Perceptions of science graduating students on their learning gains
Abstract
In this study, the Science Student Skills Inventory was used to gain understanding of student perceptions about their science skills set developed throughout their programme (scientific content knowledge, communication, scientific writing, teamwork, quantitative skills, and ethical thinking). The study involved 400 responses from undergraduate science students about to graduate from two Australian research-intensive institutions. For each skill, students rated on a four-point Likert scale their perception of the importance of developing the skill within the programme, how much they improved it throughout their undergraduate science programme, how much they saw the skill included in the programme, how confident they were about the skill, and how much they will use the skill in the future. Descriptive statistics indicate that overall, student perception of importance of these skills was greater than perceptions of improvement, inclusion in the programme, confidence, and future use. Quantitative skills and ethical thinking were perceived by more students to be less important. t-Test analyses revealed some differences in perception across different demographic groups (gender, age, graduate plans, and research experience). Most notably, gender showed significant differences across most skills. Implications for curriculum development are discussed, and lines for further research are given.
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“However, there are fewer learning gains have been studied for behavioral change, but some researchers believe that behavioral learning gains deserve further study and that skill development and engagement are as important as knowledge acquisition (37, 42, 43).”
- Authors
- Varsavsky, C., Matthews, K. E., & Hodgson, Y.
- Affiliations
- Monash University (AU)
- The University of Queensland (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Varsavsky, Cristina
- Venue
- International Journal of Science Education
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2013-08-21
- Volume
- 36
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 929-951
- ISSN
- 0950-0693 (ISSN-L)
- 1464-5289
- OpenAlex
- W2039473022
- Cited by
- 53
- References
- 43
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 20.97
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- International Journal of Science Education (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Science Education and Pedagogy
- Social Sciences › Education › Higher Education and Employability
- Social Sciences › Education › Educational Methods and Analysis
- Keywords
- undergraduate science education, student perceptions, learning gains, science skills, scientific writing, teamwork, quantitative skills, ethical thinking, gender differences, research experience, curriculum development, research universities
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