE dimensions except for the ‘PW’ dimension. However, no gender differences were found in the Taiwanese sample. The findings unraveled in this study were interpreted from a socio-cultural perspective in terms of the curriculum differences, societal expectations of science education, and educational policies in Singapore and Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The aim of this study was to develop an instrument to measure upper-level Chinese elementary students' attitudes towards science by addressing problems with existing ones, as highlighted in the literature. The theoretical framework was drawn from the ABC model, which defines attitudes towards science as consisting of affective, behavioural, and cognitive domains in the study. Instrument development was performed through expert review, small-scale pilot tests and student interviews, large-scale field tests and validation. Factor analysis and Rasch analysis provided reliability and validity evidence. According to the results of the first round of the field test, changes were made to the items and the response category in the second round of the development procedure. The final instrument demonstrated good psychometric properties and consisted of four dimensions: enjoyment of science learning, self-efficacy in science learning, value of science learning and intention to learn and do science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting science, math, engineering, and technology (STEM) skills for young children provides foundation for and interest in later STEM learning, making early childhood an important time to develop these competencies. Young children also spend increasing amounts of time with media, and thus it is important to understand if children are accessing STEM content and what factors may determine this access. The current survey study of parents of three- to seven-year olds assesses how parents' science self-efficacy and parents' scientific literacy relate to children's STEM media use. Results demonstrate positive relations between parent self-efficacy and child STEM media use (aligned with self-efficacy theory), but results also demonstrate no significant relation between parent scientific literacy and child STEM media use. We conclude that parent self-efficacy is an important social susceptibility for young children's STEM media use and that future research should continue exploring potential interventions for promoting parents' self-efficacy related to teaching their children science. Impact Summary: Prior State of Knowledge: Little research has examined the relations between parents' perceived beliefs that they can teach their children science and children's engagement with STEM media. Children spend increasing time with media; thus, we should understand how to leverage this time for learning. Novel Contributions: The current study demonstrates that parents' beliefs that they can teach their children science are positively associated with children's STEM media use. However, parents' scientific literacy was not associated with children's STEM media use. Practical Implications: To get children to use more STEM media, interventions should focus on parents' beliefs that they can teach their children STEM concepts, such as science. Parents influence children's media use, and intervening with parents can help shape children's media diets in positive ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) attitudes and self-efficacy of secondary students identifying as Black South African, multi-racial or Afrikaans South African, or Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe nationals who participated in a non-formal STEM education camp programme. Using Bandura's social cognitive theory for self-efficacy and attitude, this study sought to document participants' STEM self-efficacy and attitudinal factors related to the camp experience. Survey data were collected before and after participants' participation in the camp and a delayed post-measurement after 18 months of exposure. Results indicated a significant increase in the self-efficacy concept of conceptual understanding over time between the pre-test and delayed post-test; however, there were no indicated differences over time for the other self-efficacy constructs of Higher Order Cognitive Skills, Practical Work, Everyday Application and Science Communication. Analyses of the STEM attitude constructs showed differences between the Twenty-first Century Skills (increase over time from pre-test to delayed post-test) and Your Future (decrease over time from pre-test to delayed post-test) constructs with no differences for Mathematics, Science and Engineering and Technology. Furthermore, there were no detected differences of self-efficacy and attitudes from pre-test to post-test. These findings suggest that participating in a singular, non-formal STEM learning event may not be sufficient to document changes in self-efficacy and attitudes from the pre- to post-learning experience; however, the experience could have been one of many learning events that may have provided an opportunity for supporting South African students' self-efficacy and attitude growth, especially in Conceptual Understanding and Twenty-first Century Skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This exploratory study aimed to assess the strength of primary school students' (aged 11–12 years old) Science Self-Efficacy (SSE) beliefs, identify emanating sources, and investigate any gender-related differences. School SSE is defined here as perceived capacity to complete learning outcomes from the upper Irish primary science curriculum. The strengths and sources of participants' school SSE beliefs were assessed quantitatively (N = 260) using the Irish Science Self-Efficacy Children's Questionnaire (IS-SEC-Q). Twenty-five students were interviewed to further explore the origins of their SSE, and their perception of science in the classroom. Results indicated that students' self-efficacy to perform scientific skills was lower than their self-efficacy to answer questions. Mastery experience was found to be the strongest predictor of self-efficacy in science skills, corroborating findings from other educational contexts. However, students