Instruments

With increased interest in promoting engineering as a field of study and career pathway to both college and pre-college student, it is important to understand the many factors that impact students’ learning and decision-making processes. In this paper, one of the important environmental factors surrounding students was selected as a main research subject: parents and other similar caregivers. Parents play a significant role in mediating between teachers and students as well as motivating children’s interest in engineering. To better understand the influence of parents in children’s engineering education, it is important to have a proper assessment tool for measuring parents’ engineering awareness. However, while many researchers have acknowledged the importance of parental involvement, no suitable instrument exists to be used for parents (and other caregivers). The main aim of this study is to develop and empirically validate an instrument which assesses parents’ knowledge of, attitudes towards, and behavior related to engineering education. This paper will present a rigorous instrument development model and an example of how this model has been applied. Additionally, the paper presents an example of an instrument that captures the three aspects of learning represented in the KAB framework: knowledge, attitude and behavior.