Date of this Version
8-28-2009
Document Type
Article
Abstract
The Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS) has been widely acknowledged as a useful measure of student cognitive attitudes about science and learning. The initial University of Colorado validation study included only 20% non-Caucasian student populations. In this Brief Report we extend their validation to include a predominately under-represented minority population. We validated the CLASS instrument at Florida International University, a Hispanic-serving institution, by interviewing students in introductory physics classes using a semistructured protocol, examining students’ responses on the CLASS item statements, and comparing them to the items’ intended meaning. We find that in our predominately Hispanic population, 94% of the students’ interview responses indicate that the students interpret the CLASS items correctly, and thus the CLASS is a valid instrument. We also identify one potentially problematic item in the instrument which one third of the students interviewed consistently misinterpreted.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Sawtelle, Vashti; Brewe, Eric; and Kramer, Laird, "Validation study of the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey at a Hispanic-serving institution" (2009). Department of Teaching and Learning. 2.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/tl_fac/2
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Comments
This article was originally published in DOAJ Phys.Rev. ST Phys. Educ.Res. 5, 023101 (2009).