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High-achieving High School Students' Science Activities, Self-concept, and Choice of a Science Major  

Heo, Mi-Sook (Suseo Middle School)
Publication Information
Journal of Gifted/Talented Education / v.20, no.3, 2010 , pp. 885-899 More about this Journal
Abstract
The purpose of this research project is to explain why high-achieving high school students in our country do or do not choose a science major and to explore gender differences. First-year students attending science high schools and international high school participated, responding to open-ended questions on science activities, self-concept of strengths for science learning, and rationales for choosing or not choosing a science major. For high- achieving students, it is shown that intrinsic interest has the greatest correlation with choosing a science major, with the next important influence being self-efficacy. On the other hand, in not choosing a science major, the lack of self-efficacy has a greater correlation than the lack of intrinsic interest. Self-concept in science-learning and science activities occurring outside of school classes are also compared and analyzed, and implications are discussed from educational and policy viewpoints.
Keywords
High-achieving high school students; Science activities; Strengths for science learning; Self-efficacy; Expectation-value theory; Science major; Gender differences;
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