report that they seldom engage in hands-on science during school, suggesting that Irish classrooms still lack student-led investigations. Gender-related results are also highlighted. This work serves as the first report of students' school SSE beliefs in Ireland, expands upon existing literature surrounding the SSE beliefs of pre-adolescent students, and discusses implications for classroom practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students' perceptions of learning environment is known as the most frequent construct related to their learning outcomes. Students' motivation in learning science (i.e. personal mastery goals orientation, self-efficacy, and task-value) and self-regulation are among the outcome variables that are affected by their perceptions of science learning environment (i.e. perceptions of their parents, school, and science teacher's mastery goals emphases, and peers' mastery goals orientation). The purpose of the current study was to investigate the relations between environmental factors of students' perceptions of their parents, school, and science teacher's mastery goals emphases, peers' mastery goals orientation, and the internal constructs of students' motivational beliefs and self-regulation in science learning. Participants were 475 Iranian students at lower secondary schools. A cross-sectional and correlational research design was employed in this study. Data were collected using a questionnaire consisted of three measures of perceptions of science learning environment, motivation, and self-regulation, which the participants were asked to complete. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and a bootstrap procedure were used to estimate the variables' direct and mediated relationships. Results revealed that perceived peers' mastery goals orientation and perceived parents' mastery goals emphasis positively predicted personal mastery goals orientation. In addition, the results indicated that perceived teacher's mastery goals emphasis positively predicted task-value. Moreover, task-value and self-efficacy were found to have a significant direct effect on self-regulation. These findings provide novel insight into the role of environmental factors in students' motivation and self-regulation in science learning. In particular, science teachers are suggested to focus on encouraging students to adopt higher levels of mastery goals orientation in science learning activities, with regards to the significant mediating role of personal mastery goals orientation between perceptions of science learning environment and other motivational beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of self-regulated learning (SRL) on students' performance in various subjects has been extensively studied. However, there has been limited research on how task-specific SRL skills and self-reported SRL skills affect students' learning outcomes in chemistry classes at senior secondary schools. To address this gap, we examined the task-specific SRL skills, self-reported SRL skills, and learning outcomes of a group of Grade 10 students (n = 170) studying the topic: Changes of Charged Electrolyte Solutions. Data was collected through a self-report SRL skills survey, a task-specific SRL skills survey, and an achievement test, and a path analysis was conducted to explore the relationship and effects between SRL skills and learning outcomes. Our findings revealed a direct relationship between students' task-specific SRL skills and their chemistry achievement. The clustering analysis showed that a significant number of students had SRL skills at the middle level in chemistry learning. Additionally, students with different SRL levels performed differently at specific SRL phases and strategies. These findings have important implications for teaching strategies aimed at promoting students' SRL and for the assessment of SRL in science education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of students' epistemic understanding of science in mediating their engagement in learning activities and tasks has been highlighted in the literature. Although researchers recognize epistemic knowledge of science as a multi-faceted framework, the so-called person-centered approach that aims to generate meaningful and distinct profiles has not been widely adopted. The purpose of this study was to explore Taiwanese high school students' epistemic knowledge profiles and learning engagements in science. 631 high school students from six senior high schools in Taiwan were invited to participate in the study. There were 375 males and 256 females. The age of these students ranged from 15 to 18 years, with an average age of 16.84. The students' epistemic knowledge profiles were surveyed and categorized in terms of three critical dimensions of epistemic understanding of scientific knowledge (Uncertainty of Knowledge, Development of Knowledge, and Purpose of Knowledge). Besides, five forms of science learning engagement (Cognitive, Behavioral, Emotional, Social, and Agentic engagement) were evaluated and then compared based on the classified epistemic knowledge profiles. Three epistemic profiles, namely Highly uncertain yet low purpose, Informed yet highly certain, and Uninformed, were identified. Furthermore, the students of the Informed yet highly certain profile had the highest scores on all the five forms of engagement. Yet, the students in the Highly uncertain yet low purpose and Uninformed profiles did not show significant differences in terms of Behavioral, Agentic, Emotional, or Social engagement. The findings suggest that none of the students in any profiles demonstrated fully sophisticated epistemic understanding of scientific knowledge, and this had different effects on their multifaceted science learning engagement. Moreover, the students demonstrated highly uncertain orientation toward scientific knowledge which may hinder their science learning engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-efficacy and achievement goals represent two extensively researched motivational factors in education and have been related to numerous academic outcomes. However, little is known about how they relate to different types of