Developing the changes in attitude about the relevance of science (CARS) questionnaire and assessing two high school science classes

Abstract

This study has two purposes: (a) methodological—to design and test a new instrument able to reflect changes in attitudes toward science over time, and (b) investigative—to find out the effect of two similar curricular treatments on the attitudes of two classes. Items about the relevance of science to students' lives were developed, pilot‐tested, and analyzed using Rasch modeling. We then divided reliable items into three equivalent questionnaire forms. The final three forms of the questionnaire were used to assess high school students' attitudes. Over 18 weeks, one class used a core curriculum (Science and Sustainability) to learn science in the context of making decisions about societal issues. A second class used the same core curriculum, but with parts replaced by computer‐based activities (Convince Me) designed to enhance the coherence of students' arguments. Using traditional and Rasch modeling techniques, we assessed the degrees to which such instructional activities promoted students' beliefs that science is relevant to them. Both classes tended to agree more, over time, that science is relevant to their lives, and the increases were statistically equivalent between classes. This study suggests that, by using innovative, issue‐based activities, it is possible to enhance students' attitudes about the relevance of science. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 40: 757–775, 2003

Perceptions of the Social Relevance of Science: Exploring the Implications for Gendered Patterns in Expectations of Majoring in STEM Fields

“…In more recent years, educational researchers have again called attention to this issue, arguing that 'school science' too often treats science fields as varied collections of abstract historical discoveries and intangible phenomenon, asking students to memorize decontextualized facts and concepts that result in their becoming bored and disinterested [31,32]. Current educational reforms are working to change this [20] and although limited in scope, there is empirical evidence that students who view science as socially relevant are more likely to remain engaged with the content and express interest in continuing to study science [19,31,[33][34][35], and that curriculum that directly emphasizes the broad applications and benefits of science for human life can indeed be effective in promoting all students' positive views [36].…”

What’s the Matter with Kansas?: The Development and Confirmation of the Evolutionary Attitudes and Literacy Survey (EALS)

“…Though several interesting measurement tools exist (e.g., Rutledge and Warden 1999;Rutledge and Sadler 2007;Aikenhead and Ryan 1992;Siegel and Ranney 2003;Lombrozo et al 2008;Johnson and Peeples 1987;Miller et al 2006), to date, the present survey represents the most comprehensive attempt to incorporate a broad array of explanatory variables of theoretical importance.…”

Constructing a Scale of Attitudes toward School Science Using the General Graded Unfolding Model

“…A 50-item (25 positive, 25 negative) scale with 4-point response format was prepared according to the related research (Cheung, 2009;George, 2006;Germann, 1988;Prokop et al, 2007;Salta and Tzougraki, 2004;& Siegel and Ranney, 2003) to represent the full range of attitude toward school science.…”