Post on 31-Mar-2015
What matters when young people choose to study science?
Maria Vetleseter Bøe
NUAS, Tromsø 27. oktober 2011
©dreamstime
media/TV, astronaut, pilot, work on an oil rig,
become a stylist, designing clothes +++
designer, therapist, manager or work in a
fashion magazine (where they have
horoscopes)
lawyer, police officer, astronaut,
dancer or journalist.
I don’t know, ‘cause there’s so much I’d like to be.
Social worker, actress, singer or work in a pet shop and help animals!
The research group
re:K:rutt…
What motivates young people’s educational choices?
How can more people be motivated to study science?
Lily
www.naturfagsenteret.no/vilje-con-valg/dokumenter.html
Det nasjonale fakultetsmøtet for realfag
FISKERI- OG HAVBRUKSNÆRINGENS FORSKNINGSFOND
Am I really interested?
Will I get a job? Does the
education suit my goals and
ideals?
Will I find it meaningful?
What do these professionals actually do at
work?
How much will it cost me in time
and effort?
Will the profession suit me and my
identity?
Am I clever enough?
Trying to understand educational choice
Redbaron/Dreamstime
Eccles et al. expectancy-value model of achievement-related choices (Eccles & Wigfield, 2002)
Harry Potterand the Model of Eccles
Educational choices are influenced by
Subjective value of the subjects
Interest-enjoyment value
Attainment value
Utility value
Relative cost
Expectation of successin the subjects
(Eccles, Adler, Futterman, Goff, Meece, & Midgley, 1983)
Expectation of successWill I be able to do this?
Neville Longbottom is insecure, clumsy and forgetful, and has low expectation of success in most subjects.
Interest-enjoyment valueWill I enjoy it?
Harry is very interested in defensive spells, and enjoys the subject Defense Against the Dark Arts greatly.
Attainment valueDoes the subject suit
me, my goals and my identity?
Hermione Granger is very clever, she loves books and schoolwork. However, she quit the subject Divination (fortune telling), because she meant it was wholly guesswork. It did not suit her identity as intelligent and rational.
Can this help me reach some other goals?
Utility value
Harry hates Professor Snape and his subject Potions. But he still chooses to continue, because the subject is required if he wants to become an Auror who catches dark wizards.
Relative costWhat will this cost me compared to other things I
could’ve been doing?
The magical sport Quidditch costs a lot of time and effort for training. And the worst cost of all for Ron Weasly is performance anxiety.
The LILY study
• 14,000 respondents
• Upper secondary school: Students in Year 12
• Higher education: 1st year students science, technology, engineering and mathematics non-science students for comparison
• Data collected in autumn 2008
Lily
1 2 3 4
How important are the following factors for you in your future job?
Not important
Very important
Working with something I am interested in
women men
Not important
Very important
Using my talents and abilities
women men
Not important
Very important
Developing myself
women men
Not important
Very important
Everyone wants to do something interesting, fulfilling and self-realising.
I want to do something
interesting and develop myself.
That’s why I chose chemistry.
I want to do something
interesting and develop myself.
That’s why I chose design.
I want to do something
interesting and develop myself.
That’s why I chose engineering.
I want to do something interesting and
develop myself. That’s why I chose teaching.
The Lily study in upper secondary school
©dreamstime
The LILY study in upper secondary school
(specialisation in general studies) • Students in Year 12 (17 years).• Respondents had recently chosen their
programme area (subject combination) for the last two years of upper secondary school.
• Representative sample of 1628 students
736892Natural science and MathematicsLanguages, Social science, and Economics
Science
Non-Science
What matters for choosing science in upper secondary
school?
Science
non-Science
Self-realisation
Fit to personal beliefs
Interest-enjoyment
1 2 3 4Not important Very important
Interests and identity matters
«I am interested in all sorts of things, […] including science and a general curiosity about how things work.»
(Student about what inspired her choice of programme area)
Interest
«I am near-sighted myself, and see an optitian regularly. It seems like an exciting job
that suits me.»
(Student about what inspired her choice of programme area)
Identity and self-realisation
The utility value of science matters
Relative cost
Utility value for university admission
1 2 3 4Not important Very important
Science
non-Science
«[…] to get as many options as possible to choose from, so that I
can find something I can work with and enjoy.»
(Student about what inspired his choice of programme area)
Utility
How can we attract more students to study science
in higher education?
© Andres Rodriguez @ dreamstime
Meet the expectations and maintain the interest.
Help the students see themselves in a science career.
Doctor
Engineer
Smash
Crispo
Twist
Medical physicist
Reservoir engineer
Finance analyst
Environmental scientist
Renewable energy researcher
Orthopedics engineer
Teacher trainer
Nature management professional
Use the opportunity to present many different career options that may interesting, meaningful and self-realising to different students.
