Development of an Attitude Scale to Measure the Undergraduate Students' Attitudes towards Nanobiotechnology

Autor/in	Gul, Seyda
Titel	Development of an Attitude Scale to Measure the Undergraduate Students' Attitudes towards Nanobiotechnology
Quelle	In: Journal of Science Education and Technology, 26 (2017) 5, S.519-533 (15 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1059-0145
DOI	10.1007/s10956-017-9696-y
Schlagwörter	Academic Achievement; Undergraduate Students; Student Attitudes; Biotechnology; Attitude Measures; Student Teachers; Science Education; Biology; Factor Analysis; Validity; Reliability; Attitude Scale + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Schulleistung; Schülerverhalten; Biotechnologie; Lehramtsstudent; Lehramtsstudentin; Referendar; Referendarin; Naturwissenschaftliche Bildung; Biologie; Faktorenanalyse; Gültigkeit; Reliabilität
Abstract	Nanobiotechnology, which resulted from the convergence of biotechnology and nanotechnology, is a new field of research, and it has an increasing impact on peoples' everyday lives. Thus, it is important to measure peoples' attitudes towards nanobiotechnology, in particular, those who are specifically involved in biology and science education. However, despite the existence of an adequate number of instruments on biotechnology or nanotechnology, for nanobiotechnology, there is no instrument that has been rigorously validated. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop a nanobiotechnology scale for assessing the undergraduate students' attitudes. The data were gathered from 236 student teachers enrolled in the departments of biology education and elementary science education. The findings from exploratory factor analysis (EFA) provided evidence for the validity and reliability of the final form of the scale. A total of 36 items were identified and contained within the following four factors, nanobiotechnology awareness, interest in nanobiotechnology, nanobiotechnology education, and the applications of nanobiotechnology. The total variance was 53.021%, and the Cronbach's alpha for the overall scale was 0.93. The scale was later given to 203 student teachers, the results of which were presented in this study. The results indicated significant differences in gender and department in some of the subscales of the scale. As a result, it is believed that the instrument will be a valuable tool for both instructors and researchers in science education to assess the student teachers' attitudes about nanobiotechnology. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01