Positions on science and religious beliefs across societies: Development of a research instrument and testing of its validity among high school students.

Abstract

Science education inclusive of learners' cultures requires understanding how students position scientific knowledge with regard to identity-laden beliefs, such as religions. To address this need, we developed a research tool administered across linguistic and societal contexts. In this article, we present the conceptual frameworks the instrument articulates and draws upon. We then test the construct validity and internal consistency of its dimensions based on data collected from a main sample of 238 English-speaking American, Dutch and Norwegian students, all in their final year of compulsory school education, as well as from a secondary sample of 372 French-speaking Belgian students that we use to further discuss the results from the main sample. The results obtained through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and by Cronbach's alpha analysis are consistent with our theoretical model. We discuss implications for the use of this instrument by researchers, as well as formal or informal science educators.