Pulling Back the Curtain: Uncovering and Changing Students' Perceptions of Scientists

Abstract

Although there have been numerous scientists-in-the-classroom initiatives in recent years, there is little research that documents whether or not these initiatives make an impact on students. This study examined 27 seventh-grade and 27 tenth-grade students' perceptions of scientists before and after a weeklong educational experience on nanotechnology, where students interacted with scientists. The data from this project included student interviews (pre and post intervention), field notes, student stories, and follow-up interviews conducted 1 year after the project. Results showed that fewer than 10% of participants reported ever interacting with scientists in school settings prior to this project, despite attending schools in areas surrounded by a high density of scientists. Students' perceptions of scientists changed as a result of the project. The implications for science instruction are discussed.

Okul Öncesi Çocuklarının Bilim İnsanı Kavramına Yönelik Algıları

“…Öğrencilerin bilim insanı hakkındaki düşünceleri ile ilgili literatür araştırıldığında farklı ülkelerde ve eğitimin farklı kademelerinde bulunan öğrencilerin bilim insanı hakkındaki düşüncelerini belirlemeye yönelik çeşitli çalışmalara rastlanmaktadır. Okul öncesi çocuklarına (Güler ve Akman, 2003), ilkokul ve ortaokul öğrencilerine (Balkı, Çoban ve Aktaş, 2003;Buldu, 2006;Chambers, 1983;Deniş Çeliker ve Erduran Avcı, 2015;Fralick, Kearn, Thompson & Lyons, 2009;Kaya, Doğan ve Öcal, 2008;Kara ve Akarsu, 2013;Kılıç, 2010;Küçük ve Bağ, 2011;Medina, Kyndra & Orihuela, 2011;Monhardt, 2003;Nuhoğlu ve Afacan, 2007;Özsoy ve Ahi, 2014;Painter & Tretter, 2006;Schibeci & Sorensen, 1983;Symington & Spurling, 1990;Şahin, 2009;Thomas & Hairston, 2003), orta öğretim öğrencilerine (Doğan Bora, Arslan ve Çakıroğlu, 2006;Mason, Kahle & Gardner, 1991), üniversite öğrencilerine (Bovina & Dragul'Skaia, 2008) ve öğretmen adaylarına (Demirbaş, 2009;Moseley & Norris, 1999;Şenel & Aslan, 2014) yönelik bilim insanı ile ilgili düşüncelerine ilişkin çalışmalar mevcuttur. Yapılan bu çalışmada ise okul öncesi çağındaki 48-72 ay aralığında bulunan çocukların bilim insanına yönelik algılarına yer verilmiştir.…”

Using the Dast-C to Explore Colombian and Bolivian Students’ Images of Scientists

“…These images seem to be related to future career choices (Mason, Butler-Kahle & Gardner, 1991), attitudes toward the study of this subject (Tobin & Fraser, 1987;Finson, et al, 1995) and participation roles in science classrooms (Faye-Neathery, 1997). With very few exceptions (Sala & de Gómezgil, 1975), the bulk of research has centered on assessing students' images of scientists in school communities from most developed countries (MDCs), particularly the USA (Barman, Ostlund, Gatto & Halferty, 1997;Bodzin & Gehringer, 2001;Farland & McComas, 2008;Faye-Neathery, 1997;Jones & Bangert, 2006;Painter, Jones, Tretter & Kubasko, 2006), Australia and Canada (Chambers, 1983) and Europe (Raty & Snellman, 1997;Reis & Galvão, 2004). Surprisingly and despite the substantial amount of research devoted to this issue, similar research efforts are non-existent in Latin America.…”

Pupils’ images of the biologist: a small-scale explorative study

“…In contrast to those in Geek, Hong Kong, South Korean and the U.S., [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] the Chinese pupils inclined to include more descriptors of lab coat, spectacles, microscope, but fewer descriptors of facial hair, knowledge and technology symbols than those in other countries and regions. This implies that school biological practitioners should duly expose pupils to more biological work in the field rather than a single indoor laboratory setting, acquaint pupils with more modern biological research equipment and technological products than being limited to the microscope if necessary, and negotiate the culture of their own with the development of the proper image of the biologist.…”

“…The national culture plays a nonnegligible role in developing and constructing their images. The previous studies [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] show that the chemical equipment of test tubes and beaker are frequently appeared in students' drawings of the scientist. But in this study, most pupils tended to draw a microscope as the research symbols, indicating it is research equipment peculiar to the biologist.…”

“…Modern products such as computer are less likely to be perceived in the biologist's work than their Geek and Hong Kong counterparts. [10][11][12][13][14] A few pupils supplemented captions in their drawings. The captions are expositive of the type of the drawn biologist's work and activities.…”