problem-solving. Furthermore, while prior work has found these motivational factors are related, less work has examined them over time, during learning, and controlling for prior knowledge. The current study investigated the relations between these motivational constructs and procedural and conceptual problem-solving in middle school science. Sixth-grade science students' self-efficacy and achievement goals were surveyed along with procedural and conceptual problem-solving before and after instruction. Results revealed students' self-efficacy was positively correlated with both procedural and conceptual posttest performance. However, controlling for prior knowledge, self-efficacy only predicted conceptual performance. No relations were found between achievement goals and procedural or conceptual problem-solving. Additionally, results found that changes in mastery-approach goals were positively related to changes in self-efficacy beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By measuring students' attitudes towards science using Rasch modelling, the present study investigated the factors related to elementary students' attitudes toward science at both the individual- and school- levels using HLM in China, where students are often reported to have high achievement in science with below-average attitudes towards the subject. While little has been explored of the related field, it is a phenomenon worth noticing. By analysing a sample of over 6000 fifth graders from 66 schools, we found that most variance in student attitudes towards science occurred at the student level, but variations among schools were also significant. At the student level, gender, socioeconomic status, and teacher-student relationship were significantly associated to attitudes toward science. Male students, who have better socioeconomic status and perceive better teacher-student relationships, adopt more positive attitudes towards science. At the school level, the factors explored did not show significant correlation with students' attitudes towards science. The findings are discussed, and implications for future research and science teaching have been provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past studies have shown that students' conceptions of learning science (CLS) are related to their approaches to learning science (ALS) and to their self-efficacy for learning science (SELS), but it has not yet been studied whether parents' CLS play a role in children's ALS and SELS. This research investigated 472 pairs of Chinese high school students and their parents to identify the new predictive relationships among parents' CLS and students' ALS and SELS. In this study parents' CLS was divided into reproductive and constructivist conceptions. Students' ALS consisted of four factors, whereas SELS only extracted one factor. We found that (1) parents' constructivist CLS was positively associated with students' deep approaches; (2) parental reproductive CLS could positively predict students' surface strategies, while it was likely that the more constructive conceptions that parents held, the less their children would adopt surface strategies; (3) parental constructivist and reproductive CLS were both significant positive predictors of students' surface motive; and (4) parental CLS could make an indirect prediction through students' ALS. The findings indicate that parents should be cautious about the CLS they are portraying in their words and deeds to help foster their children's deep learning motive and strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Africa lags behind in terms of competing globally in science and technology. Thus, the purpose of the study was to investigate teacher factors that influenced learners' motivation to learn science in a secondary school. The study also aimed to determine whether significant differences in motivation regarding teacher influence existed among age groups and genders. The research was conducted in a public secondary school in Gauteng province, South Africa with 462 learners from Grade 8 to Grade 11. Using a quantitative approach, the learners completed a questionnaire that involved several motivation constructs (mastery and performance goal oriented). The study identified some problems that could impact on learner motivation and also found that some significant differences existed among different grades and genders. A number of recommendations were made regarding the teacher's role in motivating science learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we present a new instrument, the Participation and Engagement Scale (PES), for the evaluation of the students' involvement in STEM-oriented activities. The instrument was administered to about 1000 secondary school students who participated in the activities of the Italian Piano Nazionale Lauree Scientifiche in Biology, Chemistry and Physics. The activities were carried out in a remote modality due to the COVID-19 restrictions. Through an exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, it was possible to validate a two-factor structure of the instrument: satisfaction towards the activities and value of the activities. The proposed factor structure shows a good model fit, with each of the obtained scales displaying excellent reliability. Construct-related validation evidence was obtained through the Rasch analysis, which allowed further psychometric improvement of the instrument. Convergent validation evidence was established through a correlation with the academic motivation and perceived difficulties scales. Using the proposed instrument, we found no statistically significant relationships between engagement, the different types of science activities attended, and the intention to enrol in a STEM course. Implications of the study for the evaluation of public understanding of science activities in both remote and in-presence modalities are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to examine the moderating effect of teacher feedback on the associations among inquiry-based science teaching and learning practices and students' science-related attitudes and beliefs. The data set included 9, 841 15-year-old students from four Chinese provinces (Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Guangdong) who took part in the sixth cycle of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Multiple regression analyses revealed a significant negative association between inquiry-based science practices and students' epistemological beliefs about science, but the teacher feedback could significantly and positively moderate this association. The results also showed that inquiry-based science practices had significant positive relationships with students' interest in and enjoyment of science, and science self-efficacy. Moreover, teacher feedback was significantly and positively associated with students' epistemological beliefs, interest in and enjoyment of science throughout the inquiry process. This study sheds light on the optimal implementation of inquiry-based practices, especially towards improving students' science-related attitudes and beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Findings: This study employed data from the TIMSS 2015 survey to investigate whether parental educational involvement behaviour in early childhood and parental attitudes towards education can enhance children's mathematics achievement in the 4th grade via influencing children's learning interests. Samples from Singapore (N=6237) and Hong Kong (N=3316), which share similar cultural backgrounds, and students demonstrating outstanding mathematical performance were selected to examine whether a hypothesized model fit the data. The overall model fit was found good. As hypothesized, after controlling for gender, immigration status, and family learning resources variables, both parental involvement in learning activities and parental attitudes towards education had positive significant effects on children's mathematics achievement in the 4th grade. However, a variation was also discovered in terms of the influences of parental attitudes in the two samples. Practice or Policy: The current findings shed light on the importance of parents' attitudes on education and their involvement in their children's mathematics activities during early childhood. The importance of family education should be communicated thoroughly to the public, and the government should provide more support for parents to involve more in early learning activities at home. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation and interest affect students' learning especially in Physics, a subject learners perceive as abstract. The present study was guided by three objectives: (a) to adapt and validate the Science Motivation Questionnaire (SMQ-II) for the Ugandan context; (b) to examine whether there are significant differences in motivation for learning Physics with respect to students' gender; and (c) to establish the extent to which students' interest predicts their motivation to learn Physics. The sample comprised 374 randomly selected students from five schools in central Uganda who responded to anonymous questionnaires that included scales from the SMQ-II and the Individual Interest Questionnaire. Data were analysed using confirmatory factor analyses, t-tests and structural equation modelling in SPSS-25 and Mplus-8. The five-factor model solution of the SMQ-II fitted adequately with the present data, with deletion of one item. The modified SMQ-II exhibited invariant factor loadings and intercepts (i.e. strong measurement invariance) when administered to boys and girls. Furthermore, motivation for learning Physics did not vary with gender. Students' interest was related to motivation for learning Physics. Lastly, although students' interest significantly predicted all motivational constructs, we noted considerable predictive strength of interest on students' self-efficacy and self-determination in learning Physics. Implications of these findings for the teaching and learning of Physics at lower secondary school are discussed in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In physics education, assessments address various forms of scientific knowledge. Most of the existing test instruments emphasise the assessment of content knowledge. These tests fail to measure the epistemic aspects of science. Thus, assessing epistemic knowledge is a theme that demands investigation. This study applies Rasch analysis to help validate an epistemic knowledge test in electricity and magnetism. Each of the initial 30 items represents distinct features of scientific reasoning. The construct dimensions are derived from Kind and Osborne's framework of Styles of Scientific Reasoning. Based on expert validation, a final 20 items were selected. The test was administered to 156 graduating in-service natural science teachers. Reliability and separation indices, person-item mapping, and principal component analysis using standardised residuals are reported. No meaningful secondary dimension was found in the test data. Invariant properties showed that the test had internal coherence. The Wright Map showed the difficulty of the test to the test takers. The overall fit statistics were within the acceptable range. Along the continuum of item difficulty, there were some notable gaps, where future test items judged to be that level of difficulty could be included. We acknowledge that there may be other reasons for these gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the correlations between perceived technology-assisted teacher support; student hardiness (i.e. individual commitment, challenge, and control); and technology-embedded scientific inquiry (TESI) using a mediational model approach. Data were gathered from the series of questionnaires administered to 1566 Chinese students with an average age of 11.5. Structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis results confirmed our assumption that when students perceived technology-assisted teacher support, this promoted their TESI hardiness, indirectly increasing their perceived TESI. Perceived technology-assisted teacher support and TESI were found to be positively correlated in this structural model. However, by including TESI hardiness in the mediational mechanism, its direct relationship with both perceived technology-assisted teacher support and perceived TESI was insignificant, while the