Search

College students may view research methods courses with negative attitudes, however, few studies have investigated this issue due to the lack of instruments that measure the students' attitudes towards research. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of a Attitudes Toward Research Scale using Rasch rating scale analysis. Assessment of attitudes toward research is essential to determine if students have negative attitudes towards research and assist instructors in better facilitation of learning research methods in their courses. The results of this study have shown that a thirty item Attitudes Toward Research Scale yielded scores with high person and item reliability.

The purpose of this study was to compare the relationships that exist between computer use and science achievement for 15-year-old students in the USA and Germany, based on data from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). The results of this study show that what has an effect on science achievement is the way in which computers are used. The results indicated that students who used computers frequently at home, including for writing papers, tended to have higher science achievement. Students who had frequent availability of computers at school, who used them at that location, and who frequently used computers for programming had lower levels of science achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research study investigated the attitudes toward science of 8th-gade students in Australia, Canada, Cyprus, and Korea, based on recent TIMSS data, and suggests a model of family and school influences on their attitudes. The structural equation model contained 3 exogenous constructs—family's educational background, aspiration, school climate— and 2 endogenous constructs—teaching and student attitudes reward science. Educational background, aspiration, and school climate were shown to have a direct effect on attitudes, while teaching was shown to directly affect attitudes and to be affected by aspiration and school climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to describe the results obtained from a survey whose goal was to examine the combination of variables that have contributed to the success of a middle school math club. This is a case of a middle school in which the students are extremely successful in mathematics, and where the majority of the students voluntarily attend its math club. The results of the study show that the students have positive attitudes about mathematics and the club, and that some of the reasons that influenced them to attend the club were those of being with friends and eating donuts at the club. The results were similar for students of both genders and all grades. In addition, since positive attitudes are associated with higher levels of math achievement, such clubs have the potential to encourage students to enrol in additional mathematics classes while in high school, as well as pursuing mathematics related careers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the factors influencing the students to become a teachers in Pennsylvania and Cyprus. Benefits of influential factors to students; Evaluation of the academic ability of students of becoming a teacher; Analysis of the internal motives of students.