Stimulating Science and Technology competences through … · 2013-09-23 · • Take schools to...

Stimulating Science and Technology competences through innovative means for teaching and learning

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.

This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Coordinator

Partners

Stimulating Science and Technology competences through innovative means for teaching and learning

Authors: StMary’suniversityCollege,SteinbeisInnovationCenter,Phaenovum; ColegiulnationalNicolaeTitulescu,UniversidaddeZaragoza,Elhuyar

Design: elhuyar

Legaldeposit:SS-1221-2013

Printers:GAMBONS.A.-VirgendelBuenAcuerdo48(PolígonoAlcaldeCaballero)-50014ZARAGOZA

INDEX

1 INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

2 AN OVERVIEW OF THE FRAMEWORK OF THE “STIMULA” PROJECT . . . . . . . . 112 .1 COMPETENCE PROFILE AND PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH: A FRAMEWORK FOR

STUDENTS OF INITIAL TEACHER EDUCATION IN POST-PRIMARY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

2 .2 COMPETENCE PROFILE FOR STUDENT TEACHERS IN POST-PRIMARY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INITIAL TEACHER EDUCATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

2 .3 PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .262 .4 KEY AREAS, SUBSEQUENT MODES OF PRACTICE AND EXEMPLARS OF

ACTIVITIES: A FRAMEWORK FOR STUDENTS OF INITIAL TEACHER EDUCATION IN POST-PRIMARY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .322.4.1 INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322.4.2 KEYAREASANDSUBSEQUENTMODESOFPRACTICE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

3 A DESCRIPTION OF THE SURVEY, QUESTIONNAIRE AND GUIDELINES . . . . . . . 37

4 A DESCRIPTION OF THE “STIMULA” ACTIVITIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454 .1 France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .454 .2 Germany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .484 .3 Northern Ireland (U .K . system) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .514 .4 Romania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .534 .5 Spain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

5 RESULTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595.1 Descriptionoftheanalysisprotocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .595 .2 Results:

5.2.1 France. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 675.2.1.1 Results of the survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 675.2.1.2 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

5.2.2 Germany. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 995.2.2.1 Results of the survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1005.2.2.2 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

5.2.3 NorthernIreland(U.K.system). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1515.2.3.1 Results of the survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1525.2.3.2 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

5.2.4 Romania. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1905.2.4.1 Results of the survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1905.2.4.2 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

5.2.5 Spain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2255.2.5.1 Results of the survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2265.2.5.2 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

6 OVERALL CONCLUSIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

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Stimulating Science and Technology competences through innovativemeans for teaching and learning

1 INTRODUCTION

Today,whenEUeconomiesarefacingacontinuoustransitiontoamoretechnologyintensivemodel, key competences in science and technology (S&T) are essential to develop theeconomicandsocialmodelofthefuture.However,accordingtoseveralEUstudies,pupilsinsecondaryleveleducationhavelowaspirationstowardsscientificandtechnologicalcareers.

Toovercomethissituation,STIMULAaimstodevelopinnovativemethodologiestofosteraspirations towards S&T careers among pupils in secondary level education, using as astrategytheactiveinvolvementoftheworldofwork(universities,research&innovationcentres,andresearch&developmentcompanies)ineducationalactivities.Thefocusoftheprojecthasbeenondesigning,implementingandvalidatingneweducationalinitiativesthatwillgeneratepositiveoutcomesrelatingtotheproject’saims.Theseinitiativesinclude:

• ApedagogicalS&Tguidelineforinitialteachereducation,whereinnovativewaystoapproachmoremotivatingS&Tteachingwillbeprovided.

• AguidelineforbringingS&Tclosertoteachers,toprovidecurrentandfutureteacherswithstrategiestobringtheworldofS&Ttothemselvesandtheirpupils.

• AS&Tcooperationguidelineforschools,withafocusondevelopingS&Tactivitiesforschoolstostrengthentheirrelationshipswiththeworldofwork.

• Diversecurriculumextendinginitiatives,aimedatfosteringaspirationsamongpupilstowardsS&Tcareers.

DocumentsrelatingtotheseinitiativeshavebeenpublishedonthewebsiteoftheSTIMULAproject:http://stimula-project.eu/

Theseprojectinitiativesareexpectedtocontributeto:

1. PupilsreceivingamorepracticalandmotivatingeducationinS&T.2. Teachers implementingbetterstrategiestofostermotivationtowardsthestudyof

S&T.3. Bridgingthegapbetweenschoolsandtheworldofworkbyestablishingmodelsfor

networking.

TheultimategoaloftheseinitiativesistoimprovetheacquisitionofkeycompetencesinS&Tbypupils,thereforecontributingtotheirpersonaldevelopmentandfutureemployment.

The partnership

This project hasbeenmanagedand coordinatedby the Elhuyar Foundation. Partnersofthe project are St. Mary’s University College Belfast, University of Zaragoza, Steinbeis,PhaenovumandColegiulNationalNicolaeTitulescu.


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RUSSIAN FED.

AUSTRIA

NETHERLANDS

FRANCE

GERMANY

DENMARK

ITALY

GREECE

SPAIN

MONACO

ANDORRAVATICAN

CITY

SANMARINO

LIECHT.

BEL.

LUXEMBOURG

SWITZ.

UNITED

KINGDOM

IRELAND

PORTUGAL

HUNGARY

CZECH REPUBLICSLOVAKIA

POLAND

ROMANIASLOVENIA

ALBANIAF.Y.R.O.M

BOSNIA & H.

BULGARIA

LITHUANIA

YUGOSLAVIA

CROATIAelhuyar

Elhuyar (Spain)

elhuyarZelaiHaundi3,Osinaldeindustrialdea20170–Usurbil(Gipuzkoa)Spainhttp://www.elhuyar.orgContactPerson:JosuWaliñoEmail:j.walino(at)elhuyar.com

Elhuyarwascreatedin1972aimedtojoinscienceandtheBasquelanguage.LateritsactivityextendedtothenormalisationofthestatusandcorpusoftheBasquelanguage.In2002,ElhuyargaveanimportantstepforwardfoundingElhuyarFoundation.ThemainobjectivesoftheFoundationare:

• To collaborate andpromote the social normalisationof theBasque language and,withthataim,topromoteandapplyresearchanddevelopmentactivities;

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• Tostimulate,promoteandcollaborateintheintegrationofScienceandTechnologyinsociety;

• Tospreadandreport,intheBasqueCountry,aswellasbeyondit,thedevelopmentofthescientificandtechnologicalresearchdoneintheBasqueCountry;

• To promote the relationships between the education system and the science andtechnologysystemthroughpublications,conferences,meetings,seminars,etc.

Our working team is formed by 110 professionals of the areas of language specialists,scientificknowledgespreadingandeducationalpublications.

St.Mary’sUniversityCollegeBelfast,Queen’sUniversity(UK)

191FallsRoadBT126FE–Belfast(NorthernIreland)UnitedKingdomhttp://www.smucb.ac.ukContactPerson:KieranMcGeownEmail:k.mcgeown(at)smucb.ac.uk

St Mary’s University College Belfast’s purpose is to make a distinctive contribution ofserviceandexcellence, intheCatholictradition,tohighereducationinNorthernIreland.StMary’sisanacademiccommunitycommittedtothesearchformeaningandvalueintheintellectuallife,toacademicexcellenceandtoindividualattentionforstudents.Weworkfor thedevelopmentof thewholeperson inaChristian,values-sensitiveenvironment inpreparation fora lifetimeof learning, leadershipandservice.Wewant thecollege tobeareligious,educational,culturalandsocialresourceforthelocalcommunityandtoshowconcernforthepoorandpowerless.Weprovideteachereducationprogrammes,inEnglishand in Irish, aswell as a degree programme in liberal arts.Weoffer our students high-qualityteachingandhighlevelsofsupporttofacilitateeffectivelearning.Weaimtoreducetraditionalimpedimentstotheaccessibilityofhighereducationandtoenableparticipationfrom across a wide spectrum of society.We support economic regeneration and socialdevelopmentinitiativeswhichfacilitateconflictresolutionandpeace.WearecommittedtoarichinternationaldimensioninthelifeoftheCollege.Inordertopromoteourmission,weworkwithawiderangeofpartnersandseektobuildexcellentrelationships.


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Universidad de Zaragoza (Spain)

CallePedroCerbuna1250009–ZaragozaSpainhttp://www.unizar.esContactPerson:JesúsI.MartínezEmail:jimartin(at)unizar.es

TheUniversityofZaragoza(UNIZAR)isthemainhighereducationinstitutionintheAragonregioninSpain.Ithasmorethan35,000studentsandabout3,500lecturersandresearchers.Asfarasthedomainscoveredbytheprojectareconcerned,theUniversityhasaFacultyofScienceandaFacultyofEducation,withseveralofficialDegreesandMastersinSciencesandScienceEducation.ThetwostaffmembersthattakepartintheprojectaremembersofthesetwoFaculties.BothareexpertsinadvisingandmanagingS&TEducationprojects.

SteinbeisInnovationgGmbH(Germany)

Poststraße3579423HeitersheimGermanyhttp://www.stzedn.deContactPerson:AxelSikoraEmail:axel.sikora(at)hs-offenburg.de

TheSteinbeisInnovationgGmbHispartoftheSteinbeisFoundation,astateownedfoundationtargeting technology transfer fromuniversities into the economy.At themoment,morethan 700 transfer companies belong to the Steinbeis network,which employed in 2009atotalof801professors,alongsidewith1,385employeesand3,584contractors.Altogethertheygeneratedrevenueof€118min2009.ThewholeSteinbeisnetworkrunsaround50projectsontheEC-level.

