Assessing STEM Interest as a Developmental Motivational Variable

• In Event: Current Approaches to Interest Measurement

Abstract

This poster will present items from The STEM Tipping Points Survey, an online survey developed to assess interest and other variables as potential predictors of retention among undergraduates who anticipated majors in STEM on entering college. The survey was distributed to second-semester, third-year undergraduates (N= 2317 f, 1672 m). Results corroborate and extend those reported by Seymour and Hewitt (1997). STEM interest, classroom influences, and course work were found to be critical predictors of who continues to pursue STEM majors. Qualitative analysis of an open-ended item provides further detail about the reasons given for staying or leaving. Links between items used to assess STEM interest, and those used in prior studies in which interest was assessed using video analysis, interview data, and prior surveys will be presented.

Authors

• K. Ann Renninger, Swarthmore College

• Lynne Steuerle Schofield, Swarthmore College