Abstract
There is a need for more students to be interested in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers to advance U.S. competitiveness and economic growth. A consensus exits that improving STEM education is necessary for motivating more students to pursue STEM careers. In this study, a survey to measure student (grades 4-6) attitudes toward STEM and STEM careers was developed and administered to 662 students from two STEM-focused and three comprehensive (non-STEM focused) schools. Cronbach’s alphas for the whole survey and subscales indicated a high internal consistency. Statistically significant difference in means between students attending the STEM-focused and comprehensive schools on the two subscales of the survey and the overall survey were found. However, the explained variance for these results was approximately 1%. The survey is a useful tool to assess efficacy of STEM education programs on student attitudes toward STEM and STEM careers.
Date of this Version
2014
DOI
10.1111/ssm.12077
Published in:
Guzey, S.S., Harwell, M. and Moore, T. (2014), Attitudes toward STEM. Sch Sci Math, 114: 271-279. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssm.12077
Link to original published article:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ssm.12077
Comments
This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: Guzey, S.S., Harwell, M. and Moore, T. (2014), Attitudes toward STEM. Sch Sci Math, 114: 271-279. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssm.12077