The Centre for Embedded Design and Networking was founded in 2002 at the Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University in Loerrach, Germany. It is active in R&Dprojects around wireless and wired embedded connectivity for the internet of things.Since2003,itrunstheIT-SeminarLoerrach,anlong-termactivityforhigh-schoolstudentsworking on robotics. IT-Seminar Loerrach is now an organizational part of phaenovum

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Schuelerforschungszentrum Loerrach-Dreilaendereck e.V., being also a Stimula projectpartner.

phaenovumSchülerforschungszentrumLörrach-Dreiländerecke.V.(Germany)

Baumgartnerstraße2679540–LörrachGermanyhttp://www.phaenovum.deContactPerson:DianaStöckerEmail:stoecker(at)innocel.de

The“phaenovum–SchülerforschungszentrumLoerrach-Dreiländerecke.V.“(PHAENOVUM)islocatedinthebordertriangleGermany-France–Switzerlandandcanbeattendedbypupilsof this region. PHAENOVUMwas founded in 2007 to connect and strengthen successfulactivitiesalreadyexistingintheregion.

It is defined as a network of research students coming from these three countries andit encompasses nursery schools, primary and secondary schools, private institutionsand companies. The global objective is to spark pupils’ interest in natural sciences andengineering and to keep up their enthusiasm for these fields, by offering them qualitytrainingsandeducation.

ColegiulNational“NicolaeTitulescu”Craiova(Romania)

Doljului12200690-CraiovaRomaniahttp://www.cnntitulescu.go.roContactPerson:MarilenaIonescuEmail:marlen.ionescu(at)yahoo.com


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TheRomanianNationalCollege”NicolaeTitulescu”(CNNT)hasaneducationaldivisionthatcoversboththesecondary-levelandhighschool,countingmorethan1,000studentsandmorethan70teachers.

Theschoolissetinanurbanareaandismainlyattendedbystudentscomingfromfamiliesthat have an average revenue or lower, including unemployed families. Is spite of theirpersonalorfamilybackground,agreatnumberofthestudentsobtainremarkableresultsatalltheOlympiadsorschoolandextra-schoolconteststheytakepartin.Also,manyoftheirgraduateshaveenrolledinuniversityeducationatwell-knownfacultiesandevenachievedgoodpoliticalandadministrativeRomanianpositions.

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2 AN OVERVIEW OF THE FRAMEWORK OF THE “STIMULA” PROJECT

ThemainobjectiveofthisprojectistofostertheS&TvocationamongtheyoungEuropeanstudents(12to18yearsold).AccordingtoPISA2006,theinterestandenjoymentofS&Tispositivelyassociatedwithbetterperformance,soitisexpectedthattheincreaseinthemotivationtowardsS&TwillalsocontributetotheimprovementanddevelopmentofkeycompetencesinS&TamongtheyoungEuropeanstudents,andtotheirscientificliteracy.

STIMULAprojectstrategyhasbeentobringS&TclosertotheyoungstudentsandatthesametimethestudentsclosertoS&T,throughbidirectionalcollaborativeinitiativesbetweenschoolsandagentsoftheworldofwork.Theprojectaimedto:

• Bring S&T to schools, through the proposal and practical implementation ofcurriculum extending S&T educational initiatives (in the form of live experimentsandcompetitionsbasedonproblems).Theywerecarriedout in theclassroomstopromoteteamwork,creativityandICTskills.

• TakeschoolstoS&T,throughthedefinitionofcollaborationstrategies,modelsandprogrammes of the schools with agents of the world of work (universities, R&Dcentresandcompanies.Thestudentscollaboratedwiththeseexternalorganisationsindifferentactivities(researchactivities,forexample).

Additionally,theprojectproposedspecificteachertrainingmethodsandprogrammesforcurrentandfutureS&TteacherssothattheycancontributetoeffectivelyfostertheS&Tvocationonyoungstudents.

Specificobjectives

Thespecificobjectivesoftheprojecthavebeenestablishedinconnectionwiththedescribedactivitiesandhavetobeconsideredfromthreepointsofview:

Fromthepointofviewofthestudents:

• Tostimulateyoungstudents’interesttowardsS&Ttohelpthemacquireandimprovethe key competences in S&Twhile stimulating their creativity, teamwork and ICTskillstoo.

• ToachievethepreviousobjectivetakingintoconsiderationtheirperceptionofS&T.

FromthepointofviewofS&Tteachers:

• TotraincurrentandfutureS&TteachersforamoreeffectiveS&Teducation.Toprovideteachers with improved methodologies, strategies and pedagogical approaches,whichwilltakeintoaccounttheperceptionofS&Tamongstudents.


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• To provide S&T teachers with new knowledge and skills so that they are able tocontextualisetheS&Teducationtothelocalorregional industrialcontextandstayupdatedwithS&T“realworld”.

• Participationonthedesignanddevelopmentofinnovativeinitiatives.

Fromthepointofviewofschools:

• To provide schools withmeans to establish collaboration and networkingmodelsbetweentheschoolworldandtheoutsidescientificworld(worldofwork).

• Toparticipateintrans-regionalprogrammes(Europeancompetitions,etc.)

Operativeobjectives

Finally,theoperativeobjectivesoftheproject leadingtotheachievementofthespecificobjectivesoftheprojectarethefollowing:

• To gain a better understanding andmeasure the perceptionof S&T among youngEuropeanstudents,inordertosetanimprovedpedagogicalbasisforS&Teducation.

• Based on these perceptions, to develop different measures to increase the S&Tvocation,andtoimprovetheacquisitionofscientifickeycompetencesamongyoungstudents.Thisincludes:

– DefiningS&Tteachertrainingmethodologies,toimprovetheS&TteachingskillsandknowledgeofS&Tteachersatschools,andbuildinglinksbetweenthemandtheworldofwork.

– Todesignacollaborationprogrammebetweenschoolsandtheoutsidescientificworld(researchcentresanduniversitiesmainly).

– To design several curriculum extending educational activities to be carried outwithin the classroom,basedonexperimentationandproblem solving,with theobjectiveof increasingtheinterestaboutS&T,thecreativityandtheteamworkskillsamongyoungstudents.

• To validate the developedmeasures through several pilot projects carried out atschoolswheretheresultsoftheprojecthavebeenbetestedinreallifeconditions.

• To extract the conclusions of the project and to elaborate guidelines and bestpracticesinordertoallowanadequatetransmissionoftheprojectachievementstotheEuropeaneducationcommunity.

Methodological approach

Theprojecthasbeendesignedtobedevelopedintwodifferentphases,carriedoutduringeachyearoftheproject:

• Year1:Perceptionstudyanddesignofactivities• Year2:Pilotsimplementationandpost-evaluationandconclusions

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Themethodology for thedevelopmentof theprojectactivitieshas followeda“Pre-Test,InterventionandPost-Test” scheme.Details in termsoftime, sequenceof activities andmilestonesareshowninthenextfigure.

YOUNG STUDENTS’S&T PERCEPTIONSTUDY & RELATED

PEDAGOGICALCONCLUSIONS

S&T TEACHERTRAINING STRATEGIES

TAKING SCHOOLS TO S&T:Cooperation models between schools

and world of work

BRINGING S&T INTO SCHOOLS:Design of new curriculum extending

educational initiatives

PILOTS:IMPLEMENTATION &

VALIDATION OFPROPOSED MEASURES

AT SCHOOLSCONCLUSIONS

AND BESTPRACTICES

PEDAGOGICALCONCLUSIONS

GUIDELINES,RECOMMENDATIONS ANDACTIVITIES

Milestone 1Conclusions of the

S&T perceptionstudy

Milestone 2Measures for

increasedmotivation of

students developed

Milestone 3Measures for

increasedmotivation of

students tested

Milestone 4Conclusions andmeasurement of the increase of

motivation

School year 1

TIME

PRE-TEST INTERVENTION POST-TEST

School year 2

Thismethodologywasdesignedat thedefinitionphaseof theproposal,and ithasbeenfollowedbytheSTIMULAconsortiumduringthedevelopmentphase.

2.1 COMPETENCE PROFILE AND PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH: A FRAMEWORK FOR STUDENTS OF INITIAL TEACHER EDUCATION IN POST-PRIMARY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Developmentoftheprofile

ThecompetenceprofilewasdevelopedaspartoftheStimulatingScienceandTechnologyCompetencesThroughInnovativeMeansforTeachingandLearning(STIMULA)project.Thedevelopmentoftheprofilewasinformedbythreespecificelements:

• areviewandsynthesisofgenericteachercompetenceprofiles;• theanalysisandconclusionsofaquestionnairewhichsoughttoestablishtheviews

and perceptions of young people in post-primary education (11-18 years old) onScienceandTechnology;


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• aliteraturesearchandmappingexerciseofcurrentresearchrelatingtoScienceandTechnologypost-primaryeducationacrossEurope.

Objectivesoftheprofile

The key objectives of the competence profile for prospective Science and Technologyteachersinpost-primaryinitialteachereducation(ITE)areto:

• outlinetheessentialcorevaluesandareasofcompetencenecessaryforpreparingteachers to work in Science and Technology post-primary education. These corevaluesandareasofcompetencearetobedevelopedduringITE,butthenusedasafoundationforlaterprofessionaldevelopment;

• identify a framework of core values and areas of competence in Science andTechnology education which are applicable to any Initial Teacher Education (ITE)programmefocusingonpost-primaryeducation;

• highlight objectives which further explain the proposed core values and areas ofcompetence.

