In Pursuit of Validity: A comprehensive review of science attitude instruments 1935–2005

The purpose of this review is to present a comprehensive evaluation of science attitude instruments based on published psychometric evidence. A multitude of instruments have been used through the years and some have been linked to career choice and school performance. Substantiating such associations is of paramount importance if researchers wish to influence educational policy. However, associations are reduced, or hard to discover, if instruments have weak psychometric properties. Several databases were searched for peer‐reviewed articles that discussed the development and use of science attitude instruments. Instruments were grouped into the following categories: attitudes toward science, scientific attitudes, nature of science, scientific career interests, and other. A data abstraction and scoring rubric was used to summarize and evaluate 150 published articles that spanned 66 instruments. Most instruments had single study usage and showed an absence of psychometric evidence. This review demonstrated that there are few instruments available with the necessary psychometric data to merit recommendation. The review quantifies the current state of the research regarding the measurement of science attitude in students; the results should elicit further discussion and encourage more rigorous analyses of instruments. The findings may assist other researchers to select an instrument and alert them to its strengths and weaknesses. This review points the way forward for research in this field. Instruments already in existence should be used in repeat studies, and reliability and validity evidence should be collected and shared.     

Linking Physical and Numerical Modelling in Hydrogeology using Sand Tank Experiments and COMSOL Multiphysics

Visualising subsurface processes in hydrogeology and building intuition for how these processes are controlled by changes in forcing is hard for many undergraduate students. While numerical modelling is one way to help undergraduate students explore outcomes of multiple scenarios, many codes are not user‐friendly with respect to defining domains, boundary conditions, and coupling processes, and numerical modelling exercises are also often disconnected from systems that the students understand, limiting their ability to extrapolate what they have learned for other situations. Here, we test the hypothesis that hydrogeology students will better estimate rates of groundwater flow and contaminant transport and the magnitudes of the parameters that control flow and transport by linking physical and numerical models. We present an exercise that links physical and numerical modelling of fluid flow and solute transport using 2‐D ‘ant farm’ sand tanks with parallel models in COMSOL Multiphysics. The sand tank exercises provide students with a way to visualise subsurface flow and transport processes, while COMSOL allows them to explicitly pull apart the mathematics associated with these systems and build intuition for their solutions. Given coupled experimentation and numerical exercises, we find that students will connect processes that they see in the laboratory with the outcomes of numerical models, and the post‐exercise tests indicate that they have an improved understanding of: (1) the magnitude and importance of properties and parameters that control flow and transport and (2) the simplifications made in numerical models of physical systems.     

Eugenics and the social construction of merit,race and disability

During the first half of the twentieth century, mainstream US eugenicists believed in the overarching importance of heredity in human development. Effective popularizers, they actively worked for legislation that would limit immigration from southern and eastern Europe, sterilize those judged as socially inferior, and segregate the feeble-minded. With the help of like-minded educational leaders, they also influenced school policy and curriculum during this period. Drawing upon Foucault's conception of normalization and Banks' notion of knowledge types, I contend that eugenics is acase example of normalization. The paper outlines one aspect of this process through analyses of the popular eugenic knowledge exhibited at US State fairs and of the mainstream eugenic knowledge found in the work of Leta S. Hollingworth, an early US leader in giftedness education. These knowledge forms added to hegemonic social constructions of merit, race and disability in the US in the 1920s.     

Doing Whitefella 1 Research in Blackfella Communities in Australia: Decolonizing Method in Sports Related Research

There is much for non-Indigenous researchers to consider when researching in Indigenous contexts. This paper is a story of discovery for two researchers working on a project with the Indigenous Sports Program section of the Australian Sports Commission. It documents the slow, meticulous and sometimes clumsy steps taken to gain access to communities and conduct research guided by a social justice ethic. The research was successful in that eventually it was possible to develop the trust of individuals and some of the Indigenous communities more broadly, so that information could be gathered and given within the context of shared understandings and mutual interest. However, it is the turbulent journey, filled as it is, with latent tendencies, privileged assumptions and eventually reflexive readings of the data, which remains the focus of this paper. Tentative recommendations are offered to those wishing to advance this politically and epistemologically challenging approach to culturally based research.     

