Student Attitudes toward Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Questionnaire [STEM-44]

Description

The Student Attitudes toward Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Questionnaire (STEM-44) is an assessment instrument designed to examine students’ attitudes, interests, and self-perceptions in relation to STEM subjects and career pathways. The instrument is based on the validated S-STEM (Student Attitudes toward STEM) survey developed by the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at North Carolina State University.

The questionnaire provides a structured way to explore how students perceive their abilities, interests, and potential future engagement with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. In this way, it can contribute to a better understanding of both academic confidence and career orientation toward STEM fields.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the STEM-44 is to assess students’ attitudes and interests toward STEM disciplines and to examine their level of confidence in relation to the corresponding school subjects.

The findings may be used to support the improvement of educational interventions and STEM-related programs. The instrument may also help identify factors that strengthen or limit students’ interest in STEM subjects and their willingness to pursue future educational or professional pathways in these fields.

Thematic Dimensions

The questionnaire covers attitudes and perceptions related to science, mathematics, engineering, and technology, as well as students’ views regarding the possible use of these fields in their future professional lives.

Indicative items examine interest in learning science, confidence in scientific and mathematical skills, preference for building activities and understanding how things work, interest in technology, and intentions to pursue future careers related to STEM.

Scoring

The STEM-44 items are rated using a five-point Likert scale. According to the provided material, the response options are:

1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Slightly Agree, 3 = Neither Agree nor Disagree, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.

Individual responses may be combined to generate overall or thematic scores, depending on the structure and scoring protocol of the specific version of the questionnaire.

Data Analysis and Use

Data collected through the STEM-44 can be analyzed quantitatively in order to identify overall trends, relationships, and possible changes in students’ attitudes. Of particular interest is the possibility of comparing results before and after the implementation of specific STEM educational interventions.

Analysis may also be conducted according to characteristics such as gender, age, school grade, or other demographic variables, in order to explore possible differences in students’ attitudes and interests.

Depending on the research design, statistical procedures may include descriptive statistics, comparisons of mean scores, correlation analyses, regression models, and pre-post analyses.

Psychometric Evaluation

Because the STEM-44 is based on the S-STEM, its psychometric evaluation may include examination of internal consistency, factor structure, and the validity of its individual dimensions.

When the instrument is adapted for use in different linguistic or cultural populations, it is important to reassess its reliability and structural validity. Measures such as Cronbach’s alpha or other appropriate indicators of internal consistency may be used, together with exploratory or confirmatory factor analysis.

Applications

The STEM-44 may be used in educational research, STEM program evaluation, career guidance, and the study of students’ attitudes toward science and technology.

It can support the evaluation of educational activities, workshops, and STEM programs, as well as the investigation of differences between groups of students. In addition, the instrument may assist in designing interventions aimed at strengthening students’ interest, confidence, and intention to pursue STEM-related studies or careers.

Data Use and Ethics

According to the provided material, the data collected are intended exclusively for educational and research purposes, while participant anonymity, confidentiality, and protection of personal data should be maintained.

References

Friday Institute for Educational Innovation. (2012). Student Attitudes toward STEM Survey – Middle and High School Students. North Carolina State University.

Unfried, A., Faber, M., Stanhope, D. S., & Wiebe, E. (2015). The development and validation of a measure of student attitudes toward science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 33(7), 622–639.