Valueoftheprofile

Assuch,itisenvisagedthatthecompetencyprofilecouldbeusedas:

• anagreeddescriptionofgoodpractice;• areferencedocumentwhichmayassistin:

– supportingtheprofessionaldevelopmentofScienceandTechnologypost-primaryteacherswithininstitutions;

– self-monitoringofprofessionaldevelopmentforstudentteachersofpost-primaryeducation;

– accreditation of professional development and achievement in Science andTechnologyteachingandlearningforstudentteachersofpost-primaryeducation;

– coursedesignforprogrammesofinitialteachereducationatpost-primarylevel;• ameansofraisingtheprofileofScienceandTechnologyeducationamongstpupilsin

post-primaryschool.

Target audiences

The target audiences for this competence profile are primarily teacher educators anddecisionmakerswhoareinapositiontoinfluencepolicyonthedevelopmentofScienceandTechnologypost-primaryeducationandteachereducationatpost-primary level.TheprofilepresentsastartingpointforstakeholdersinITEtouse,notasascript,butratherasastimulustodevelopeffectiveScienceandTechnologypost-primaryeducationprogrammesin different contexts in their respective countries. The profile can be used as a tool forreflectiontosupporttheprofessionaldevelopmentofstudentteachersandcanbeasourceofguidanceforScienceandTechnologyteachereducators’work.

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The profile can also be used for practising post-primary teachers to identify personalprioritiesforcontinuousprofessionaldevelopmentactivities.

Leadersinpost-primaryschoolsmayalsobenefitfromtheuseoftheprofileasaguideforteacherinductionandlongertermcontinuingprofessionaldevelopmentplanning.

Structureoftheprofile

The interfacebetweenwhatmaybe regarded as generic competences and thosewhicharespecifictoScienceandTechnologymustbeacknowledged.Assuch, thisScienceandTechnology competence profile outlines what are essentially the generic attributes,knowledgeandskillsthatallteachersmusthaveinordertodevelopeffectivepractice.Aswellasthis,theprofileisstructuredaroundtheessentialdimensionsofallteachers’worki.e.acommitmenttotheindividuallearnerandtothebettermentofsociety;anunderstandingofcontemporaryandcontext-specificcurriculaandpedagogicalstrategiesandprocesses;the promotion of student learning and assessment; a commitment to collaboration andthe development of partnerships to promote learning; and a commitment to personal,professionallearninganddevelopment.

Inaddition, thisprofilehighlights thenecessity for teacherstohaveanunderstandingofand ability to implementwhatmay be described as the ‘21st Century Skills’ framework(AnandiadouandClaro,2009)whichwouldincludethenecessitytocommunicateeffectively;thinkcritically;collaboratewithothers;displaycreativityandimagination;connectlearning;problem-solve;andinnovate.

Theareasofcompetencedescribedintheprofilearetosupportthedevelopmentofpost-primaryteachersaslifelonglearnersandreflectivepractitioners,andhavebeenguidedby“Teaching:theReflectiveProfession”(GeneralTeachingCouncilforNorthernIreland,2007).

Therearethreebroadareasofcompetenceeachofwhichcontainthreekeyelements:

• ProfessionalValuesandAttributes – Commitmenttotheindividuallearner – Commitmenttothebettermentofsociety – Commitmenttoprofessionaldevelopment

• ProfessionalKnowledgeandUnderstanding – Socio-culturalknowledgeforscienceandtechnologyeducation – Curricularknowledge – Pedagogicalknowledge

• ProfessionalPractice – Planningandleading – Promotinglearning – Assessmentforlearning

Itisimportanttonotethattheareasofcompetencearenotpresentedinanyhierarchicalorderandshouldnotbeviewedinisolation.Rather,theymustbeviewedholisticallyasthey


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areallcloselyinter-connectedandhighlyinterdependent.Thisinterdependentrelationshipisillustratedinfigure1.

Values andattributes

Knowledgeand

Understanding

Practice

Figure 1

LinkstoEuropeanpolicyprioritiesforschoolandteachereducation

TheprofileofcompetencesforScienceandTechnologypost-primaryteacherslinkscloselywithEuropeanpolicyinitiativesaimedatimprovingteachereducation.EmergingfromtheoverallBolognaprocess, SjurandRadu (2010) suggest that competencedevelopment inrelationtothedevelopmentofknowledgeandskillsaswellasvaluesandattributesshouldbe a central objective of the higher education process.More specifically, in relation toteachereducation,competencedevelopmenthasbeenidentifiedasakeypriorityifteacherquality is to be improved (European Commission, Director General for Education andCulture,2010).

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2.2 COMPETENCE PROFILE FOR STUDENT TEACHERS IN POST-PRIMARY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INITIAL TEACHER EDUCATION

Professional Values and Attributes

Competence Statements ITE Objectives

Competence Statement 1 – Commitment to the individual learner

Understand and demonstrate the teacher’s commitment to learners, colleagues and others in the profession

Student teachers will

• Know and understand that teaching is a values-based profession which involves the dedication and commitment of the teacher

Competence Statement 2 – Commitment to the betterment of society

Understand and demonstrate the teacher’s commitment to the betterment of the individual and of society through the promotion of Science and Technology learning and development


• Know and understand the necessary commitments to pupils, the profession and society

• Know and understand the value of Science and Technology to the betterment of the individual and society

Competence Statement 3 – Commitment to professional development

Understand and demonstrate the teacher’s commitment to continuous professional development


• Know and understand the importance of continuous professional development in Science and Technology education

• Understand that initial teacher education is the foundation for continuous professional development in the context of lifelong learning

• Take responsibility for personal and professional development and learning and in Science and Technology


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Professional Knowledge and Understanding


Competence Statement 4 – Socio-cultural knowledge for Science and Technology education 1

Know and understand the social and policy contexts in which Science and Technology education is defined and implemented


• Be aware of policy initiatives in relation to Science and Technology education

• Know and understand the position of Science and Technology education in the curriculum

• Promote an awareness of the European and geo-political dimension in relation to Science and Technology education

• Promote an appreciation of the range of Science and Technology-based career options available

• Know and understand the statutory framework related to Science and Technology education e.g. in relation to safeguarding children, discrimination, health and safety, etc.

Competence Statement 5 – Socio-cultural knowledge for Science and Technology education 2

Have a developed knowledge and understanding of the interrelationship between Science and Technology teaching and learning in schools and Science and Technology in the community


• Understand contemporary debates in Science and Technology

• Understand the importance of connecting the learning and skills associated with Science and Technology at school with the learning and skills associated with Science and Technology centres, industries, museums, exhibitions, etc.

• Understand the value of using experts/specialists in Science and Technology outside of school who can realistically demonstrate the scope and the limitations of Science and Technology

• Understand the value of field trips to promote better learning in Science and Technology

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Competence Statement 6 – Curricular knowledge 1

Be aware of Science and Technology curriculum requirements in preceding and subsequent stages of learning


• Have a broad perspective on Science and Technology learning appropriate to different age groups

• Have relevant pedagogical knowledge appropriate to different stages of pupil learning in Science and Technology


Understand appropriate Science and Technology curriculum development processes related to planning, implementation and evaluation


• Know and understand the cultural, social, historical and economic influences on curriculum development in relation to Science and Technology

• Know and understand the curriculum planning cycle appropriate to Science and Technology i.e. planning, implementation and evaluation


Maintain and develop up-to-date subject knowledge in the field of Science and Technology


• Maintain an up-to-date subject knowledge of contemporary developments in Science and Technology

• Continuously develop personal knowledge and understanding of Science and Technology

Competence Statement 9 – Pedagogical knowledge 1

Have a detailed knowledge and understanding of appropriate teaching and learning strategies related to Science and Technology education


• Have relevant Science and Technology subject knowledge

• Have relevant knowledge of the place of science and technology in the curriculum

• Have relevant pedagogical knowledge to promote pupil learning in Science and Technology


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Competence Statement 10 - Pedagogical knowledge 2

Understand the factors that promote and hinder effective learning in Science and Technology


• Understand the importance of making Science and Technology education relevant

• Understand the importance of making Science and Technology education enjoyable

• Understand the importance of making Science and Technology education accessible to everyone

• Understand the importance of providing autonomous learning opportunities in Science and Technology education

• Understand the importance of developing connections between Science and Technology and contemporary media

• Understand the importance of developing connections between Science and Technology, industry and the economy

• Understand the importance of challenging negative stereotypes that exist in relation to Science and Technology careers and occupations

• Understand the importance of addressing individual needs in Science and Technology learning

Competence Statement 11 – Pedagogical knowledge 3

Have a developed knowledge and understanding of how to use technology effectively to support teaching and aid pupil learning


• Have an up-to-date knowledge and understanding of contemporary technology such as digital projectors, video, computers, graphic calculators, software packages, interactive whiteboards, scanners, control and sensing technology, etc.

