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Social cognitive career theory (SCCT) and the theories of reasoned action and planned behaviour (TRAPB) have both guided studies seeking to explain students' intentions and decisions related to future science engagement. The purpose of this study was to simultaneously validate measures for these two social psychological models and closely examine these constructs and their associations. Students were sampled in two groups, across grades 5 through 10, from rural schools in the United States (N = 538). Each group was administered two sets of measures, and each set of measures was associated with a theoretical model, and included corresponding sub-scales suitable for self-report. Respondents also supplied information about a common set of predictor variables based on a review of the literature. Structural equation modelling was used to examine the constructs more closely. Results from confirmatory factor analysis were generally consistent with the theoretical structures. Multiple indicators multiple causes (MIMIC) models were generated to compare SCCT and TRAPB, including associations between factors and variables. Associations between common predictor variables like race and gender differed between the MIMIC models. Frequency of talk with family members, perceived science ability, gender, and race were all significantly associated with multiple factors in both the SCCT- and TRAPB-aligned models.

Many students have the opportunity to enroll in elective courses during secondary school and the choices they make about pursuing specific electives may foreshadow future outcomes. The present study utilized a sequential, mixed methods design to investigate the association between students' attitudes toward science, their declared intentions to engage with science in the future, and their eventual decision to enroll in an elective science course. Students in grades 9 through 11 completed a 30-item survey rooted in the theories of reasoned action and planned behavior, which provided self-report data about their attitudes, intentions, and related variables (N = 698). Course enrollment data were obtained during the following academic year for a sub-sample of Grade 12 students who previously completed the survey. Pathway analysis supported the theoretical model and explained a majority of the variance between students' reported intentions and their actual course enrollment. Other factors that students considered when making their decisions were investigated through group interviews. Based on interviews conducted, students that enrolled in an elective science course generally saw science as a part of their post-secondary plans.

We report on the development of a rubric to reliably qualify and score responses to the Views of Nature of Science Questionnaire (VNOS): The VNOS Analysis and Scoring Rubric (VAScoR). The VAScoR is designed to (a) provide systematic guidance for the qualitative analysis, and score assignment to nuanced categories, of VNOS responses, (b) explicitly scaffold qualitative inferencing and standardize score assignment to substantially lessen the burden of, and variance in, analyzing and scoring the VNOS, and (c) improve the viability and meaningfulness of cross‐study comparisons drawing on VNOS data. The rubric adopted the VNOS's consensus NOS framework and further delineated core and related elements across 10 target NOS aspects. The VAScoR's reliability was examined in two studies that drew on VNOS questionnaires completed by 185 preservice secondary science teachers (58% female; 126 undergraduate and 59 graduate students) enrolled over several years in a combined undergraduate and graduate licensure program in a large U.S. Midwestern university. In Study I, VAScoR analyses of 86 VNOS questionnaires undertaken by a single author were used to examine the rubric's intra‐rater reliability, which resulted in a robust Cronbach's alpha value of 0.81. In Study II, analyses by four authors of a randomly generated, overlapping set of 18 questionnaires were used to examine inter‐rater reliability, which was supported with substantial consensus among raters as indicated by a Cohen's kappa of 0.71. Further evidence for the VAScoR's inter‐rater reliability was indicated by moderate to strong consistency among four raters with an overall Pearson's correlation coefficient of 0.82, and coefficient values ranging from 0.77 to 0.89 for six possible rater pairings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study pursued two major objectives. The first was to use bibliometric techniques to examine bidirectionality in the relationship between teachers and researchers, as indicated by collaborative authorship among these communities. The second was to explore more deeply knowledge mobilization to classrooms by documenting the extent to which research is cited in science education practitioner journals (SEPJ). Specifically, we examined: (a) the frequency of collaboration between researchers and practitioners in the writing of journal articles for both practitioner‐focused and academic journals in science education, and (b) the extent to which authors of articles in practitioner‐focused journals drew on academic research to support their advocacy for and/or description of science education programs, policies, or practices. Findings indicate that writing collaborations among academic researchers and practitioners are relatively infrequent, even on practitioner‐focused articles. Also, articles in SEPJs more often cite books and other resources over academic journals, even those academic journals focused on informing science education teaching and learning. Recommendations include providing open access to published research, development of research summaries for lay audiences, and incentivizing practitioners to engage in research and writing. This study explores only one mechanism by which knowledge can be mobilized to classrooms and only one type of dissemination product (i.e., journal articles) upon which researchers and practitioners can collaborate. Additional limitations are noted including the applicability of the findings only to the specific journals and timeframes analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated the representations of nature of science (NOS) in U.S. state science standards, and examined the changes in these representations from documents advanced in the 1980s through 2016. Drawing from the consensus perspective on NOS and prior studies focusing on the analysis of textual content, documents were inspected for 10 target NOS aspects: the empirical, tentative, inferential, creative, theory-driven, and social NOS, in addition to the myth of "The Scientific Method," the nature of scientific theories and laws, and the social and cultural embeddedness of science. Ninety-eight state documents from 48 states were analyzed and multiple editions were collected from 34 states. Additionally, relevant materials from the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) were assessed for their coverage of the same NOS aspects. Collected materials were scored as whole documents, including over 11,000 pages of text in total, on each target aspect, which reflected the treatment (naïve vs. informed) of NOS in text and the manner of presentation (explicit vs. implicit). Overall, surprisingly, state standards documents have improved very little with respect to their NOS coverage over the last 30 years. NOS standards documents remain silent on a majority of key aspects of NOS, and the number of aspects showing explicit, informed representations has held constant. The NGSS performed well compared to many contemporary documents, but they failed to address all target NOS aspects in a desirable manner. Further analysis raised concerns with the degree that states fully adopt and disseminate standards in manner consistent with the NGSS despite stated intentions, which may negatively impact NOS coverage in instructional resources and classroom enactments. To improve NOS representations in standards, recognizing the role these documents play in shaping instructional materials and teaching in the science classroom, exemplars from analyzed materials were highlighted with informed and explicit representations of multiple aspects.