Twist
How do they experience higher education? Lily and IRIS
©dreamstime
Reiseliv og turisme (3,4)Matematikk og fysikk (3,4)
Naturvitenskap (3,4)Informatikk (3,5)
Sivilingeniør (3,5)NHH (3,5)
Ingeniør (3,5)Helse (3,5)
Sykepleie (3,7)
1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0
I am very motivated for this study
Lily in higher education
Disagree Agree
NursingHealth
EngineeringEconomy
Graduate engineeringComputer science
Natural scienceMaths and physicsTravel and tourism
© Yury Arcurs @dreamstime
What do they say after 8-10 months?
- results for Norwegian students
«The overall experience of being a student in this programme»
GirlsBoys
Computer science
Biology and biotechnology
Mathematics, physics, chemistry
Engineering
”..I am very satisfied with my courses”
Better than expected
Worse than expected
«Social relations with fellow students»
”Generally a good social life and a fun freshman’s week!”
Better than expected
Worse than expected
Computer science
Biology and biotechnology
Mathematics, physics, chemistry
Engineering
GirlsBoys
«I feel that my course suits the kind of person that I am»
”...this is what I find most exciting, this is what I want to become good at, and whatI want to work with”
Strongly agreeStrongly disagree
GirlsBoys
Computer science
Biology and biotechnology
Mathematics, physics, chemistry
Engineering
«How interesting you find the content of the course»
Better than expected
Worse than expected
”You can put together your own combi-nation of courses, and you will always find something you find interesting!”
GirlsBoys
Computer science
Biology and biotechnology
Mathematics, physics, chemistry
Engineering
Expectation of success:«I learn easily the subject matter in this course»
”I chose from what I felt I could master. Because when I master something, it automatically gets more fun. I don’t want to study something I don’t feel I can understand.”
Strongly agreeStrongly disagree
Computer science
Biology and biotechnology
Mathematics, physics, chemistry
Engineering
GirlsBoys
«The overall quality of the teaching»
”The lecturers are very sloppy..”
Better than expected
Worse than expected
GirlsBoys
Computer science
Biology and biotechnology
Mathematics, physics, chemistry
Engineering
”You have to do most of the learning yourself…”
«I get personal feed-back from lecturers and teachers when I need it»
Strongly agreeStrongly disagree
GirlsBoys
Computer science
Biology and biotechnology
Mathematics, physics, chemistry
Engineering
«The effort you have to spend on studying»
”You have to work hard from day one. Much steeper learning curve than expected”
GirlsBoys
Better than expected
Worse than expected
Computer science
Biology and biotechnology
Mathematics, physics, chemistry
Engineering
It is very tough. The first two years mainly consist of diffi cuilt subjects that don’t seem relevant to the study at large, and this can easily kill motivation.
Norwegian IRIS respondent
«The effort you have to spend on studying»
After 8-10 months, students are …
… happy with social life.
… quite happy with the study as interesting and enjoyable.
… moderate in their expectation of success.
… not quite satisfied with teachingand follow-up.
… surprised at the cost of thestudy in terms of time and effort.
© Prometeus @ dreamstime
How do we support 1st year students and prevent drop-out?
Support social and academic integration by taking advantage of their social relations and their high interest.
©dreamstime
Create opportunities for interaction between students and teaching staff.
© monkeybusinessimages @ dreamstime
Support students’ expectation of success.
©dreamstime
Prepare students for the hard work, but make clear that help and follow-up will be available!
© Hjalmeida @ dreamstime
Mathematics as a key drop-out factor
“meaningless”
“demanding”
“dull”
“difficult”
From interviews with dropped-out students
• Difficulty:«I struggled, had no sense of mastery, too abstract, failed.»
• Lack of previous knowledge:«Even though I had [in-depth upper secondary mathematics], it was at least one division up.»
Results from PhD-student Helge Brovold, RENATE
«The enjoyment was great, but the mathematics was
even bigger!»
Japp
Technology, organization and learning
»» The study programme gives you knowledge about organizations and organizational changes.
We link knowledge from several disciplines to form an innovative and exciting new field.
… I was suprised, then, about how much math there was. And the informatics, that’s what put me off a bit, ‘cause I wasn’t counting on that. And I am not good at that. I just found out that this, I can’t do this. … from what was on the website, I got the impression that there wasn’t going to be that much [ICT].
What impression of the study did you get from what you read? That it would be … I don’t know … that it would suit me, ‘cause I want to work with management and organization, in that sense it seemed really interesting. … and that bit with technology … informatics, I felt that wasn’t really clear on the website.
And had I known that, I wouldn’t have started ‘cause I’m not at all good at those kind of subjects.
Thank you!
www.naturfagsenteret.no/vilje-con-valg
Maria Vetleseter Bøeg.m.v.boe@naturfagsenteret.no
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