• Know how to use technology effectively to promote learning in Science and Technology

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Professional Practice


Competence Statement 12 - Planning and leading 1

Set appropriate learning outcomes for pupils in relation to Science and Technology learning


• Set appropriate Science and Technology learning outcomes which take account of what pupils know, understand and can do

• Set appropriate Science and Technology learning outcomes which take account of what pupils need to know, understand and do in relation to prescribed curricula


Plan and evaluate learning experiences that enable all pupils, including those with special educational needs, to meet the stated learning outcomes


• Plan Science and Technology lessons showing high expectations

• Plan Science and Technology lessons showing an awareness of potential areas of difficulty and confusion for pupils

• Promote the idea of connectivity between Science and Technology and other subjects/disciplines


Deploy, organise and guide the work of other adults to support pupil learning where appropriate


• Deploy adults to support pupils’ learning where appropriate

• Understand the role of the teacher and other adults in supporting learning

• Source and deploy Science and Technology experts or practitioners who can enhance the learning experience for pupils


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Plan out-of-school learning activities including school visits and fieldwork where appropriate


• Appreciate and explore the potential of out-of-school resources to enhance and personalise pupils’ learning in Science and Technology

• Seek opportunities to assist with out-of-school Science and Technology visits and fieldwork

• Seek opportunities to work with experts/practitioners in the fields of Science and Technology

Competence Statement 16 - Promoting learning 1

Create and maintain safe, interactive and challenging Science and Technology learning environments


• Understand the importance of creating safe, interactive and challenging Science and

Technology learning environments

• Observe and reflect on ways in which others create safe, interactive and challenging Science and Technology learning environments

• Learn from others how to set up purposeful Science and Technology learning environments


Use a range of teaching strategies and resources in Science and Technology including eLearning where appropriate


• Use a range of teaching strategies in Science and Technology which are appropriate to the age, ability, interest and experience of pupils

• Use appropriate resources which motivate, inspire and support learning in Science and Technology

• Use appropriate teaching strategies to capture and maintain pupils’ attention, interest and involvement in Science and Technology

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Employ strategies in Science and Technology teaching and learning which motivate and meet the needs of all pupils


• Develop an understanding of and an ability to employ a range of practical and interactive strategies in Science and Technology teaching which meet the range of pupils’ needs

• Develop an understanding of and ability to employ appropriate differentiation strategies in Science and Technology to meet differing pupils’ needs

• Actively promote Science and Technology to girls to counteract existing gender inequalities and stereotypes


Encourage criticality and debate Student teachers will

• Encourage pupils to be critical of Science and Technology findings and conclusions

• Encourage critical debate on Science and Technology findings

• Promote an awareness and understanding of ethical issues associated with Science and Technology development

• Promote an awareness and understanding of contemporary political and economic agendas associated with Science and Technology development


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Promote acceptable standards of behaviour to ensure effective learning in Science and Technology


• Develop an understanding of and an ability to ensure appropriate standards of pupil behaviour in Science and Technology teaching and learning contexts

• Reflect on the example and ability of others to ensure appropriate standards of pupil behaviour in Science and Technology teaching and learning contexts

• Develop an understanding of and ability to employ appropriate strategies to pre-empt inappropriate standards of pupil behaviour in Science and Technology teaching and learning contexts

• Develop an understanding of and an ability to address inappropriate standards of pupil behaviour in Science and Technology teaching and learning contexts


Collaborate with other teaching and support staff, parents and external agencies to promote learning in Science and Technology


• Plan and collaborate with teacher tutors and other senior teachers for a range of Science and Technology learning experiences

• Collaborate with support staff to support learning in Science and Technology

• Understand the importance of parental involvement to support learning in Science and Technology

• Understand the importance of involving external agencies to support learning in Science and Technology

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Competence Statement 22 – Assessment for learning 1

Focus on assessment for learning in Science and Technology by monitoring pupil progress and providing constructive and timely feedback


• Monitor pupil progress through observation, marking, targeted questioning and discussion

• Provide constructive feedback to reinforce learning, challenge understanding and promote progression in Science and Technology

• Help pupils understand their strengths in Science and Technology as well as their areas for improvement

• Use effective questioning and ipsative assessment tasks for pupils to reflect on and improve their learning

Competence Statement 23 - Assessment for learning 2

Use a range of assessment strategies to evaluate pupil learning in Science and Technology and use this information to plan for more effective teaching


• Understand and use a range of ipsative, formative and summative assessment strategies in Science and technology

• Use information from ipsative, formative and summative assessments to assist for future planning in Science and Technology


Assess the level of pupil attainment in Science and Technology against relevant benchmarking data


• Develop an understanding of a range of approaches to pupil assessment in Science and Technology and how it can be referenced to appropriate benchmarking data

• Understand the importance and value of target setting in Science and Technology and its relationship with pupil learning and progression


Liaise with parents and other key stakeholders, both orally and through written reports, in relation to achievement and development in Science and Technology learning


• Seek opportunities to learn about the ways in which teachers engage with parents and others in sharing information regarding pupil progress in Science and Technology

• Seek opportunities to learn from experienced teachers about how to write reports of pupil progress in Science and Technology


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2.3 PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH

Theoreticalunderpinning

Howchildrenthinkandlearnhasbeenakeyconsiderationforeducatorsinrecentyears.Therecanbenodoubtthattheprocessoflearningiscomplexandthatthereisawidevarietyofperspectivesandviewsastohowittakesplaceandevenwhatitinvolves.Hayes(2012),forexamplesuggeststhatlearninginvolvestheacquisitionofknowledge,thedevelopmentof conceptual understanding and the application of skills. Other writers (Robson, 2006;McGuiness,2000)suggestthatlearningandthinkingareintegralandcannotbeseparated.Others suggest that children learn in different ways and have different learning styles(Gardner,1983;HoneyandMumford,1992;RidingandRayner,1998).Flavell,(1976;1987)whodevelopedtheideaofmetacognitionsuggeststhatanunderstandingoftheconceptof learningshouldgobeyondthesimpleaccumulationofknowledgeand focusmoreontheabilitytolinknewknowledgetowhatisalreadyknownandfocusontheprocessesoflearningtherein.

Despitethesedifferentviewsonthenatureof learning,there isawidespreadconsensusthatlearningisenhancedandinformationisbetterretainedwhenitisexperiential,activeandinteractive(WraggandBrown,1993;MorganandSaxon,1994;Garnett,2006;Petty;2006;Hayes,2006).ActivelearningisdescribedbyTileson(2007)as,

…characterised by high levels of pupil engagement. It derives from constructivism that sees learning as a process of reflecting on personal experience. Active learning presupposes that teachers adopt coaching and facilitating roles, make use of real-world experiences and expect all pupils to achieve at a quality level.

Assuch,itisrecommendedthatwhenteachereducatorsandstudentteachersareusingtheScienceandTechnologycompetenceprofile,theyshouldadoptactivelearningapproachestoencourageeffectivelearning.

Key principles

Keyprinciples inpromotingactive learningcanbe identifiedas follows.Whereexamplesofgoodpracticearecited,theyarenotexhaustivebutmerelyprovideanindicationofthetrajectoryofpracticewhichstudentteachersshouldfollowtoencourageeffectivelearninginScienceandTechnology.

Relevance

When preparing learning activities for pupils, teachers should use themes and contextswhichhavereal-lifemeaningandrelevancetopupils.Lessonsandactivitiesshouldprovideopportunities forpupils to reflecton themoral,ethicalandsocialdimensionsof scienceandtechnologywhichimpactuponrealpeopleandcontexts.Pupilsshouldbeenabledtoconsidertheuseandvalueofscienceandtechnologyforfuture-worldscenarios.

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Examplesofgoodpractice

• The teacher structures real-life, practical learning experiences that motivate and engage pupils

• The teacher seeks out community-based learning experiences

Learnerfocus

Thefocusintheteachingandlearningsituationshouldbeonthepupilaslearnerratherthantheteacherasproviderofknowledge.Theteachershouldassumetheroleofthefacilitatoroflearningandthemediatorinthelearningexperience.


• The teacher assesses and manages the differences in learning styles among individuals or groups of pupils

• The teacher establishes learning situations and contexts in which the pupils can operate as investigators and learners

Collaborativelearning

Morrison(2001),usingtheworkofHabermas,suggestseightprinciplesofpedagogywhichhavedirectrelevancetoeffectivelearningandteachinginscienceandtechnology:

1. Theneedforco-operativeandcollaborativework2. Theneedfordiscussion-ledwork3. Theneedforautonomous,experientialandflexiblelearning4. Theneedfornegotiatedlearning5. Theneedforcommunity-relatedlearningtoexplorearangeofenvironments6. Theneedforproblem-solvingactivities7. Theneedtoincreasepupils’rightstoemploytalk8. Theneedforteacherstoactas‘transformativeintellectuals’



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• The teacher establishes varying patterns of interaction within and across learning experiences

• The teacher emphasises language as a vehicle for learning through talking, listing and the use of discussion

• The teacher provides learning opportunities for pupil collaboration, problem solving, inquiry and creative thinking

• The teacher plans collaborative learning experiences in which pupils can act as partners in learning

• The teacher builds upon the knowledge, personal experiences, language and culture that pupils bring to the learning situation

• The teacher encourages pupils to work together and to learn from their peers and from other members of the school and wider community

• The teacher facilitates pupils to connect new learning to their experiences

• The teacher helps pupils learn how to learn

• The teacher provides opportunities for pupils to investigate areas of personal interest

• The teacher encourages pupils’ involvement in classroom decision-making processes

• The teacher designs learning experiences which help pupils become autonomous learners

• The teacher makes provision for pupils to work both independently and collaboratively

Connected learning

Whenpreparingand teachingprogrammesof study inScienceandTechnology, teachersshould, wherever possible help pupils to connect their learning across all domains bypromoting an integrated approach rather than the delivery of discrete units of work.Thematic units of work assist pupils to develop their awareness and understanding ofrelationshipsbetweendifferentareasoflearning.


• The teacher makes the purpose of learning experiences explicit to pupils and links new concepts to prior knowledge

• The teacher makes explicit connections between content and pupils’ prior learning, contexts and interests

Inclusivepractice

Atalltimes,teachersmustapplyinclusiveprinciplestotheirpractice.Allpupils,regardlessof their particular needs must be provided with valid opportunities to develop theirunderstandingofscienceandtechnology.Thiswill includepupilswhomayhave learningdifficulties;physicaldisabilities;languagedifficulties;andsocialandemotionaldifficulties.Inaddition,pupilswhohaveexceptionalabilitiesorwhomaybedescribedasgiftedandtalentedmustalsobemotivatedandchallengedbythelearningactivitiestheyareaskedtoengagewith.AsScienceandTechnologyhastraditionallybeenassociatedwithmales,female pupilsmust be encouraged and providedwith relevant andmeaningful learningwhichstimulateandmotivetheirinterestinScienceandTechnology.