Promoting the Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health: Activities of the NCPPA

The release of Physical Activity and Health: A Report of the Surgeon General was the culmination of years of scientific evidence relating physical inactivity to mortality, morbidity, and quality of life. A brief history of the development of the report is provided in the current paper. The role of the National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity (NCPPA) and similar collaborativc activities is suggested as a means to disseminate a national message about the relationship between physical activity and health. NCPPA key initiatives are presented, illustrating methods to disseminate information. Summary data are provided from a national l-year follow-up survey to the release of the report. Lastly, it is suggested that coalition building and collaborative efforts be used to influence the development of the Healthy People 2010 objectives, which can hest result in “telling our story to national audiences”.     

Classroom research into good learning behaviours

This article examines the work conducted by two teacher-researchers involved in a study of their students' learning behaviours in their science classes. The teacher-researchers were strongly influenced by the PEEL project (Project to Enhance Effective Learning) and became members of the PAVOT project (Perspective and Voice of the Teacher) through which the research reported in this article was conducted. The teacher-researchers studied their students' approaches to learning and then introduced new teaching strategies (drawn from the PEEL literature) designed to positively influence their students' learning behaviours. In implementing new teaching strategies and exploring how their students' learning behaviours altered, these teacher-researchers suggest a number of important issues about the teaching and learning environment. The article also illustrates the importance of teacher-researchers being able to find ways of communicating their professional knowledge to the larger education community.     

The Gifted Rating Scales-School Form: A Validation Study Based on Age,Gender, and Race

This study examined the internal consistency and validity of a new rating scale to identify gifted students, the Gifted Rating Scales-School Form (GRS-S). The study explored the effect of gender, race/ethnicity, age, and rater familiarity on GRS-S ratings. One hundred twenty-two students in first to eighth grade from elementary and middle schools in the southeastern United States participated in the investigation. Results indicated high internal consistency for the six GRS-S scales: Intellectual Ability, Academic Ability, Creativity, Artistic Talent, Leadership, and Motivation. Results revealed no effect of race/ethnicity, age, or rater familiarity with the student. There was no significant effect for gender, although a trend was noted for girls rated slightly higher than boys across all scales. This trend was consistent with analyses of the standardization data and with cross-cultural findings using translated versions of the GRS-S. The present findings provided support for the GRS-S as a valid gifted screening instrument.     

Daily Intragroup Contact in Diverse Settings: Implications for Asian Adolescents' Ethnic Identity

This study examined the daily‐level association between contact with same‐ethnic others and ethnic private regard among 132 Asian adolescents (mean age = 14 years) attending four high schools ranging in ethnic composition diversity. The data suggest a positive daily‐level association between contact with same‐ethnic others and ethnic private regard for adolescents, who were highly identified with their ethnic group and who attended predominantly White or ethnically heterogeneous schools. In addition, using time lag analyses, contact with same‐ethnic others yesterday was positively related to ethnic private regard today, but ethnic private regard yesterday was unrelated to contact with same‐ethnic others today, suggesting that adolescents' identity is responsive to their environments. The implications of these findings for the development of ethnic identity are discussed.     

Public Speaking: Reducing Student Apprehension and Improving Oral Skills

In this article, the author compares the potential academic and attitudinal gains of a gifted and talented population using different instructional methods. It has been found that instruction for identified high-achieving students must be different than that of general education students. Gifted and talented students cannot maximize learning opportunities unless they are appropriately challenged and motivated to learn. When gifted learners are lethargic and disinterested in learning, better-matched instruction is needed. Using contract activity packages with a gifted and talented population will support high-end learners in the classroom. During this project, the contract activity packages method of instruction provided the children with choice, flexibility, and challenged them at a higher level than they experienced through traditional lessons.