Trust in science and scientists and the acceptance of evolution

Background: Accepting the concept of evolution is important for the advancement of biological science and has many implications for daily life. However, a large portion of the general public does not currently accept biological evolution. Therefore, it is important to understand what factors are associated with a decline in the acceptance of evolution. Of particular interest for us is the relationship of individuals’ sense of trust in science in relationship to evolution acceptance. Methods: Using the Trust in Science and Scientists and Inventory of Student Evolution Acceptance we surveyed 159 undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory psychology course. Additionally, we also asked the students questions regarding their religious commitment and political orientation. To analyze the data we calculated correlations, regressions, and conducted a path analysis. Results: We found that lower levels of trust in science and scientists, stronger religious commitment, and more conservative political orientations were associated with a decrease in the acceptance of evolution in an undergraduate sample. We also found that the results shifted as the contexts for evolution changed. Conclusion: While religious commitment has been previously studied, when combined with levels of both trust in science and scientists and political orientation we gain new insight into how different factors combine to influence evolution acceptance, particularly as the evolution context changes. By understanding how these factors are linked to acceptance of evolution, we may be able to start developing strategies for increasing the acceptance of evolution that are consistent with a range of worldviews

Perceptions of the Nature of Science by Geoscience Students Experiencing Two Different Courses of Study

Student knowledge of the Nature of Science (NOS) is critical to their understanding of science. NOS encapsulates the tenets of how science is regarded and the heuristics by which science is judged to be valid and appropriate. The importance of NOS to science education has lead to curricular and policy development that mandate the construct be taught throughout the K-12 science curriculum. If this curriculum is effective there is an expectation that students would enter post-secondary with foundational knowledge of NOS. Our research examined the perspectives of NOS among two different cohorts of undergraduate geoscience students, one of lower division students beginning their study of geoscience and a second of upper division students nearing the completion of their degree. We assessed their intellectual and emotional perceptions of NOS at the beginning of the semester. At the end of the semester we again assessed their perceptions of NOS and their conceptual understanding of geoscience. Our results indicate there was not a significant difference between the two cohorts and there was a significant drop in the emotional perceptions of NOS over the semester (p \u3c .05). Conceptual understanding of geoscience was found to be significantly correlated with emotional perceptions of NOS. The results, implications, and directions for future research are discussed

Trust in Science and Scientists and the Acceptance of Evolution

Background: Accepting the concept of evolution is important for the advancement of biological science and has many implications for daily life. However, a large portion of the general public does not currently accept biological evolution. Therefore, it is important to understand what factors are associated with a decline in the acceptance of evolution. Of particular interest for us is the relationship of individuals’ sense of trust in science in relationship to evolution acceptance. Methods: Using the Trust in Science and Scientists and Inventory of Student Evolution Acceptance we surveyed 159 undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory psychology course. Additionally, we also asked the students questions regarding their religious commitment and political orientation. To analyze the data we calculated correlations, regressions, and conducted a path analysis. Results: We found that lower levels of trust in science and scientists, stronger religious commitment, and more conservative political orientations were associated with a decrease in the acceptance of evolution in an undergraduate sample. We also found that the results shifted as the contexts for evolution changed. Conclusion: While religious commitment has been previously studied, when combined with levels of both trust in science and scientists and political orientation we gain new insight into how different factors combine to influence evolution acceptance, particularly as the evolution context changes. By understanding how these factors are linked to acceptance of evolution, we may be able to start developing strategies for increasing the acceptance of evolution that are consistent with a range of worldviews

The Variables Related to Public Acceptance of Evolution in the United States

Background: The current study explores variables related to public acceptance of evolution in the United States by state. Data on acceptance of evolution, religiosity, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degree attainment, educational attainment, high school dropout rate, average teacher salary, and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita were analyzed for the 50 states. Methods: Employing secondary data analysis, bivariate correlations were used to investigate the relationship between US acceptance of evolution and each variable. Results: As predicted, there was a strong negative correlation between acceptance of evolution and religiosity and a strong positive relationship between acceptance and science degrees awarded, bachelor degree attainment, advanced degree attainment, average teacher salary, and GDP per capita. Conclusion: Several implications for evolution education and acceptance are discussed

A Comparison of Two Engineering Outreach Programs for Adolescents

There is continued growth and development of outreach programs designed to increase pre-college students’ awareness and understanding of engineering as a profession and as a career. These outreach programs vary in format and in the groups targeted for participation but maintain the same fundamental goal of increasing participant knowledge of engineering. Many of these outreach programs also maintain the implicit goal of increasing the participants\u27 knowledge and attitudes toward college. The additional resources and funding that are commonly allocated to support outreach programs frequently involve documenting accountability which motivates evaluation of program impact. Therefore, many outreach events include program evaluation to assess impact on the pre-college participants’ knowledge and perceptions of engineering, but they have not included the assessment of program impact on college attitudes. In this outreach program evaluation study, we examined the impact of two residential engineering outreach events on the participants\u27 engineering perceptions and attitudes and their college attitudes. Our results indicate a number of personal variables were predictors of college attitude, but we failed to expose any variables as indicators of engineering perceptions and attitudes. Analysis of the pre-post survey scores revealed a significant change in engineering perceptions and attitudes (p \u3c .01), but no significant change in college attitude (p =.07). We also exposed a differential impact by outreach event. Results, implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed

Nursing Advising Using a MOOC: A Case Study

Advanced technology has moved online courses from being available to exclusively to elite students to literally being open to the general public. The proliferation of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) has led to expanding public access to a wide range of information including careers in health care fields. Our group developed a MOOC to assist people from around the world who are interested in pursuing a career in nursing get the information they need to be successful in the nursing program and in the profession of nursing. In this article, we describe course content, who the students were who enrolled in the free MOOC, and the course outcomes we developed. In addition, we discuss lessons learned and provide recommendations to assist others seeking to develop a MOOC for career advising