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• The teacher values diversity and treats pupils equally and fairly

• The teacher identifies barriers that inhibit pupil learning and achievement

• The teacher identifies the needs of individual and groups of pupils and responds sensitively to meet those needs

• The teacher designs teaching and learning activities which are inclusive of the learning styles and needs of individuals or groups of pupils

• The teacher provides individualised support and/or programmes for pupils with specific needs

• The teacher responds to pupils’ emotional needs by providing appropriate support

• The teacher uses appropriate means of communication to meet the needs of all learners

Promotionofcriticalthinking

Inorder topromote critical thinking anddeep learning,pupils shouldbeencouraged todevelop independence of thought and action. The teacher should allowpupils to selectfromdifferentoptionsandarangeofalternativessothattheycanmake,andjustifytheirowndecisions.


• The teacher employs a range of questioning strategies to promote pupil involvement and help develop critical thinking

• The teacher promotes pupils’ awareness of, and ability to articulate their own thought processes

• The teacher encourages independence in learning and supports pupils to take increasing responsibility for their own learning

• The teacher provides clear explanations of concepts, relationships, procedures and processes

• The teacher employs problem solving activities to encourage critical thinking, inquiry and creativity

• The teacher provides appropriate and purposeful opportunities for pupils to work collaboratively

• The teacher integrates the use of ICT wherever appropriate to enhance pupil learning

• The teacher encourages pupils to set personal goals for learning

• The teacher allows pupils to assume control over aspects of the teaching and learning process, where appropriate

• The teacher values and encourages pupil risk taking


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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Anandiadou,KandClaro,M.(2009),21stCenturySkillsandCompetencesforNewMillenniumLearners in OECD Countries,OECD Education Working Papers, No. 41 OECD Publishing,Available at http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/download/fulltext/5ks5f2x078kl.pdf?expires=1341850689&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=5991D9AB613811021BB5F5600F20CB79(Accessed09/07/2012)

British Association of Lecturers in English for Academic Purposes, (2008), Competency Framework for Teachers of English for Academic Purposes,London:BALEAP

DepartmentofEducationandTraining(2004),Competency Framework for Teachers,Perth:DET

EuropeanCommission,DirectorGeneralforEducationandCulture,2010

European Institute for E-Learning, The eLearning Competency Framework for Teachers and Trainers, Available at http://www.eife-l.org/publications/competencies/ttframework(Accessed10/07/2012)

Flavell,J.(1976),MetacognitiveAspectsofProblemSolving,inResnick,L.(Ed.),The Nature of Intelligence,Hillsdale,NJ:LawrenceErlbaum,231-6

Flavell, J. (1987), Speculations about the Nature and Development of Metacognition inFried,R.(2001),The Passionate Teacher. A Practical Guide,Boston:BeaconPress

Gardner,H.(1983),Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences,NewYork:BasicBooks

Garnett,S.(2006),Using Brain power in the Classroom,Abingdon:Routledge

GeneralTeachingCouncil forNorthern Ireland(2007),Teaching the Reflective Profession, Belfast:GTCNI

Hayes,D.(2006),Inspiring Primary Teaching,Exeter:LearningMatters

Hayes,D.(2012),Foundations of Primary Teaching,London:Routledge

Honey,PandMumford,A.(1992),The Manual of Learning Styles,Maidenhead:PeterHoney

McGuinness,C.(2000),Activating Children’s Thinking Skills,Belfast:CCEA

Morrison, K. (2001), Jurgen Habermas, in J.A. Palmer, (Ed.), Fifty Modern Thinkers from Piaget to the Present,Abingdon:RoutledgeFalmer

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MicrosoftPartnersinLearning,21st Century Skills: Collaboration, Available at http://www.innovativeteachertoolkit.com/documents/skills/collaboration.pdf(Accessed10/07/2012)

Microsoft Partners in Learning, 21st Century Skills: Creativity, Available at http://www.innovativeteachertoolkit.com/documents/skills/creativity.pdf(Accessed10/07/2012)

Microsoft Partners in Learning, 21st Century Skills: Critical Thinking, Available at http://www.innovativeteachertoolkit.com/documents/skills/critical_thinking.pdf(Accessed10/07/2012)

Microsoft Partners in Learning,21st Century Skills: Assessment, Available at http://www.innovativeteachertoolkit.com/documents/skills/assessment.pdf(Accessed10/07/2012)

MicrosoftPartners inLearning,21st Century Skills: Organization, Available at http://www.innovativeteachertoolkit.com/documents/skills/organization.pdf(Accessed10/07/2012)

Morgan,N. and Saxon, J. (1994),Asking Better Questions,Markham,Ontario: PembrokePublishers

Petty,G.(2006),Evidence Based Teaching,Cheltenham:NelsonThornes

Riding,R.andRayner,S. (1998),Cognitive Styles and Learning Strategies: Understanding Style Differences in Learning and Behaviour,London:DavidFulton

Robson, S. (2006),Developing Thinking and Understanding in Young Children, Abingdon:Routledge

Selvi,K . (2010),Teachers’Competencies-Cultura. International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology,Vol.VII(1)

Sjur, B. and Radu, D. (2010), Higher Education for Modern Societies: Competences and Values,Strasbourg:CouncilofEuropePublishing

TeacherDevelopmentAgency,(2008),Professional Standards for Qualified Teacher Status and Requirements for Initial Teacher Training,London:TDA

Tileson,D.(2007),Teaching Strategies for Active Learning: Five Essentials for Your Teaching Plan,ThousandOaks,CA:CorwinPress

UnitedNations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (2008), ICT Competency Framework for Teachers,Paris:UnitedNations

Wragg,E.andBrown,G.(1993),Explaining,Abingdon:Routledge


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2.4 KEY AREAS, SUBSEQUENT MODES OF PRACTICE AND EXEMPLARS OF ACTIVITIES: A FRAMEWORK FOR STUDENTS OF INITIAL TEACHER EDUCATION IN POST-PRIMARY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

2 .4 .1 INTRODUCTION

Developmentof keyareas and subsequentmodesofpractice in scienceand technologypost-primaryinitialteachereducation(ITE)

1.1 The previous chapter provided a competence profile and pedagogical approach forstudentteachersofpost-primaryeducation.However,thischapteroutlinesarangeofkeyareas and subsequentmodes of practice which students of post-primary initial teachereducation,specifictotheareasofscienceandtechnology,shouldreflectuponandstrivetowards in order to help raise pupils’ interest in,motivation towards and perception ofscience and technology. These key areas and subsequentmodesof practice are derivedfrompreviousresearchandacademicliteraturerelatedtothetopicofpupils’perceptionsofscienceandtechnologyataEuropeanlevelwithinpost-primaryeducation.Thesuggestionisthatwhenincorporatedintoinitialteachereducation,theymayassistinthedevelopmentofinnovativelearningenvironmentswithinpost-primaryscienceandtechnologyteaching.These key areas and subsequentmodes of practicemay help students of initial teachereducationtoguidetheirpedagogicalthinkingwithinascienceandtechnologypost-primaryclassroominordertofulfilacompetenceprofile.

1.2Thekeyareasandsubsequentmodesofpracticeareoutlinedbelow.Theyhavebeenconstructedunderdifferentheadingswhichinclude:

• Pupilengagementwithscience&technology;

• Schoollinkswithcareerinscience&technology;

• Raisingquestionsinscience&technology;

• Connectedlearningofscience&technology;

• Publicperceptionofscience&technology;

• Promotionandstatusofscience&technology;

• Wideraspectstoscience&technology.

1.3When it comes to the education of post-primary student teachers, lecturers shouldintroducethesekeyareaswithinthosecoursemodulesrelatedspecificallytoscienceandtechnology.Bydoingthis, thestudent teachersshould thenbeawareof the importanceof reflectinguponeachof themfor thepurposeof raisingpupils’ interest in,motivationtowardsandperceptionofscienceandtechnology.

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2 .4 .2 KEY AREAS AND SUBSEQUENT MODES OF PRACTICE

1 . Pupil Engagement With Science & Technology

Key Areas Subsequent Modes Of Practice

Avoid repetitiveness. Utilize what has been learned by the pupils in science & technology at the end of primary school, without repeating the same type of activities by making it more challenging and personal to post-primary pupils’ lives.

Innovate and inspire. Create a teaching environment in science & technology that uses visual and interactive learning resources that fill the pupils with wonder and awe, and that steers away from a teaching environment that is dominated by content and copying notes, is repetitive, hurried, lacking in discussion, fragmented, and simply catering for passing exams.

Create an enthusiastic response from pupils.

Avoid making science & technology an area of the curriculum that is dull, driven by theory/laws/concepts, and meaningless by referring to how science & technology helps to create for example, smartphones, games consoles, laptops, and tablets.

Emphasise practical work.

Practice with pupils the idea that science & technology at school and beyond is not just about the rote learning of facts, but also involves the physical aspect of doing, designing, creating and making things work.

Make science & technology relevant, curious and fun.

Devise lesson plans to include activities in science & technology that have relevance to the pupils’ daily lives, raise their curiosity of science & technology, and engage the pupils in a fun way.

Instil autonomous learning.

Introduce more opportunities for pupils to control and direct their own learning and activities within science & technology by giving them the autonomy over how they could be actively engaged further in science & technology which has personal meaning to them as a group.

2.SchoolLinksWithCareerInScience&Technology


Seek experience outside school.

