SENSE OF BELONGING TO SCIENCE – ENTWICKLUNG EINES ERHEBUNGSINSTRUMENTS FÜR LEHRAMTSSTUDIERENDE (2020)

ABSTRACT (Deutsch) Diverse Studien weisen darauf hin, dass der Bildungserfolg von Studierenden auch durch ihren Sense of Belonging – das Ausmaß, in dem sich eine Person einem bestimmten sozialen Umfeld zugehörig fühlt – bedingt ist. Bislang wurde allerdings Sense of Belonging weitgehend domänen-unspezifisch untersucht. Studien, die den Sense of Belonging to Science angehender Naturwissenschaftslehrkräfte untersuchten, fehlen zudem nahezu vollständig. Ein Grund hierfür ist, dass es an Instrumenten mangelt, mit denen eine Erfassung des Sense of Belonging von Lehramtsstudierenden zu bestimmten Fachdomänen möglich ist. Die hier vorgestellte Studie widmet sich daher der Frage, inwieweit sich mit Hilfe eines Selbstauskunftsfragebogens der Sense of Belonging to Science von Lehramtsstudierenden erfassen lässt. Hierzu wurde, inspiriert durch bereits bestehende Sense-of-Belonging-Instrumente, ein entsprechender Likert-Skalen-Fragebogen entwickelt und dieser an N = 129 Naturwissenschaftslehramtsstudierenden der [Name der Universität] pilotiert. Durch eine explorative Datenanalyse konnte belastbare Evidenz dafür gewonnen werden, dass mit Hilfe des entwickelten Fragebogens Sense of Belonging to Science reliabel und valide erfasst werden kann. Mögliche Implikationen der vorliegenden Studie für die naturwissenschaftsdidaktische Forschung sowie für die universitäre Ausbildung von Naturwissenschaftslehrer*innen werden am Ende dieses Beitrags skizziert. Schlagworte: Sense of Belonging, universitäre Naturwissenschaftslehrerbildung, Lehramtsstudierende, Fragebogenkonstruktion ABSTRACT (English) Various studies indicate that the educational success of university students is also determined by their Sense of Belonging – the extent to which an individual considers himself or herself to belong to a particular social environment. Previous studies, however, have predominantly examined university students' Sense of Belonging in a domain-unspecific way. Moreover, there is a lack of studies addressing student science teachers. Part of the reason for this lack of research is the scarcity of appropriate instruments to measure student teachers' Sense of Belonging within a specific academic domain. Purpose: This exploratory study addresses the question to which extent student teachers' Sense of Belonging to Science can be assessed in a reliable and valid way using a likert scale questionnaire. Sample/Setting: The sample consists of 129 student teachers training to become teachers of at least one natural science subject (biology, chemistry, physics). The study was conducted in the science education courses held at the [university name] (Germany) in the 2019 summer term. Design and Methods: Inspired by existing instruments, a likert scale questionnaire for assessing Sense of Belonging to Science was developed. The collected data was analyzed using exploratory factor analysis. Items with commonalities less than .50 and with substantial double-loadings were eliminated from the scales. Moreover, the validity of the developed questionnaire was explored using both correlation and differential analyses. Results: The data analysis revealed that the developed questionnaire consists of five scales, which can be used to form a composite scale. The five scales have good or very good reliability (.84 £ a £ .92); the reliability of the composite scale is acceptable (wh = .72). The correlation analyses indicate that Sense of Belonging to Science, assessed with the developed questionnaire, is distinguishable from other constructs such as interest in science or university belonging. Finally, the differential analyses show (as expected) that men as well as students who undertake more extensive studies in science have a significant greater Sense of Belonging to Science than women or students who undertake less extensive studies in science (.15 £ |rES| £ .17). Conclusions: The exploratory data analysis provide results which strongly indicate that the developed questionnaire is a reliable and valid instrument to assess student teachers' Sense of Belonging to Science. Possible implications of the present study for science educational research as well as for science teacher education are outlined at the end of this paper. Keywords: Sense of Belonging, science teacher education, student science teachers, scale development