This article offers a review of the major literature about attitudes to science and its implications over the past 20 years. It argues that the continuing decline in numbers choosing to study science at the point of choice requires a research focus on students’ attitudes to science if the nature of the problem is to be understood and remediated. Starting from a consideration of what is meant by attitudes to science, it considers the problems inherent to their measurement, what is known about students’ attitudes towards science and the many factors of influence such as gender, teachers, curricula, cultural and other variables. The literature itself points to the crucial importance of gender and the quality of teaching. Given the importance of the latter we argue that there is a greater need for research to identify those aspects of science teaching that make school science engaging for pupils. In particular, a growing body of research on motivation offers important pointers to the kind of classroom environment and activities that might raise pupils’ interest in studying school science and a focus for future research.

Attitudes towards science: A review of the literature and its implications

spatial skills. After eliminating outliers, the average effect size (Hedges’s g) for training relative to control was 0.47 (SE 0.04). Training effects were stable and were not affected by delays between training and posttesting. Training also transferred to other spatial tasks that were not directly trained. We analyzed the effects of several moderators, including the presence and type of control groups, sex, age, and type of training. Additionally, we included a theoretically motivated typology of spatial skills that emphasizes 2 dimensions: intrinsic versus extrinsic and static versus dynamic (Newcombe & Shipley, in press). Finally, we consider the potential educational and policy implications of directly training spatial skills. Considered together, the results suggest that spatially enriched education could pay substantial dividends in increasing participation in mathematics, science, and engineering.

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The malleability of spatial skills: a meta-analysis of training studies.

The purpose of this study was to document how teachers and students describe and comprehend the ways in which participating in an augmented reality (AR) simulation aids or hinders teaching and learning. Like the multi-user virtual environment (MUVE) interface that underlies Internet games, AR is a good medium for immersive collaborative simulation, but has different strengths and limitations than MUVEs. Within a design-based research project, the researchers conducted multiple qualitative case studies across two middle schools (6th and 7th grade) and one high school (10th grade) in the northeastern United States to document the affordances and limitations of AR simulations from the student and teacher perspective. The researchers collected data through formal and informal interviews, direct observations, web site posts, and site documents. Teachers and students reported that the technology-mediated narrative and the interactive, situated, collaborative problem solving affordances of the AR simulation were highly engaging, especially among students who had previously presented behavioral and academic challenges for the teachers. However, while the AR simulation provided potentially transformative added value, it simultaneously presented unique technological, managerial, and cognitive challenges to teaching and learning.

Affordances and Limitations of Immersive Participatory Augmented Reality Simulations for Teaching and Learning

This is an account of the largest on-the-scene study of U.S. schools ever undertaken. Called A Study of Schooling' and carried on over 4 years, trained investigators went into more than 1,000 classrooms in 38 elementary and secondary schools in seven different sections of the United States. These schools were located in urban, rural, and suburban areas. The investigators talked to teachers, students, administrators, school board officials, parents, and other members of the community. The result is this landmark report, written by one of the country's most astute and experienced educators. His message is one of cautious optimism, despite the extensive problems uncovered, and he provides a realistic agenda for improvement. This report will be a rich and stimulating resource for all those concerned with the education of our youth.

The Schools We Deserve@@@A Place Called School: Prospects for the Future

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The Growth of Logical Thinking from Childhood to Adolescence

The National Science Foundation has funded 22 Collaboratives for Excellence in Teacher Preparation. Despite the remarkable allocation of resources to this effort, it has proven exceptionally difficult to demonstrate the effectiveness of collaborative reform. In large part, this has resulted because of the difficulty of defining and measuring reform. The Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) was designed by the Evaluation Facilitation Group of the Arizona Collaborative for Excellence in the Preparation of Teachers (ACEPT). It is a 25-item classroom observation protocol that is (a) standards based, (b) inquiry oriented, and (c) student centered. This instrument has provided the definition for reform and the basis for evaluation of the ACEPT collaborative. The data upon which this report is based were collected over a period of more than 2 years from 153 public school, college, and university mathematics and science classrooms. A trained team of observers consisting of two faculty members and seven graduate students was able to achieve exceptionally high levels of interrater reliability. Internal consistency, as estimated by Cronbach's alpha, was also remarkably high. Correlation coefficients ranging from 0.88 to 0.97 between RTOP scores for classrooms, and mean normalized gain scores for students in those classrooms on achievement measures demonstrate that reform, as defined by ACEPT and measured by the RTOP, has been effective.

Measuring Reform Practices in Science and Mathematics Classrooms: The Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol

The EFG consists of Daiyo Sawada (External Evaluator), Michael Piburn (Internal Evaluator), Bryce Bartley and Russell Benford (Biology), Apple Bloom and Matt Isom (Mathematics), Kathleen Falconer (Physics), Eugene Judson (Beginning Teacher Evaluation) and Jeff Turley (Field Experiences). The hard work and intellectual contributions of all of these people are herein acknowledged. Without their efforts, this work could not have been conducted.

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Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP):Reference Manual

If I were the teacher … qualitative study of attitude toward science

Among the sciences, the practice of geology is especially visual. To assess the role of spatial ability in learning geology, we designed an experiment using: (1) web‐based versions of spatial visualization tests, (2) a geospatial test, and (3) multimedia instructional modules built around QuickTime Virtual Reality movies. Students in control and experimental sections were administered measures of spatial orientation and visualization, as well as a content‐based geospatial examination. All subjects improved significantly in their scores on spatial visualization and the geospatial examination. There was no change in their scores on spatial orientation. A three‐way analysis of variance, with the geospatial examination as the dependent variable, revealed significant main effects favoring the experimental group and a significant interaction between treatment and gender. These results demonstrate that spatial ability can be improved through instruction, that learning of geological content will improve as a resu...

Michael D. Piburn

Papers

Measuring Reform Practices in Science and Mathematics Classrooms: The Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol

Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP):Reference Manual

If I were the teacher … qualitative study of attitude toward science

The role of visualization in learning from computer‐based images

Evaluating College Science and Mathematics Instruction: A Reform Effort That Improves Teaching Skills.