Create an opportunity for you to spend time ‘shadowing’ experts in the field of science & technology so that it reinvigorates the excitement associated with how they apply to the world of work.

Consider your professional development.

Become aware of the ever-changing world of teaching science & technology at post-primary school, and therefore be receptive to improving your own knowledge and skills through continuing professional development, that will enhance your creativity in the use of resources and opportunities outside of the school environment.


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Introduce a link between school and work.

Connect the learning and skills associated with science & technology at school with the learning and skills associated with science & technology centres, industries, museums, exhibitions.

Connect pupils with work.

Provide pupils with access to experts and specialists in science & technology outside of school who can realistically demonstrate the scope and indeed the limitations of science & technology to young people’s lives, in order to make them desirable for the future.

Integrate fieldtrips. Become trained in health and safety to enable leading fieldtrips to science & technology industries and centres and to integrate the learning achieved outside the school with science & technology at school.

Involve the family. Organise events that involve parents and other family members, who work within the fields of science & technology, coming to the school to contribute to lessons that are activity-based, issue-oriented, and include problem-solving related to local science & technology employers.

3.RaisingQuestionsInScience&Technology


Introduce criticality and debate.

Encourage pupils to be critical of science & technology findings in the sense of highlighting that debate and disagreement among the science & technology community can advance the formation of scientific and technological knowledge.

Highlight philosophical conflicts.

Acknowledge that science & technology has opposing scientific thinking that deals with the metaphysical, spiritual and supernatural, and that science and technology wars exist that opposes the idea of a single truth or reality.

Form opinions. Practice the skills of pupils providing their own informed opinions and contributions which either support or reject the arguments made by science & technology ‘experts’.

Consider the value of tasks.

Design practical activities in science & technology that are investigative, debate-based, have a task value and an achievable goal relevant to the daily lives of young people.

Assess through interpretation.

Include assessment in science & technology that involves pupils critically interpreting or evaluating claims about relevant theories made by scientists and technologists in order to reveal errors or omissions, or at least be more sceptical and curious about the unexplained.

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4.ConnectedLearningOfScience&Technology


Link with other subjects.

Show links between the activities and learning during science & technology in school and the other subject disciplines at school, especially mathematics.

Connect the disciplines.

Make clear and relevant connections between the two concepts of science and technology that relate to the modern world in which young people live.

Incorporate new types of media.

Associate the lessons and activities in science & technology at school, with relevant and current media, such as television programmes, magazines, YouTube videos, Facebook and Twitter groups.

Demonstrate valuable generic skills.

Promote the skills and qualifications associated with science & technology as generic in that they are relevant to other careers outside of science & technology.

5.PublicPerceptionOfScience&Technology


Recognise pupil identity.

Realize that young people are very conscious of their self-identity at school, which can impact on the perception of it being ‘uncool’ to have an interest in science & technology.

Address stereotypes. Create a learning environment which counteracts the negative stereotypes that currently exist in relation to those who have a career in science & technology.

Overcome fear and elitism in science & technology.

Make science & technology ‘trendy’, bring it outside the laboratory, instil in pupils that it can be easy to understand with nothing to fear, and emphasise that it is not just for those who are deemed to be the elite, intelligent and hard-working.

Approach gender inequalities.

Actively promote science & technology among post-primary girls to counteract the inequalities that currently exist between the two genders in the uptake of certain careers related to science & technology.

Associate ‘celebrity’ with science & technology.

Acknowledge the attractiveness and interest young people have towards ‘celebrity’ and ‘fame’ in the world of entertainment, by linking it to those ‘celebrities’ who are associated with the world of science & technology, for example those who appear on television or through other types of media.


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6.PromotionAndStatusOfScience&Technology


Present scope within higher education.

Have up-to-date and relevant knowledge of opportunities in higher education and in careers related to science & technology in order to inform pupils who wish to pursue them for their future education and potential career.

Be enthusiastic specialists.

Demonstrate to pupils that teachers are specialists who are extremely well qualified to teach the specific subject disciplines within science & technology and are enthusiastic about these subjects in school and beyond.

Highlight the European dimension.

Communicate to pupils the importance of science & technology for Europe and the real need for young people within Europe to pursue it as a career, so that the countries within Europe do not fall behind the rest of the world.

Raise the status of science & technology teachers.

Show the pupils that a teacher working within science & technology is considered to have a positive and well-respected status in society, and that a career in science & technology has a high level of esteem.

Demonstrate a work/life balance.

Recognise that a pupil’s enjoyment of science & technology inside and outside school can lead to a positive choice and attainment of science & technology for a future career, which can be easily combined with a positive family life.

7 . Wider Aspects To Science & Technology


Cater for both pure and social science.

Jointly facilitate those pupils who are interested in the world of science & technology, as well as those who are interested in science & technology-based social concerns.

Extend beyond science & technology facts.

Include contemporary cultural and social aspects to science & technology, with some reference to the historical aspects.

Realise political and economic agendas.

Activate pupils’ thinking about potential agendas of science & technology, and whether they help or hinder advances in the world.

Approach ethical issues.

Instil the idea that science & technology have many ethical issues associated with procedures and participants, and that there is an importance attached to those working within science & technology of the need to have empathy towards the concerns of human beings, other living creatures, the environment and society at large.

Focus on positive outcomes of science & technology.

Emphasise the positives associated with science & technology, especially in relation to counteracting global warming or pollution to create a better environment, as these are deemed to be very important to young people.

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3 DESCRIPTION OF THE SURVEY, QUESTIONNAIRE AND GUIDELINES

PerceptionsOfPost-PrimaryPupils’TowardsScienceand/orTechnology

Guidelines

Thisquestionnairehasbeendesignedbyateamofresearchers fromGermany,NorthernIreland, Romania and Spainwho are very interested in finding outwhat pupils in post-primaryschoolsacrossEuropethinkaboutscienceand/ortechnology.

Eachquestionrequiresyoutogiveyouropinionbyplacingatick[√]inabox.Thisisnotatest,sotherearenorightorwronganswers.Insteadtheresearchteamareveryinterestedinfindingoutyourownopinionsonscienceand/ortechnology.Theinformationyouprovidewillremainanonymousandconfidentialtotheresearchteam,sopleasedonotwriteyournameonthequestionnaire.Bycompletingandreturningthisquestionnaire,youwillhaveshownyouragreementtoitbeingusedforthepurposeofthisproject.


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1. Whatgenderareyou?(tickoneboxonly)

Male

Female

2. Whatageareyou?

Age

3. Whatisyourschoolyeargroup?(tickoneboxonly)

4. Whatisthehighestlevelofeducationcompletedbyanyofyourparents/guardians?Tickoneboxonly

University of equivalent

Secondary school or equivalent

Other

Don’t know

5. Doanyofyourparents/guardianshaveacareerrelatedtoscienceand/ortechnology?(tickoneboxonly)

Yes

No

6. Whatisyourlevelofinterestinthefollowing?(tickoneboxonlyforeachstatement)

Very interested

Fairly interested

Not very interested

Disinterested

Food and/or consumer issues

Science and/or technology

Movies

Art and/or culture

Sports

Economy and/or business

Education

Medicine and/or health

Environmental issues

Politics

Famous people (actors, rock stars...)

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7. Howoftendoyougetinformationonscienceand/ortechnologyfromthefollowing?(tickoneboxonlyforeachstatement)

Always Sometimes Never

Television

Radio

Newspapers

Magazines

Books

Encyclopaedias

Educational software programmes

DVDs

Teachers

Parent/guardian

Blogs/on-line discussion forums

Podcasts

Twitter

Facebook

Google

YouTube

Other

8. Whatisyourlevelofinterestinlearningaboutthesegeneralareasofscienceand/ortechnology?(tickoneboxonlyforeachstatement)

Very interested Fairly interestedNot very

interestedDisinterested

Biology

Geology

Chemistry

Electronics

Engineering

Mathematics

Physics

Product design

Product manufacture


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9. Doyouthinkthatlearningaboutscienceand/ortechnologyprovidesyouwiththefollowing?(tickoneboxonlyforeachstatement)

Yes No Don’t know

Improves your understanding of the things that affect you and your family

Improves your understanding of opinions on society and political issues

Improves your understanding of communicating with different people

Improves your understanding of solving problems in your daily life

Improves your understanding of being more sensitive towards other people

Improves your understanding of being a more responsible consumer

Improves your understanding of a career in science and/or technology

10.Whatareyouropinionsonthefollowingstatements?(tickoneboxonlyforeachstatement)

Strongly agree

Agree Undecided DisagreeStrongly disagree

Science and/or technology subjects at school are boring

Studying science and/or technology subjects at school will help me obtain my desired job in the future

Science and/or technology activities are fun

Science and/or technology issues are difficult to understand

I like science and/or technology

Science and/or technology subjects are the most interesting to study at school

I am interested in science and/or technology subjects that relate to people’s health

I like learning about science and/or technology that relate to space travel and the universe

I like learning about laws of science and/or technology

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11.Which of the following careers would interest you in the future? (tick one box only for eachstatement)

Yes No Don’t know

Doctor

Researcher

Engineer

Judge

Lawyer

Sports person

Artist

Journalist

Business person

Teacher

Politician

Inventor

Designer

Other


Strongly agree


My parents/guardians will be a strong influence on my choice of career

My other relatives will be a strong influence on my choice of career

My friends will be a strong influence on my choice of career

My teachers will be a strong influence on my choice of career

Famous people will be a strong influence on my choice of career

13.Whatisyourlevelofinterestinthefollowingscienceand/ortechnologyactivities?(tickoneboxonlyforeachstatement)