mediating effects remained significant. Therefore, TESI hardiness is of considerable importance for delineating the relationship between perceived technology-assisted teacher support and perceived TESI. It was revealed that both the interpersonal variable (perceived technology-assisted teacher support) and the individual variable (TESI hardiness) are vital in determining the effectiveness of TESI. These findings enhance the understanding of and approach to the promotion of students' perception of scientific inquiry by emphasising the value of technology-assisted teacher support and hardiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research points to the important role achievement emotions play in academic performance and career choices, yet few studies have examined achievement emotions in non-Western contexts. The current study extends this research base by examining students' achievement emotions among 103 eleventh-grade high school chemistry students in China. Using exploratory factor analysis and path analysis, we examined the dimensions of achievement emotions and tested a model in which achievement emotions mediated the relationship between chemistry self-efficacy and classroom engagement. Exploratory factor analysis indicated two distinct factors: positive emotions and shame. Path analysis showed that positive emotions partially mediated the effect of chemistry self-efficacy on classroom engagement. Chemistry self-efficacy was also negatively associated with shame. Findings are discussed in light of the role of Chinese culture in influencing the dimensions and functions of achievement emotions with implications for developing engaging classroom learning environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informal science learning has been proven to have effects on a variety of science learning outcomes. This study explored the direct and indirect influence of both prior and current informal science learning on science performance by using data from the Programme for International Student Assessment 2015. More than ten kinds of informal science learning activities were measured. Multi-level structural equation modelling was used to investigate the mediating role of science interest and self-efficacy in the relationship between informal science learning and science performance in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, and South Korea. The results showed that prior informal science learning has a positive effect on current informal science learning and a direct influence on science performance. In addition, informal science learning significantly influenced science performance through science interest and self-efficacy. These results were consistent across three countries or regions with different cultures and science learning conditions even after controlling for background variables at student and school level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to explore the relationships between students' perceived learning practices and associated self-efficacies regarding mobile-assisted seamless science learning. The learning practices for mobile-assisted seamless science learning questionnaire was developed with three scales that denote learning supported by mobile technology. These scales included authentic learning, self-directed learning, and collaborative learning with information and communication technology. Associated self-efficacies promoted by mobile-assisted seamless science learning could include authentic problem-solving, creative thinking and academic self-efficacy. A sample of 312 primary school students from China responded to the mobile-assisted seamless science learning questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the mobile-assisted seamless science learning questionnaire had high reliability and validity. The path analysis results analysed via a structural equation modelling technique implied that primary school students' perceived self-directed learning and authentic learning were important as positive predictors for authentic problem-solving efficacy, which may function as a partial mediation variable in the effect of students' perceptions of learning practices on the academic self-efficacy of mobile-assisted seamless science learning. The findings highlighted that learning practices (i.e. authentic learning and self-directed learning) and authentic problem-solving efficacy are both indispensable and mutually reinforcing. This can provide some insights for promoting mobile learning in science learning in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study was to measure graduate students' academic hardiness (GSAH) and academic self-efficacy (GSASE) and to examine the relationships between the two. A total of 202 graduate students across disciplines were recruited to complete two questionnaires (GSAH and GSASE). Results of exploratory factor analyses showed that the GSAH and GSASE were reliable for assessing graduate students' academic hardiness and academic self-efficacy. Comparing master's and doctoral students' scores in the GSAH and GSASE scales, we found that doctoral students outperformed master's students. The findings also revealed that three dimensions of GSAH (commitment, control of affect, and challenge) were strong predictors of graduate students' academic self-efficacy. These results confirm and strengthen the relation between graduate students' academic hardiness and academic self-efficacy. This study calls attention to graduate students' ability to recognize and appraise causes of their failure and to learn how to overcome academic difficulties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women are underrepresented in science careers. To overcome this, it is important to explore how to encourage girls to continue to study science. This intervention involved girls aged 12–14 attending interactive science sessions at a university. Girls completed questionnaires before and after the session. Through the intervention, girls became more likely to believe they could succeed in science and saw it as both more useful and interesting. However, the timing of this intervention appeared to be too late. Many girls had already decided on a career and stated that they would be unlikely to continue to study science if it was not needed in their chosen career. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to empirically investigate, in a large-scale assessment, the prevalence of enquiry-based teaching, as defined by PISA, implemented in science lessons, and the extent to which it is related to students from different socioeconomic status (SES) family backgrounds in the U.S. The Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015 data including 5,146 students in the U.S. were used. A Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) was conducted to classify students into different science teaching subgroups. Mixture regression analysis was conducted to examine whether there the association between SES and achievement varied across science teaching subgroups. Four science teaching subgroups were identified, varying in the frequency of and type of teaching practices used. Students' attitudes, gender, science instruction time, and reading achievement are significant predictors of the subgroup membership. SES-achievement gap also varied across the science teaching subgroups. Discussions for the results and suggestions for future study were presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined relationships between Parents' involvement as related to their Identification and Alertness and to four students' variables Attitudes toward school, Social adjustment, Self-efficacy and Academic achievements. Social adjustment was the most dominant variable and served as a mediator between self-efficacy and achievements. Parental involvement had significant, direct and positive relations with social adjustment but negative with academic achievements. Findings indicate a weakening of the relationships between parents' involvement, identification, and alertness and children's variables compared to the relationships between children's variables. Educational staff and parents must create useful communication channels for helping children cope with the challenges of their social and media world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following a series of reviews every 5 years since 1998, this fourth study presents the research trends in science education based on 1,088 research articles published in Science Education, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, and International Journal of Science Education from 2013 to 2017. The top three research topics, that is, the context of students' learning, science teaching, and students' conceptual learning were still emphasized by researchers in the period of 2013-2017. It is also evident that researchers have undoubtedly changed their preferences of research topics in the three journals within the 2 decades. For example, the topic concerning conceptual understanding, alternative conceptions, and conceptual change (Learning-Conceptions) was in continuous decline from 2003 to 2017, although it ranked as the top topic in the 1998-2002 period. The research topic of Teaching continuously ranked second in the 2008-2012 as well as in the 2013-2017 periods. Yet, the declining trend of Goals, Policy, and Curriculum reported in the last review was not observed in the latest period. The analysis of the top 10 most-cited papers unveiled that the issues such as inequality in science education, STEM education, and undergraduate research experiences were gradually highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to examine the relations between primary school students’ conceptions of, approaches to, and self-efficacy in learning science in Mainland China. A total of 1049 primary school students from Mainland China participated in this study. Three instruments were adapted to measure students’ conceptions of learning science, approaches to learning science, and self-efficacy. The exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were adopted to validate three instruments. The path analysis was employed to understand the relationships between conceptions of learning science, approaches to learning science, and self-efficacy. The findings indicated that students’ lower level conceptions of learning science positively influenced their surface approaches in learning science. Higher level conceptions of learning science had a positive influence on deep approaches and a negative influence on surface approaches to learning science. Furthermore, self-efficacy was also a hierarchical construct and can be divided into the lower level and higher level. Only students’ deep approaches to learning science had a positive influence on their lower and higher level of self-efficacy in learning science. The results were discussed in the context of the implications for teachers and future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Researchers have indicated that assessment practices and methods should support learners’ construction of meaningful understanding of knowledge. Understanding students’ conceptions of assessment will enable us to construct more realistic, valid and fair assessments. Learners’ conceptualization of assessment would be imperative to serve as an essential reference to evaluate their learning progress. Purpose: This study evaluated and compared the Singaporean and Taiwanese middle school students’ conceptions of science assessment. Within-country gender comparisons were also explored. Sample: 424 Taiwanese and 333 Singaporean eighth graders were invited for a cross-country comparison. Design and methods: The participants completed a questionnaire named Conceptions of Science Assessment. Results: The findings showed that the summative assessment dominates in the Taiwanese classrooms, while formative and summative assessment are usually perceived in Singaporean classrooms. The Singaporean students had a greater tendency than their Taiwanese counterparts to perceive the purpose of assessment as a way of reproducing knowledge, and the formative assessment as improving learning, problem-solving, and critical judgment. No gender differences were found among either the Singaporean or the Taiwanese students. Conclusions: Educators in both countries should provide learners with more opportunities to experience process-oriented