Assessing Pre-Service Teachers' Views of Scientists, Their Activities, and Locations: The VoSAL Instrument

Autor/inn/en	Reinisch, Bianca; Krell, Moritz
Titel	Assessing Pre-Service Teachers' Views of Scientists, Their Activities, and Locations: The VoSAL Instrument
Quelle	In: Research in Science Education, 53 (2023) 1, S.139-153 (15 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Reinisch, Bianca) ORCID (Krell, Moritz)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0157-244X
DOI	10.1007/s11165-022-10046-w
Schlagwörter	Preservice Teachers; Scientific Literacy; Scientific Attitudes; Knowledge Level; Scientists; Scientific Principles; Cognitive Tests; Freehand Drawing; Personality Measures; Projective Measures; Rating Scales; Undergraduate Students; Stereotypes; Misconceptions; Science Activities; Draw a Person Test + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Wissensbasis; Scientist; Wissenschaftler; Kognitiver Fähigkeitstest; Drawing; Zeichnen; Projective test; Projektiver Test; Rating-Skala; Klischee; Missverständnis
Abstract	In science education, learners' conceptions of scientists and their work are often assessed by the Draw-A-Scientist Test (DAST). Due to validity concerns, methodical literature demands the development of alternative instruments to measure learners' conceptions validly and efficiently. This study presents an instrument with 29 rating scale items to assess pre-service teachers' (PSTs) Views of Scientists, their Activities, and Locations (VoSAL). The items were developed based on theoretical considerations, previous findings, and repeated discussions by biology education experts. After several steps of test development, PSTs filled out the questionnaire (N = 1,098). Exploratory factor analyses and reliability measurements mostly confirm the proposed structure. Groups comparisons were performed regarding the results from pre-service biology teachers of three different study stages (n[subscript "freshmen"] = 114; n[subscript "second"] and third years = 124; n[subscript "graduates" = 107). Analyses of variance and corresponding post-hoc tests showed that undergraduates (freshmen, second and third years) differ significantly from graduates regarding the scales "stereotypical appearance," "inquiry location," and "scientific activity," with undergraduates having more stereotypical conceptions than graduates. In sum, the VoSAL can be utilized to gain valid data of PSTs' conceptions about scientists and their work. Also, the VoSAL can be considered efficient since the test time is between 5 and 10 min. Thus, the questionnaire is valuable in studies that aim to introduce and expose PSTs to realistic science images. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01