We used the social-cognitive choice model (Lent et al., 2018) as a framework for investigating academic and career choice in the domain of geoscience for male and female students. In addition, we explored the role of perceived connection to instructors and transformative experience as additional factors in the social-cognitive choice model. A…

Background: Given the importance of engineers to a nation's economy and potential innovation, it is imperative to encourage more students to consider engineering as a college major. Previous studies have identified a broad range of high school experiences and demographic factors associated with engineering major choice; however, these factors have…

Although students are expected to finish school having a solid understanding of scientific concepts, they graduate from universities maintaining their former misconceptions in several fields, like physics. This study aims at validating the Thermal Concept Evaluation (TCE) test for university student's misconceptions of thermal concepts in everyday…

Identity development frameworks provide insight into why and to what extent individuals engage in STEM-related activities. While studies of "STEM identity" often build off previously validated disciplinary and/or science identity frameworks, quantitative analyses of constructs that specifically measure STEM identity and its antecedents…

On completing middle-school (ninth grade), Israeli students must choose which discipline(s) to major in upon entering high school. This study, grounded in Expectancy-Value Theory (EVT), identified and modeled the factors that contributed to students' academic choices from their own subjective perspectives. We collected qualitative and quantitative…

Pathways to biomedical careers are not being pursued with equal vigilance among all students. Emerging research shows that historically underrepresented (HU) students who maintain a strong science identity are more likely to persist. However, the influence of social support on persistence is less studied, especially as it relates to science…

Do individuals use video sharing sites in their free time to learn about science, and if so, why? This study takes a preliminary look at individual differences that motivate online science video seeking. Among 273 Singapore Internet users who participated in an online survey, most reported using YouTube during the previous week, and one-third…

This study examined whether students who left biomedical fields of study during college did so primarily because they became disenchanted with those fields or because they felt attracted to alternative fields of study. We identified 1,193 students intending to pursue biomedical fields of study early in college, collected data about their beliefs…

The article presents the findings on students' reasons for studying mechanical engineering. These reasons were covered in terms of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation additionally related to selected independent variables of the sample--students' secondary school Grade Point Average, their gender and the socio-economic status. The research was…

Differences in family background and culture contribute to belonging concerns for first-generation students during their transition to college (Stephens et al., 2012; Harackiewicz et al., 2016). We investigated whether variability in students' on-campus experience, in particular perceived faculty support, in the first semester of college predicts…

The quantitative Undergraduate Research Questionnaire (URQ) is used to assess the impact of undergraduate research mentorship affects, such as informal conversations, supportive faculty and/or peer interactions, on student confidence and motivation to continue working, learning or researching in the sciences (Taraban & Logue, 2012). Research…

The different opinions on products and applications of gene technology (GT) draw attention to the training and education activities related to GT. The purpose of this study is to review some variables predicting the acceptance perception regarding GT, and to investigate their changes at levels. The prospective teachers' subjective knowledge and…

Undergraduate research experiences confer benefits on students bound for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers, but the low number of research professionals available to serve as mentors often limits access to research. Within the context of our summer research program (BRAIN), we tested the hypothesis that a team-based…

The Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) is designed to support undergraduate students' professional development as future scientists. Juniors, seniors, and postbaccalaureates who attended ABRCMS during 2008-2011 were emailed a link to an online questionnaire in which they reported their experiences at the…

The scant literature on persistence of African American males in science typically takes a deficits-based approach to encapsulate the myriad reasons this population is so often underrepresented. Scientist Identity, Mentoring, and Campus Climate have, individually, been found to be related to the persistence of African American students. However,…