science assessment activities and de-emphasize the usage of examination-oriented practices to achieve the sophistication of conceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from the 2006 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), we explored nine aspects of science engagement (science self-efficacy, science self-concept, enjoyment of science, general interest in learning science, instrumental motivation for science, future-oriented science motivation, general value of science, personal value of science, and science-related activities) as outcomes and predictors of science achievement. Based on results from multilevel modelling with 4456 students nested within 132 schools, we found that all aspects of science engagement were statistically significantly and positively related to science achievement, and nearly all showed medium or large effect sizes. Each aspect was positively associated with one of the (four) practices (strategies) of science teaching. Focus on applications or models was positively related to the most aspects of science engagement (science self-concept, enjoyment of science, instrumental motivation for science, general value of science, and personal value of science). Hands-on activities were positively related to additional aspects of science engagement (science self-efficacy and general interest in learning science) and also showed a positive relationship with science achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored two under-researched areas on students’ attitudes towards science, that is, the structural models representing these attitudes and the role played by school bands in moderating the gender differences in such attitudes. The participants were 360 ninth graders in Hong Kong from 3 school bands. The structural equation modelling method was adopted to compare four hypothetical models for students’ attitudes towards science. Results reflect that (i) the data supported the three-factor structure of the behavioural domain of students’ attitudes towards science; (ii) the four lower level dimensions of the attitudes towards science (i.e. value of science to society, self-concept in science, anxiety towards science and enjoyment of science) could be further integrated into broader categories; (iii) male students demonstrated significantly more positive attitudes towards science in five dimensions (i.e. self-concept in science, enjoyment in science, learning science in and outside the classroom and future participation) and (iv) school bands played a prominent moderating role in gender differences in students’ attitudes towards science. Implications for studying and developing students’ attitudes towards science are discussed in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:The sophistication of students’ conceptions of science learning has been found to be positively related to their approaches to and outcomes for science learning. Little research has been conducted to particularly investigate students’ conceptions of science learning by laboratory. Purpose:The purpose of this research, consisting of two studies, was to explore Taiwanese university science-major students’ conceptions of learning science by laboratory (CLSL). Sample:In Study I, interview data were gathered from 47 university science-major students. In Study II, 287 university science-major students’ responses to a CLSL survey were collected. Design and methods:In Study I, the interview data were analyzed using the phenomenographic method. Based on the findings derived from Study I, Study II developed an instrument for assessing students’ CLSL by exploratory factor analysis. Results:Study I revealed six categories of CLSL, including memorizing, verifying, acquiring manipulative skills, obtaining authentic experience, reviewing prior learning profiles, and achieving in-depth understanding. The factor analysis in Study II revealed that the ‘verifying’ category was eliminated, but found another new category of ‘examining prior knowledge.’ Conclusions:This study finally proposes a framework to describe the variations of CLSL, consisting of three features: cognitive orientation, metacognitive orientation, and epistemic orientation. Possible factors influencing students’ CLSL are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the area of science education research, studies have attempted to investigate conceptions of learning, approaches to learning, and self-efficacy, mainly focusing on science in general or on specific subjects such as biology, physics, and chemistry. However, few empirical studies have probed students’ earth science learning. This study aimed to explore the relationships among undergraduates’ conceptions of, approaches to, and self-efficacy for learning earth science by adopting the structural equation modeling technique. A total of 268 Taiwanese undergraduates (144 females) participated in this study. Three instruments were modified to assess the students’ conceptions of, approaches to, and self-efficacy for learning earth science. The results indicated that students’ conceptions of learning made a significant contribution to their approaches to learning, which were consequently correlated with their learning self-efficacy. More specifically, students with stronger agreement that learning earth science involves applying the knowledge and skills learned to unknown problems were prone to possess higher confidence in learning earth science. Moreover, students viewing earth science learning as understanding earth science knowledge were more likely to adopt meaningful strategies to learn earth science, and hence expressed a higher sense of self-efficacy. Based on the results, practical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Chinese students’ excellent science performance in large-scale international comparisons contradicts the stereotype of the Chinese non-productive classroom learning environment and learners. Most of the existing explanations of this paradox are provided from the perspective of teaching and learning in a general sense, but little work can be found which systematically summarises the findings from the research on Chinese science learners and their science learning so as to explain