Students' Views About Scientists and School Science: Engaging K-8 Teachers in a National Study

Meet the Scientist: The Value of Short Interactions Between Scientists and Students

“…As discussed previously, the DAST is a commonly used tool in investigations of students' views of science. However, it also imposes some challenges such as the fact that it often forces students to make a choice (Barman, 1999) and that it might not capture adequately the students' full characterisations of scientists (Hillman et al, 2014). For instance, students are required to choose their scientist's gender, ethnicity and surroundings, although these might not necessarily be representative of their views of what scientists look like or what they do.…”

“…Students' views of scientists and their work have been the subject of various studies for a number of decades (Barman, 1999;Chambers, 1983;Finson, 2002;Ford, 2006;Huber & Burton, 1995;Mead & Metraux, 1957;Rawson & McCool, 2014;Ruiz-Mallén & Escalas, 2012). One seminal study was that of Chambers (1983), who first used the 'Draw-A-Scientist' Test (DAST) to determine young students' views of scientists and their work and to establish at what stage of children's lives these views develop.…”

Turkish Primary Students’ Perceptions about Scientist and What Factors Affecting the Image of the Scientists

“…In the previous studies, general opinion would readily find a scientist depicted as a white male, middleaged or older, wearing a lab coat and glasses and featuring some type of facial hair (Barman, 1996(Barman, -1997(Barman, -1999Bodzin, & Gehringer, 2001;Chambers 1983;Finson, 2002Finson, -2003Finson, Pedersen, & Thomas, 2006;Flick, 1990;Fort & Varney 1989;Finson, Beaver, & Cramond 1995;Fung, 2002;Huber & Burton 1995;Kahle, 1992;Moseley, & Norris, 1999;Odell, Hewitt, Bowman, & Boone, 1993;Pedersen, & Thomas, 1999;Rosenthal, 1993;Ryder, Leach, & Driver, 1999;Schibeci & Sorensen, 1983;Song, & Kim, 1999;Symington, & Spurling, 1990;Thomas, & Pedersen, 1998;Thomas, Pedersen, & Finson, 2001). In this study, the students perceived scientists as being males (94.1%) who are oldaged (69.7%), do their work in some type of laboratory (79.8 %), and wearing lab coat (46.7 %).…”

Fundamental Research: Developing a Rubric to Assess Children's Drawings of an Engineer at Work

“…This checklist of items, however, continued the limited function of assessing the stereo-typicality of children's images (the more items checked, the more stereotypic the child's drawing). Barman 15 and Chambers 9 learned that, when asked to talk about their picture of a scientist, children were able to verbalize more detailed understanding about the work of a scientist. Thus, the cataloging of children's single image of scientists further limited conveyance of children's ideas.…”