STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS SCIENCE: THE CONTRIBUTION OF A CITIZEN SCIENCE PROJECT FOR MONITORING COASTAL WATER QUALITY AND (MICRO)PLASTICS

The promotion of positive attitudes towards science is an important goal of science education. This research aimed to identify students' attitudes towards science and whether their participation within a citizen science project has contributed to positive attitudinal changes. So, an attitudinal scale was developed, validated, and applied (as a pre and post-test) to 574 students aged between 12 and 14 years old. Positive attitudes towards science were recorded from the outset among children of both groups. Students' participation within the experimental group enhanced relevant positive attitudinal changes at the level of the critical analysis dimension, related to the perception of skills development such as questioning or critical thinking. Furthermore, positive attitudinal changes were achieved within the affinity dimension, related to perceived self-efficacy and appreciation of science and science classes. Positive attitudinal changes towards science among students indicate that citizen science contributes to enhance affective and attitudinal domains of their scientific literacy. Keywords: attitudes towards science scale, attitudinal changes, citizen science, science education, water quality monitoring

Gender Analysis in terms of Attitudes and Self-Efficacy of Science Subjects for Junior High School Students

The purpose of this study was to determine the comparison of students' attitudes and self-efficacy based on gender, and to determine the relationship between students' attitudes and self-efficacy towards science subjects. This research uses quantitative research with survey method. The sample in this study was 74 students from SMPN 1 Muaro Jambi in Muaro Jambi district. The sampling technique used is purposive sampling. There are two instruments in this study, namely attitudes towards science and self-efficacy. The results of the T-test of student attitudes towards science subjects obtained were sig. (2-tailed) < 0.05, so there were differences in student attitudes towards science subjects, both female and male students in class VIII A and class VIII B. The results of the T-test of students' self-efficacy on science subjects obtained a value of sig.(2-tailed) < 0.05, so there are differences in student self-efficacy on science subjects, both female students and male students in class VIII A and class VIII B. While the results of the correlation test between attitudes and students' self-efficacy towards science subjects class VIII A and VIII B showed a value of sig. (2-tailed) < 0.05, then there was a relationship between students' attitudes and self-efficacy towards subjects’ science lessons, both female students and male students in class VIII A and class VIII B.

Attitudes towards science during the COVID-19 pandemic: A psychological network approach

A better understanding of the public attitude towards science could be crucial to tackle the spread of mis- and disinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. We here contribute to this understanding by conceptualizing and analyzing the attitude toward science as a psychological network. For this analysis, we utilized data from a German probability sample (N = 1,009), the “Science Barometer”, collected during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, our network analysis revealed that especially the perceived value of science for curbing the pandemic is central to the attitude towards science. Beliefs about this value are related to trust in science and trust in scientific information and to positive and negative evaluations of scientific controversy and complexity. Further, valuing common sense over science was related to seeking less scientific information on official websites, suggesting that this belief, in particular, may drive mis- and disinformation and could be a promising target for interventions. Finally, we found no evidence that seeking scientific information on social media had detrimental consequences for the attitude towards science. Implications for health communication and science communication, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

Educating Progressed Learners in Times of COVID-19: How Can Bricolage Help?

This paper discusses using bricolage to mitigate the struggles faced by progressed learners in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Most progressed learners perform poorly in many subjects, especially sciences. Their struggle has stimulated the need to find ways to enhance their performance. Reinvented artefacts and processes can be used for emancipation, and to transform agendas for improving the performance of progressed learners. To collect data, we used participatory action research, which uses a thematic approach to make meaning of data. We created a WhatsApp group to enable focus group discussions for collecting data, to circumvent COVID-19 restrictions. The group had 14 members, among whom teachers and learners from rural schools. The study found that the factors that contributed to poor performance were a lack of teaching and learning materials, too few teachers, less than optimal teaching methods and learners’ attitudes towards science subjects. The main argument of the article is that, in this time characterised by the COVID-19 pandemic, embracing bricolage has the impetus to mitigate challenges relating to the education of progressed learners. Thus, it is important to emancipate teachers, so that they can bricolise the environment for teaching and learning.

Consumer Valuation of and Attitudes Towards Novel Foods Produced with NPETs: A Review

We review the emerging international body of evidence on attitudes and willingness to pay (WTP) for novel foods produced with New Plant Engineering Techniques (NPETs). NPETs include genome/gene editing, cisgenesis, intragenesis, RNA interference and others. These novel foods are often beneficial for the environment and human health and more sustainable under increasingly prevalent climate extremes. These techniques can also improve animal welfare and disease resistance when applied to animals. Despite these promising attributes, evidence suggests that many, but not all consumers, discount these novel foods relative to conventional ones. Our systematic review sorts out findings to identify conditioning factors which can increase the acceptance of and WTP for these novel foods in a significant segment of consumers. International patterns of acceptance are identified. We also analyze how information and knowledge interact with consumer acceptance of these novel foods and technologies. Heterogeneity of consumers across cultures and borders, and in attitudes towards science and innovation emerges as key determinants of acceptance and WTP. Acceptance and WTP tend to increase when beneficial attributes&mdash;as opposed to producer-oriented cost-saving attributes&mdash;are generated by NPETs. NPETs improved foods are systematically less discounted than transgenic foods. Most of the valuation elicitations are based on hypothetical experiments and surveys and await validation through revealed preferences in actual purchases in food retailing environments.

Psychological correlates of attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccines among Polish respondents – a snapshot study before the start of the massive vaccination campaign

Background: COVID-19 vaccines are being recognized as a way to stop the ongoing pandemic. However, for this method to be effective, it requires a high level of people’s willingness to be vaccinated. In this context, measuring the psychological aspects of attitudes towards vaccination against COVID-19 when the vaccine was developed but not yet distributed was of interest.Method: In a study conducted on a sample of 468 Polish participants, we measured attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccine in the context of such variables as fear of COVID, the general tendency to conspiracy ideation and conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19, knowledge about vaccines, attitudes towards science, previous protective behaviors during a pandemic, perceived infectability and germ avoidance. We also tested the association of attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccine with participants’ experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic, gender, age, and level of education.Results: The analyses revealed correlations between attitudes towards the vaccine with most of the variables studied. A regression model with predictors such as fear of COVID, attitudes towards science, and conspiracy beliefs related to COVID-19 explained 46% of the variance of the attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccine. Male participants were more positive about the COVID-19 vaccine than female participants. Attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccine were not related to personal experiences of the pandemic, the age, and the level of education of participants.Conclusion: The obtained results show the importance of psychological aspects concerning attitudes towards vaccination, which can be considered in designing preventive public interventions.