The present study examined students' attitudes toward science and associated constructs, based on the theories of reasoned action and planned behavior, and explored relationships between individual and school-related variables common to the research literature. Responses from 1,291 students in Grades 5 through 10 were collected using the 30-item Behaviors, Related Attitudes, and Intentions toward Science (BRAINS) Survey along with background information questions. Additional self-report data were collected from teachers (n = 56; 82.4%) in participating schools (n = 68) to obtain information about their education and experience, characteristics and practices, as well as other classroom variables, which could influence students' outlook. Student information, teacher data collected, and other data compiled about participating schools, were used to explore patterns in students' attitudes, beliefs, and intentions. These variables were used to generate multivariate multilevel models through a forward construction process. The final model presented favors individual variables to explain differences in students' responses on all five of the BRAINS subscales, more than group-level variables captured. Of the predictor variables explored, students' perceived science ability and frequency of talk with family were influential on all subscales, and increasing these variables had a positive effect on the estimated mean scores according to the final model presented. Findings from this study also include commonly observed relationships, such as the decline in attitudes over time, but these were found to be less pervasive in this sample. The paper concludes with a discussion about the comparative ineffectiveness of teacher and school-related variables in explaining students' attitudes toward science in this study, in light of design decisions and limitations, to guide future investigations.

Researchers have raised concerns about teachers' ability to embed nature of science (NOS) in their science instruction, a complicated situation that is certainly impacted by the availability of adequate resources to assist K-12 science teachers. In light of the implementation of the ideas from the "Framework for K-12 Science Education" and the "Next Generation Science Standards" in the USA, this study sought to identify and evaluate resources aimed at guiding NOS instruction. A search of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) database for Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)-aligned instructional resources resulted in an analytical sample of eight lessons. All materials accompanying these lessons were analyzed for their representations of 10 NOS aspects. The evaluation of these materials revealed a prevalence of implicit, naïve representations in the sample lessons (60.4% of all NOS aspects addressed). Examination of the connections to NOS in these lessons leads to a set of recommendations to improve the quantity and quality of NOS representations in future NGSS-aligned instructional resources. The analytical approach used and the issues raised about the presentation and treatment of NOS in precollege lessons are of interest to the broader science education community.

Surveying is a common methodology in science education research, including cross-national and cross-cultural comparisons. The literature surrounding students' attitudes toward science, in particular, illustrates the prevalence of efforts to translate instruments with the eventual goal of comparing groups. This paper utilizes survey data from a nationally representative cross-sectional study of Qatari students in grades 3 through 12 to frame a discussion around the adequacy and extent to which common adaptations allow comparisons to be made among linguistically or culturally different respondents. The analytic sample contained 2615 students who responded to a previously validated 32-item instrument, 1704 of whom completed the survey in Modern Standard Arabic and 911 in English. The purpose of using these data is to scrutinize variation in the performance of the instrument between groups of respondents as determined by language of survey completion and cultural heritage. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis was employed to investigate issues of validity associated with the performance of the survey with each group and to evaluate the appropriateness of using this instrument to make simultaneous comparisons across the distinct groups. Findings underscore the limitations of group comparability that may persist even when issues of translation and adaptation were heavily attended to during instrument development.

The "Next Generation Science Standards" identifies argumentation as a central practice, and, subsequently, energizes teachers to develop students' capacity to write well-reasoned arguments and support their claims with relevant evidence. These skills now expected in the science classroom have long been central to instruction in English-language arts. This article overviews the design and delivery of a first-time interdisciplinary collaboration between three teachers, representing English language arts, science, and a teacher-librarian. Their integrated unit was based on principles of scientific argumentation. Recounting the experience from the perspectives of the teachers, and informed by observations and interviews conducted, discussion centers on the practical aspects of unit delivery and meeting intended goals. This article thematically explores qualitative data collected from the teachers, including individual reflections and a focus group interview, as well as classroom observation and student post-unit survey data. Drawing on the experience from the inaugural implementation, we discuss considerations for future efforts and implications for the broader audience.