Very interested

Fairly interested

Not very interested

Disinterested

Doing research projects

Planning research projects

Collecting information for research projects

Coming up with solutions to problem-solving

Testing solutions to problem-solving

Examining results from research projects

Writing research reports

Working as a member of a research team

Making presentations about research


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Strongly agree


Science and/or technology provide the best ways to understand our world

Science and/or technology are increasingly complicated

Science and/or technology are harmful to our health

Science and/or technology help improve our environment

Science and/or technology provide us with a comfortable lifestyle

Science and/or technology enable me to make friends

Science and/or technology should be used properly to avoid danger

Science and/or technology help cure diseases

Science and/or technology are concerned with the needs of people

Science and/or technology cause a division between rich and poor people

Science and/or technology make life enjoyable

Science and/or technology present serious risks to the world

Science and/or technology are very beneficial to society


Strongly agree


People who have a career in science and/or technology are typically old

People who have a career in science and/or technology are typically boring

People who have a career in science and/or technology are typically men

People who have a career in science and/or technology are typically creative

People who have a career in science and/or technology typically work alone

People who have a career in science and/or technology typically work in a laboratory

People who have a career in science and/or technology are typically competitive

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People who have a career in science and/or technology are typically hard-working

People who have a career in science and/or technology are typically geniuses

People who have a career in science and/or technology are typically nerdy

People who have a career in science and/or technology are typically strange

People who have a career in science and/or technology are typically addicted to their work

16.Whydoyouthinkpeoplechoosescienceand/ortechnologyasacareer?(tickoneboxonlyforeachstatement)

True False Don’t know

They earn a lot of money

They think it is worthwhile

They enjoyed studying it

They believe other people think it is worthwhile

They can become famous

They get the opportunity to travel

17.Sincestartingthisschool,haveyouvisitedanyofthefollowingonascienceand/ortechnologytrip?(tickoneboxonlyforeachstatement)

Yes No Don’t know

Science and/or technology museum

Science and/or technology exhibition

Science and/or technology fair

Science and/or technology library

Science and/or technology park

Science and/or technology conference

18.Doyouthinkyourschoolshouldprovidemorescienceand/ortechnologytrips?(tickoneboxonly)

Yes

No

19.Doyouthinkyourschoolshouldallowyoutodomorepracticalprojectsrelatedtoscienceand/ortechnology?(tickoneboxonly)

Yes

No, I don’t need more practical projects

No, because my school allows us enough practical projects


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20.Doyouseemathematicsatschoolhavinglinkswithscienceand/ortechnology?(tickoneboxonly)

Yes

No

21.Doyouseeothersubjectsatschoolhavinglinkswithscienceand/ortechnology?(tickoneboxonly)

Yes

No

22.Howwouldyourateyourcurrentknowledgeinscienceand/ortechnologyforyourtypicalage?(tickoneboxonly)

Excellent

Very good

Good

Average

Poor

23.Dothefollowingscienceand/ortechnologyactivitiesatschoolinterestyou?(tickoneboxonlyforeachstatement)

Yes NoSchool doesn’t offer such

activities

Science and/or technology competitions

Science and/or technology experiments

Science and/or technology research projects

Science and/or technology speakers

Science and/or technology trips

Science and/or technology assemblies

Science and/or technology displays

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4 A DESCRIPTION OF THE “STIMULA” ACTIVITIES

This chapter is devoted to collect the main features of the activities developed duringthepilotsoftheSTIMULAprojects.Theactivitiesweredesignedattendingtothespecificcharacteristicsoftheschools,andspecificallytothedifferentcurriculaandformalactivitiesdeveloped by the pupils. All the activities share the same general objectives, but wereadaptedtoeachspecificcountryandschool.

Eachparagraphdescribestheactivities inonecountry.Atablecollects thenamesof theschools and number of groups; the basic features of each activity (contest, experiment,visit…)aredescribedbymeansofaseriesofquestionsandanswers.

4.1 France

Name of the school Groups Level-age(1st survey)

Level-age(pilot-2nd survey)

Bernat Etxepare Lizeoa 3 Lycée 2ème (15-16 y.o.) Lycée 1ère (16-17 y.o.)

Zirubuko Kolegioa 3Collége 4ème

(13-14 y.o.)Collége 3ème (14-15 y.o.)

Zirubuko Kolegioa 3Collége 6ème

(11-12 y.o.)Collége 5ème (12-13 y.o.)

Contest:

• Howoldwerethestudents?14-15 years old

• Howmanyclassesparticipatedinthecontest?1 class

• Didtheyworkinteams?Howmanypeoplehadeachteam?No.

• Whichtopicdidtheyselect?Invasive species

• Didtheydoanycomplementaryaction(talkofexpert…)?No


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• Anyotherinterestingnote(noforeseenproblemsetc.)The topic was not directly related with the curriculum of the students, so they had problems with time.

Experiment:


• Howmanyclassesparticipatedintheexperiments?2 classes

• Didtheyworkinteams?Howmanypeoplehadeachteam?4-5 pupils in each team.

• Whichexperimentdidtheydo?Black box and Rube Goldberg machine

• Didtheyrealizeanycomplementaryaction(talkofexpert…)?No

• Anyotherinterestingnote(noforeseenproblemsetc.).No

Visit to research centre:


• Wheredidtheygo?TECNALIA RESEARCH & INNOVATION (Parque tecnológico de San Sebastián), 5th of December of 2012.

Tecnalia is the first private R&D&I entity in Spain and one of the most important in Europe. Its mission is to transform knowledge into real economy, improving people’s quality of life by generating business opportunities for companies.

• Howmanyclassesdidthevisit?One.

• Didalltheclassdothevisittogetherordidtheysplitinsmallergroups?Howmanypeoplehadeachteam?All together

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• Howwasthevisitorganized?Marketing department of Tecnalia proposed a schedule

• Whatdidthestudentsdo?(programmeofthevisitday) – 09:00-9:30: Welcome of marketing director, introduction of Tecnalia and

corporative video. – 9:30- 10:30 Talk with researcher and visit industry and transport division and

virtual demo lab. – 10:30-10:50 Break – 11:00-12:00 Talk with a researcher and visit lab. – 12:15-13:30 Talk a with researcher

• Whichwastheprofileoftheresearcherthestudentsstayedwith?Regular researcher.

• Anyotherinterestingnote(noforeseenproblemsetc.):Feedback from the teachers:

– It is better to manage and prepare the visit with a high profile manager of the centre, so the researcher that is going to stay with the students don’t have overload of work.

– A class of 30 students is too big for the visit, next time it should be better to split in 2 groups of 15. That means more researchers and rooms.

– The localization and the facilities of the technology centre are crucial for the experience (heater, the loud-speaker etc.).

– It is a good idea for the students to take prepared questions for the researchers, especially questions that serve as icebreaker.

– It is necessary to foresee any help for handicapped students. – It is advisable to have balanced gender in the researchers. – Talks and visits to lab, both are interesting. – The coffee break is a very good place to make contact between researchers and

students. If there is a table and they have to sit together they connect faster than if they have to stand.

– Language of foreign researchers can be a problem if the students can’t understand him or her.


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4.2 Germany



Freie Evangelische Schule Lörrach2 (experimental

and control)Klasse 10 (15-16 y.o.) Klasse 11 (16-17 y.o.)





Hans Thoma Gymnasium2 (experimental






Contest:

• Howoldwerethestudents?12 – 13 years old

• Howmanyclassesparticipatedinthecontest?Two classes, one of each participating school.

• Didtheyworkinteams?Howmanypeoplehadeachteam?They did teamwork with the whole class. Hans-Thoma-Gymnasium Loerrach (HTG) class: 31 pupils; Freie Evangelische Schule Loerrach (FES) class: 23 pupils.

• Witchtopicdidtheyselect?“Invasive species” (HTG) and “Music of the body” (FES).

• Didtheydoanycomplementaryaction(talkofexpert…)?The HTG class got help of a workgroup to produce the video and do the final cut.

• Anyotherinterestingnote(noforeseenproblemsetc.)No.

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Science experiments:

• Howoldwerethestudents?14 - 15 years old

• Howmanyclassesparticipatedintheexperiments?2 classes, 1 of each participating school

• Didtheyworkinteams?Howmanypeoplehadeachteam?2 pupils per team

• Witchexperimentdidtheydo?Hydroelectric-Turbine generator

• Didtheyrealizeanycomplementaryaction(talkofexpert…)?In addition to this experiment, the FES class did as well the Black Box and the Rube Goldberg machine.

• Anyotherinterestingnote(noforeseenproblemsetc.).Both teachers were enthusiastic about the experiment Hydroelectric-Turbine generator. They will do this experiment in the following years with further classes as well.


• Howoldwerethestudents?The pupils were between 15 and 16 years old.

• Wheredidtheygo?The students attended a robotics workshop conducted by the Steinbeis Innovation Centre for Embedded Design and Networking (SIZEDN).

The Steinbeis Innovation gGmbH is part of the Steinbeis Foundation, a state owned foundation targeting technology transfer from universities into the economy. At the moment, more than 700 transfer companies belong to the Steinbeis network, which employed in 2009 a total of 801 professors, alongside with 1,385 employees and 3,584 contractors. Altogether they generated revenue of €118m in 2009. The whole Steinbeis network runs around 50 projects on the EC-level.

The Centre for Embedded Design and Networking was founded in 2002 at the Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University in Loerrach, Germany. It is active in R&D projects around wireless and wired embedded connectivity for the internet of things. Since 2003, it runs the IT-Seminar Loerrach, a long-term activity for high-school students working on robotics. IT-Seminar Loerrach is now an organizational part of


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Phaenovum Schuelerforschungszentrum Loerrach-Dreilaendereck e.V., being also a Stimula project partner.

