Pre/Post STEM Survey for 4th and 5th Grade

This pre/post survey was developed for In4All’s (formerly BEC) STEM™ Connect program, focused on 4th and 5th grade students. The evaluation investigated the impact the program had in two key areas: career interest and attitude. The expectation is that the students will: (1) improve their attitude/behavior toward math and science and (2) increase their interest in pursuing a math or science career. To measure their attitude toward math and science, the Attitude Toward Science in School Assessment (ATSSA) was administered. This instrument was developed by Germann (1988) to assess attitudes toward science among 7th to 10th grade students. Our survey expanded to include the topic of math, replacing the word ‘math’ with ‘science’ in all survey items. Additional items were added to measure their interest in math or science-related careers. For three school years, the survey was administered to 4th-grade students. While the language has not been tested with 4th graders specifically, it was determined that the preference was to administer the original validated tool rather than risk compromising results by changing the language. Additional items were also added to the post-test survey to measure opinions on the presentations, activities, volunteers, and whether the student felt an increased interest in math and science as a result of the program.

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Supplemental Information:

n/a

Assessment Type:

Survey

Scale:

Multiple choice, point scale (e.g. Likert scale), or selected response, short written response

Publication Date:

Nov 20, 2016

Respondent:

Elementary school classroom setting (primary school; approx. age 6-12 years)

Domain(s) Evaluated:

Engagement, Attitude / Behavior

Sample items:

3. We want to understand how you feel about having a career or job in math. Please choose one answer per statement (Strongly agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree, Strongly Disagree)
a. A job in math is interesting to me.
b. I want to learn more about different jobs in math.
c. A job in math sounds boring.

Reliability:

A portion of the survey is the ATSSA. In their instrument testing, the Cronbach’s alpha estimates of reliability were all greater than .95.

Validity:

A portion of this survey is the ATSSA, which was found to be a valid instrument.

Frequency:

Rarely

Administration time:

Under 15 minutes

Requires a Computer:

No

Requires Internet Access:

No

Primary reference:

Germann, P. J. (1988). Development of the attitude toward science in school assessment and its use to investigate the relationship between science achievement and attitude toward science in school. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 25, 680-703. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.3660250807

Comments:

This tool primarily focuses on how 4th-grade students' attitudes and interests changed toward math and science.

STEM Criteria

Science

Yes

Technology

No

Engineering

No

Math

Yes
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Contact

Chari Smith, President, Evaluation into Action chari@evaluationintoaction.com