the paradox. In this paper, a total of 25 empirical quantitative studies, whose sample sizes range from 132 to 8815, published between 1987 and 2014, are reviewed. Three aspects are explored: students’ science learning strategies, attitudes towards learning science and their scientific epistemological views. In addition to summarising the results reported in these studies, efforts are made to link them with the paradox of the Chinese learners, and to generate some hypotheses to resolve it. Finally, directions for further research are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to explore Taiwanese university students’ conceptions of learning biology as memorizing or as understanding, and their self-efficacy. To this end, two questionnaires were utilized to survey 293 Taiwanese university students with biology-related majors. A questionnaire for measuring students’ conceptions of memorizing and understanding was validated through an exploratory factor analysis of participants’ responses. As for the questionnaire regarding the students’ biology learning self-efficacy (BLSE), an exploratory factor analysis revealed a total of four factors including higher-order cognitive skills (BLSE-HC), everyday application (BLSE-EA), science communication (BLSE-SC), and practical works (BLSE-PW). The results of the cluster analysis according to the participants’ conceptions of learning biology indicated that students in the two major clusters either viewed learning biology as understanding or possessed mixed-conceptions of memorizing and understanding. The students in the third cluster mainly focused on memorizing in their learning while the students in the fourth cluster showed less agreement with both conceptions of memorizing and understanding. This study further revealed that the conception of learning as understanding was positively associated with the BLSE of university students with biology-related majors. However, the conception of learning as memorizing may foster students’ BLSE only when such a notion co-exists with the conception of learning with understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between student self-concept and achievement in science in Taiwan based on the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) model using the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003 and 2007 databases. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine the effects of the student-level and school-level science achievement on student self-concept of learning science. The results indicated that student science achievement was positively associated with individual self-concept of learning science in both TIMSS 2003 and 2007. On the contrary, while school-average science achievement was negatively related to student self-concept in TIMSS 2003, it had no statistically significant relationship with student self-concept in TIMSS 2007. The findings of this study shed light on possible explanations for the existence of BFLPE and also lead to an international discussion on the generalization of BFLPE. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background:Few studies have examined students’ attitudinal perceptions of technology. There is no appropriate instrument to measure senior high school students’ motivation and self-regulation toward technology learning among the current existing instruments in the field of technology education. Purpose:The present study is to validate an instrument for assessing senior high school students’ motivation and self-regulation towards technology learning. Sample:A total of 1822 Taiwanese senior high school students (1020 males and 802 females) responded to the newly developed instrument. Design and method:The Motivation and Self-regulation towards Technology Learning (MSRTL) instrument was developed based on the previous instruments measuring students’ motivation and self-regulation towards science learning. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were utilized to investigate the structure of the items. Cronbach’s alpha was applied for measuring the internal consistency of each scale. Furthermore, multivariate analysis of variance was used to examine gender differences. Results:Seven scales, including ‘Technology learning self-efficacy,’ ‘Technology learning value,’ ‘Technology active learning strategies,’ ‘Technology learning environment stimulation,’ ‘Technology learning goal-orientation,’ ‘Technology learning self-regulation-triggering,’ and ‘Technology learning self-regulation-implementing’ were confirmed for the MSRTL instrument. Moreover, the results also showed that male and female students did not present the same degree of preference in all of the scales. Conclusions:The MSRTL instrument composed of seven scales corresponding to 39 items was shown to be valid based on validity and reliability analyses. While male students tended to express more positive and active performance in the motivation scales, no gender differences were found in the self-regulation scales. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The development and evaluation of science students' metacognition, learning processes and self-efficacy are important for improving science education. This paper reports on the development of an empirical self-report instrument for providing a measure of students' metacognition, self-efficacy and constructivist science learning processes. A review of the range of literature related to metacognition, self-regulation and constructivist learning processes resulted in the development of an initial bilingual (English and traditional Chinese) instrument composed of 72 items. This instrument was completed by 465 Hong Kong high school students. The data collected were subjected to exploratory factor analysis and Rasch analysis. The subsequent refinement process resulted in a final version of the Self-Efficacy and Metacognition Learning Inventory—Science (SEMLI-S) consisting of 30 items that can be used for either analysing and focusing on any or all of its dimensions or for assigning scores to individuals that enable comparison between them in relation to their metacognitive science learning orientations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]