The aim of the present study is to enable future studies into students' attitudes toward science, and related constructs, by developing and validating an instrument suitable for cross-sectional designs. Following a thorough review of the literature it was determined that many extant instruments included design aspects that appeared to be limited in some way. The BRAINS (Behaviors, Related Attitudes, and Intentions toward Science) Survey was designed to address core criticisms that have been leveled against many existing instruments. BRAINS was rooted in a theoretical framework drawn from the theories of reasoned action and planned behavior (TRAPB). Initial development involved review by an expert panel, adaptation for online delivery and a pilot on this platform. To establish the psychometric validity of the 59-item instrument it was administered to a representative, random sample of 1,291 Illinois students in grades 5 through 10. Confirmatory factor analysis and subsequent refinement yielded a 30-item instrument with five factors and a good statistical fit including a RMSEA of 0.04 and a CFI of 0.95. The five factors, or constructs, of the final instrument model reflect the underlying TRAPB framework: attitudes toward science, behavioral beliefs about science, intentions to engage in science, normative beliefs, and control beliefs.

This study assessed the (i) ways in which, and extent to which, several aspects of nature of science (NOS) are represented in high school biology and physics textbooks in the United States (U.S.); (ii) extent to which these representations have changed over the course of several decades; and (iii) relative impact of discipline, and textbook publishers versus authors on the observed patterns. NOS aspects included the empirical, tentative, inferential, creative, theory-laden, and social NOS; myth of "The Scientific Method"; nature of theories and laws; and social and cultural embeddedness of science. The sample included 34 (16 biology and 18 physics) textbooks, which commanded significant shares of the U.S. science textbook market. Textbooks were selected from seven "connected series" (three in biology and four in physics), which spanned 1-5 decades, with five series spanning, at least, 3 decades. Textbooks were scored for the accuracy and manner in which, as well as the extent (in textbook pages) to which, the target NOS aspects were represented. Analyses indicated that, on average, only less than 2.5% of the analyzed textbook pages were dedicated to addressing NOS constructs. Overall, representations of NOS in the textbooks did not differ by content area, were discernibly less than favorable, and did not improve substantially over the past several decades. These trends are incommensurate with the emphasis placed in U.S. reform efforts on helping precollege students develop informed NOS conceptions. Finally, the data strongly suggested that textbook authors have a relatively greater impact on the observed patterns when compared to textbook publishers.

This study assessed students' attitudes toward science in Qatar. A cross-sectional, nationwide probability sample representing all students enrolled in grades 3 through 12 in the various types of schools in Qatar completed the "Arabic Speaking Students' Attitudes toward Science Survey" (ASSASS). The validity and reliability of the 32-item instrument, encompassing five sub-scales, have already been shown to be robust. The present analysis focused on responses from 1978 participants representing the students who completed the ASSASS in Arabic. Descriptive statistics were computed and a competing pair of multiple indicators multiple causes models is presented that attempt to link patterns in students' responses to the ASSASS with a set of indicators. The final model retained student age, gender, nationality (i.e. Qatari vs. Non-Qatari Arab), and school type as indicators. Findings from this study suggest that participants' attitudes toward science decrease with age, and that these attitudes and related preferences are influenced by students' nationality and the type of school they attend. Equally important, the often-reported advantages for male over female precollege students in terms of attitudes toward science were much less prominent in the present study.

This study is part of a large-scale project focused on "Qatari students' Interest in, and Attitudes toward, Science" (QIAS). QIAS aimed to gauge Qatari student attitudes toward science in grades 3-12, examine factors that impact these attitudes, and assess the relationship between student attitudes and prevailing modes of science teaching in Qatari schools. This report details the development and validation of the "Arabic-Speaking Students' Attitudes toward Science Survey" (ASSASS), which was specifically developed for the purposes of the QIAS project. The theories of reasoned action and planned behavior (TRAPB) [Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (2005). The influence of attitudes on behavior. In D. Albarracín, B. T. Johnson, & M. P. Zanna (Eds.), "The handbook of attitudes" (pp. 173-221). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum] guided the instrument development. Development and validation of the ASSASS proceeded in 3 phases. First, a 10-member expert panel examined an initial pool of 74 items, which were revised and consolidated into a 60-item version of the instrument. This version was piloted with 369 Qatari students from the target schools and grade levels. Analyses of pilot data resulted in a refined version of the ASSASS, which was administered to a national probability sample of 3027 participants representing all students enrolled in grades 3-12 in the various types of schools in Qatar. Of the latter, 1,978 students completed the Arabic version of the instrument. Analyses supported a robust, 5-factor model for the instrument, which is consistent with the TRAPB framework. The factors were: Attitudes toward science and school science, unfavorable outlook on science, control beliefs about ability in science, behavioral beliefs about the consequences of engaging with science, and intentions to pursue science.