Validation of an instrument to measure knowledge, skills, and attitudes related to team science in undergraduate courses

Introduction Teamwork has been shown to be fundamental to successful science research and is a skill desired by employers. Yet, students in university settings receive little explicit development in how to effectively work in teams. Methods This study seeks to develop a measure of knowledge, skills, and attitudes related to the implementation of team science training in course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) at a rural university in the southeastern U.S. across the four science disciplines of biology, chemistry, geology, and engineering. The validity and reliability of the newly developed survey instrument called Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes toward Team Science (KSATS) is described. Results Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis suggested that the KSATS has three subscales: Knowledge (items that relate the subjects' responses about their knowledge of actions taken by an effective team), Skills (subjects' assessment of the skills needed to take part in a team), and Attitudes (items regarding a participants' attitudes toward teams in a science context). Results indicate that KSATS is a valid and reliable measure for evaluating student outcomes of team science training: knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Discussion Information from the KSATS will enable instructors and researchers to measure teamwork in science.