The Relationships Among Adult Affective Factors, Engagement in Science, and Scientific Competencies

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship among adult affective factors, engagement in science, and scientific competencies. Probability proportional to size sampling was used to select 504 participants between the ages of 18 and 70 years. Data were collected through individual face-to-face interviews. The results of hierarchical regression analysis showed that while controlling demographic variable factors, science-related affective factors held explanatory power for scientific competencies. Among those factors, the explanatory power of self-efficacy was the greatest, followed by enjoyment and interest in science. While controlling antecedent factors, engagement in science held explanatory power for scientific competencies. It is suggested that improving affective factors and engagement in science may enhance adult scientific competencies. In terms of adult education, this study suggests that with more accessible science resources, adults may have the potential to trigger their interest, increase their self-confidence, and engage themselves in scientific issues.

Development, Validity, and Reliability of a Scale for Exam Preparation Strategies Among Students

“…McGregor and Elliot conceptualized these approaches as a combination of motivation and strategy (9). It should be noted that none of the discussed studies in Iran have comprehensively evaluated the reliability or validity of scales for exam preparation strategies.…”

“…Students who fail to achieve acceptable results in exams normally assume that they can succeed without effective studying (9). Accordingly, despite the great impact of intelligence, motivation, personal characteristics, and educational quality on academic success, learning strategies can also influence students' exam preparation and learning efficiency (10).…”

“…On the other hand, by improving students' learning abilities and skills, many deficiencies can be mitigated, and students' motivation can be improved (11,12). (9). The surface approach to learning focuses onachieving course requirements using the minimum amount of effort.…”

Boosting adults scientific literacy with experiential learning practices

“…Placing the educational focus on an adult population requires the understanding of how adults approach learning and how they find meaning in new knowledge. This way, we designed a didactic plan in which the main objective was placed on science literacy practices, adjusted to the profile of adult participants (Hippel & Tippelt, 2010;Tsai, Li, & Cheng, 2017). Consequently, we developed a methodology based on experiential learning (Morris, 2019), linked to their own experiences and focused on the environment (Lucio-Villegas, 2016).…”

Relationship between Students' Perception of Assessment, their Exam Preparation Strategies and their CGPA at University Level

“…Researchers have stated the different study strategies of students as making notes (Gurung et al, 2010), coding the content, learn the material by making stories (Heller & Cassady, 2016), cramming (Gurung, 2005), while other studies indicate that mnemonic methods and organization of content is a better way of exam preparation that the repetition of content (Schaap et al, 2012). Students who are unable to accomplish the acceptable outcomes in examination they supposed to achieve without efficient studying (Tsai & Cheng, 2017) , which affect their academic abilities (Abd et al, 2008). Regardless, intelligence, inspirations and individual abilities are the main features of academic success, but exam strategy and learning techniques have a strong impression on educational efficiency (Thibodeaux et al, 2017).…”