Are They Simply Interested? An Exploration of Engineering Students\u27 Most Favorite Classes

This work in progress explores how instructional strategies and technology use were related to engineering students\u27 affinity toward a class. Instructional strategies, such as contextual problem-based learning and teamwork, can increase student interest in a topic. Additionally using different technological tools affects student interest and learning. However, instructors can be challenged to encourage and maintain student interest, which makes this study worthwhile to pursue. To our knowledge, there is a dearth of engineering education research exploring the relationship between instructional technology, instructional strategies, and engineering students\u27 course favoritism. This study aims to fill this gap by identifying effective instructional strategies and the use of educational technology that helped make a class engineering students’ favorite

Life’s Lessons in the Lab: A Summer of Learning from Undergraduate Research Experiences

Research experiences for undergraduates (REUs) seek to increase the participating students’ knowledge and perceptions of scientific research through engagement in laboratory research and related activities. Various REU outcomes have been investigated, including influence on participants’ content knowledge, career plans, and general perceptions of their domains of research. The complexity of REUs and dynamic nature of student development provide opportunity for exploring how REUs influence student growth. Our research focused on first and second-year college students who participated in a residential REU program that took place in a chemistry department in a metropolitan university in the western United States. We assessed the standard REU outcomes and sought to document the emotions the students experienced through their participation. In addition, we used the developmental framework of self-authorship (Baxter-Magolda, 2004) as a lens to investigate the participants’ professional identity development. Our mixed methods research revealed shifts in the participants’ perceptions of science, increases in their knowledge of chemistry, and clarity in their career trajectories. We also found that the REU participants experienced profound levels of professional identity growth and used a number of affective terms, such as confidence, persistence, patience, and enjoyment, to describe their experience. Interpretations and implications are discussed

Are We Preparing the Next Generation? K-12 Teacher Knowledge and Engagement in Teaching Core STEM Practices

Background: Several of the recent reform efforts in K-12 STEM education (e.g. Next Generation Science Standards [NGSS and Common Core State Standards-Mathematics [CCSS-M]) have included significant emphasis on the practices of STEM. We argue that K-12 teachers\u27 ability to effectively engage their students in these core STEM practices is fundamental to the success of potential and current engineering students and their subsequent careers as engineers. Practices such as identifying problems, modeling using mathematics, and arguing from evidence are fundamental processes in engineering. Helping students develop their capacity to engage in these practices early in their education will increase the likelihood of the students applying the practices and developing skills aligned with the work of engineers. We contend that engaging in the practices associated with engineering may increase K-12 student interest and the successful pursuit of engineering as a career because they will find relevance in what is being taught and gain knowledge of the applications of STEM content which will help them develop talents aligned with the work of engineers. Project: In recognition of the importance of being able to apply the practices of science and engineering (NGSS) and the practices of mathematics (CCSS-M) to be successful as an engineer (or a STEM professional), we emphasized the of importance and value of core STEM practices as part of i-STEM-our week-long intensive, statewide STEM professional development (PD) summer institute program for over 500 K-12 educators. During i-STEM, the K-12 educators were exposed to interactive plenary sessions in which keynote speakers walked the participants through the practices using authentic hands-on activities and materials detailing the practices, and STEM professional development providers engaged them in the practices in STEM topic specific strands (intensive 25 hour short courses based on themes such as mining, energy, computer science, robotics, transportation, and etc). To determine the impact of the summer institute, we developed and administered an instrument to assess the participants\u27 knowledge and engagement in teaching core STEM practices. Pre-Test Results: Our analysis revealed that before the teachers (N = 347) entered the i-STEM professional development offering they had very limited knowledge of core practices. When asked to list core practices some responded with answers such as, I have no knowledge of this. and Give background on rockets, watching videos, building rockets, discuss how and why they flew the farthest, redo and re-fly. and Not sure what you mean by practices. In contrast, when asked to rate their levels of knowledge of the math practices (on a scale of 1-10) the average rating was 5.67 (SD = 2.21) and knowledge of science/engineering practices was 2.62 (SD = 2.00). Responses indicated that the teachers rated their knowledge as moderate in math and low in science/engineering and yet they struggled to articulate many of the core STEM practices. Post-Test Results: The immediate post-test of the participants (n = 347) revealed increases in self-reported averaged ratings of knowledge of the CCSS-M practices (M = 6.63, SD = 1.86) and the NGSS science and engineering practices (M = 5.04, SD = 2.03). However, as with the pre-test, these ratings were misaligned with detailed articulation of the practices. Responses to the item asking the participants to list the core STEM practices included statements such as, I think there is a written explanation as to why things work and the steps broken down and explained. and Not familiar enough. Regardless many participants indicated that they had a better understanding of the practices after the i-STEM institute. å© American Society for Engineering Education, 2015

A Journey Toward Mastery Teaching: STEM Faculty Engagement in a Year-Long Faculty Learning Community

As part of an institutional focus on STEM student success, a group of STEM faculty participated in a year-long faculty learning community (FLC) to explore and adopt research-based best practice in their teaching. The authors assessed the effectiveness of the FLC in influencing faculty perceptions about teaching and increasing their use of best teaching practices. Their research design used pre- and post-analysis of participants\u27 teaching logs, classroom observations, and a survey instrument that probed attitudes toward teaching and learning. Data analysis shows that the sustained support provided by the FLC increased faculty knowledge of best teaching practices and catalyzed faculty to try new pedagogical and assessment approaches. However, over the year of the FLC experience, only small shifts were observed in faculty perceptions and practice, as measured by a survey and a descriptive observation protocol, respectively. Results suggest the experience primarily supported modest faculty exploration of new strategies