Perceived Difficulty of School Science and Cost Appraisals: A Valuable Relationship for the STEM Pipeline?

Autor/in	Toma, Radu Bogdan
Titel	Perceived Difficulty of School Science and Cost Appraisals: A Valuable Relationship for the STEM Pipeline?
Quelle	In: Research in Science Education, 52 (2022) 2, S.553-565 (13 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Toma, Radu Bogdan)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0157-244X
DOI	10.1007/s11165-020-09963-5
Schlagwörter	Difficulty Level; Science Education; STEM Education; Prediction; Elementary School Students; Career Choice; Student Attitudes; Student Motivation; Disproportionate Representation + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Schwierigkeitsgrad; Naturwissenschaftliche Bildung; STEM; Vorhersage; Schülerverhalten; Schulische Motivation
Abstract	The lack of students interested in pursuing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-related careers calls for studies that identify variables affecting their career decisions. By drawing on recent conceptualizations of the cost domain first introduced in the expectancy-value theory of achievement motivations, this study investigated whether the perceived difficulty of school science predicted and affected elementary school students (N = 245) task effort and loss of valued alternatives experienced while engaging in a science-related course. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that students' perceived difficulty significantly predicted levels of cost experienced when studying science. Likewise, multi-factor ANOVAs revealed that students perceiving school science as a difficult subject reported significantly higher levels of task effort and loss of valued alternatives related to studying science. These findings suggest that the attitudinal dimensions of perceived difficulty play a promising role in the development of cost in science, which has valuable implications for repairing the leaky STEM pipeline. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01