As the SIZEDN has not the facilities to house a workshop for classes of about 30 pupils, one workshop has been conducted at the partner school, the other at the Phaenovum pupil’s research centre.

• Howmanyclassesdidthevisit?There were two classes taking part at the activity. One class from the Hans-Thoma-Gymnasium Loerrach (HTG), the other from the Freie Evangelische Schule Loerrach (FES).

• Didalltheclassdothevisittogetherordidtheysplitinsmallergroups?Howmanypeoplehadeachteam?The first workshop took place in the computer lab of the HTG. The whole class of 27 pupils took part at the same workshop.

The second workshop took place at the Phaenovum. Since the rooms there are too small for more than 20 pupils the class of 29 pupils has been divided into two workshops.

• Howwasthevisitorganized?The workshops have been organized by the SIZEDN and the partnering schools.

• Whatdidthestudentsdo?(programmeofthevisitday) – 08:30 – Round of Introductions – 09:00 – Presentation: “Robotics - brief overview” – 09:10 – Presentation: “Lego Mindstorms – the platform” – 09:35 – Introducing the task: The Line Follower – 09:40 – Introduction to NXT-G (LabView) – 10:15 – Break – 10:30 – Construction & Programming of a Line Follower – 12:15 – Feedback Session – 12:30 – End of workshop

• Whichwastheprofileoftheresearcherthestudentsstayedwith? – Engineer / Project Staff from SIZEDN – Pupils from the Phaenovum

• Anyotherinterestingnote(noforeseenproblemsetc.):The class from the FES showed a higher level of attention than the class from the HTG. There may be two circumstances explaining this: The FES class was split in 2 groups of ~15 pupils each and their workshop was held outside of their school building at the Phaenovum placing them in an unfamiliar environment.

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4.3 Northern Ireland (U.K. system)



Loreto College2 (experimental

and control)Year 11 (14-15 y.o.) Year 12 (15-16 y.o.)

St Michael’s Grammar School2 (experimental


St Dominic’s Grammar School2 (experimental


St Dominic’s Grammar School2 (experimental


St Paul’s Junior High School2 (experimental


St Paul’s Junior High School2 (experimental


Contest:


• Howmanyclassesparticipatedinthecontest?Two classes- one from St Paul’s Junior High School and one from St Dominic’s Grammar School

• Didtheyworkinteams?Howmanypeoplewereineachteam?Yes, the pupils in each class were divided into teams which had approximately 5 pupils in each team

• Whichtopicdidtheyselect?The topic was Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) and its possible applications in terms of meeting a human need.

• Didtheytakepartinanycomplementaryactivities(talkfromanexpert…)?Yes they were given a presentation by a Dr Michael Cregan from Queen’s University Belfast who is an expert on Wi-Fi applications.


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• Anyotherinterestingissues(noforeseenproblemsetc.)There were no unforeseen problems.

Experiment:


• Howmanyclassesparticipatedintheexperiments?Two classes- one from St Paul’s Junior High School and one from St Dominic’s Grammar School

• Didtheyworkinteams?Howmanypeoplewereineachteam?Yes, the pupils in each class were divided into teams which had approximately 5 pupils in each team

• Whichexperimentdidtheydo?The pupils built a model of a Hydroelectric-Turbine generator.

• Didtheytakepartinanycomplementaryactivities(talkfromanexpert…)?Yes they visited an organic farm where a Hydroelectric-Turbine had been installed and had informed discussions with the owner. The owner had participated, as the client, in the overall design of the installation. He was therefore able to provide the pupils with an expert insight in the advantages/disadvantages of both installing and running the Hydro-Turbine system on his farm.

• Anyotherinterestingissues(noforeseenproblemsetc.):There were no unforeseen problems with the project.



• Wheredidtheygo?St Michael’s Grammar school pupils visited a local product designer’s research studio. Loreto Grammar pupils visited Armstrong Medical a local company that had incorporated robots into its industrial production cycle.

• Howmanyclassesdidthevisit?Two classes- one from St Michael’s Grammar School and one from Loreto College

• Didalltheclassdothevisittogetherordidtheysplitinsmallergroups?Each of the classes made the visit as single units.

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• Howmanypeoplewereineachteam?There were approximately 15 pupils from each school on each of the visits. However the pupils were organised into groups of 3-4 for the associated project work.

• Howwasthevisitorganized?St Mary’s University College organised the visits for each school

• Whatdidthestudentsdo?(programmeofthevisitday)The pupils were taken on a tour of each facility with the local engineer/designer explaining in detail the design and production cycles that operated within each of the facilities. The pupils then asked some research questions that focussed on how both Science and Technological based knowledge was being applied within each industry/facility in order to meet a human need.

• Whichwastheprofileoftheresearcherthestudentsstayedwith?The researcher/designer/engineers in each of the facilities were employed in prominent roles that entailed them managing both the design and manufacturing processes.

• Anyotherinterestingissues(noforeseenproblemsetc.):There were no unforeseen problems.

4.4 Romania



Colegiul National “Nicolae Titulescu”

2 (experimental) Level X (16-17 y.o.) Level XI (17-18 y.o.)


2 (experimental) Level IX (15-16 y.o.) Level X (16-17 y.o.)


2 (experimental) Level VII (13-14 y.o.) Level VIII (14-15 y.o.)

Colegiul National “Stefan Velovan”

2 (control) Level X (16-17 y.o.) –

Colegiul National “Stefan Velovan”

2 (control) Level IX (15-16 y.o.) –

School N. 39 2 (control) Level VII (13-14 y.o.) –


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Contest:


• Howmanyclassesparticipatedinthecontest?2 classes

• Didtheyworkinteams?Howmanypeoplehadeachteam?In one class they worked in 3 teams- 8 students, in the other no teams.

• Witchtopicdidtheyselect?Renewable energy for everyone; Wireless connections

• Didtheydoanycomplementaryaction(talkofexpert…)?No

• Anyotherinterestingnote(noforeseenproblemsetc.)They had problems with time.

Experiment:



• Didtheyworkinteams?Howmanypeoplehadeachteam?6 pupils in each team.

• Witchexperimentdidtheydo?Rube Goldberg machine and Black box



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• Wheredidtheygo?The Regional Meteorological Center of Oltenia;

Faculty of Automation, computers and electronics-mecatonica specialization – University of Craiova

• Howmanyclassesdidthevisit?2 classes

• Didalltheclassdothevisittogetherordidtheysplitinsmallergroups?Howmanypeoplehadeachteam?All together

• Howwasthevisitorganized?DepartmentofResearchoftheFacultyofAutomation,ComputersandElectronics– University of Craiova

• Whatdidthestudentsdo?(programmeofthevisitday)The Regional Meteorological Center of Oltenia

– Welcome and visiting weather stations in the monitoring area. Collection of data from stations

– Visiting Centre-presenting applications and weather data processing tools and turn them into weather information.

– Break – Talk with researchers

Faculty of Automation, computers and electronics-mecatonica specialization – University of Craiova

– Welcome and introduction to Lego Robotics – Talk with researcher -they built a Bumper Car (with touch- and ultrasound

sensors) – Break – Visiting the labs. – Talk with researchers

• Witchwastheprofileoftheresearcherthestudentsstayedwith?Regular researchers and a university professor.


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• Anyotherinterestingnote(noforeseenproblemsetc.):Feedback from the teachers: The students were very excited.Researchers have adapted to the students ‘ language, which made the communication easier. We have established new partnerships to continue these visits in the next year, which will be better organized in terms of time management, students and researchers will solve new tasks together.

4.5 Spain



Fray Juan de Zumárraga-Durango BHI

2 (experimental and control)

1º Bachillerato (16-17 y.o.)

2º Bachillerato (17-18 y.o.)

IES Elorrio BHI2 (experimental

and control)DBH 2/2º ESO

(13-14 y.o.)DBH 3/3º ESO

(14-15 y.o.)

IES Elorrio BHI2 (experimental

and control)DBH 3/3º ESO

(14-15 y.o.)DBH 4/4º ESO

(15-16 y.o.)

Contest:


• Howmanyclassesparticipatedinthecontest?2 classes

• Didtheyworkinteams?Howmanypeoplehadeachteam?4-5 pupils each team.

• Whichtopicdidtheyselect?Invasive species

• Didtheydoanycomplementaryaction(talkofexpert…)?Interview to expert (Honey maker)

• Anyotherinterestingnote(noforeseenproblemsetc.)Teachers and pupils liked very much to participate in the contest.

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Experiment:



• Didtheyworkinteams?Howmanypeoplehadeachteam?4-5 pupils each team.

• Whichexperimentdidtheydo?Black box and Rube Goldberg machine





• Wheredidtheygo?TECNALIA RESEARCH & INNOVATION (Parque Tecnológico de Bizkaia), 10th of December of 2012

Tecnalia is the first private R&D&I entity in Spain and one of the most important in Europe. Its mission is to transform knowledge into real economy, improving people’s quality of life by generating business opportunities for companies.

– How many classes did the visit? – One. – Did all the class do the visit together or did they split in smaller groups? How

many people had each team? – All together – How was the visit organized? – Marketing department of Tecnalia proposed a schedule – What did the students do? (programme of the visit day)

· 09:00-9:30: Welcome of marketing director, introduction of Tecnalia and corporative video.

· 9:30- 10:30 Talk with researcher and visit to health lab. · 10:30-11:30 Talk with two researchers and visit the automotive lab.


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· 11:30-11:45 Break · 11:45-12:30 Talk with researcher and visit the artificial vision lab. · 12:30-13:30 Visit to experimental house about energy with researcher.

• Whichwastheprofileoftheresearcherthestudentsstayedwith?Regular researcher.

• Anyotherinterestingnote(noforeseenproblemsetc.):Feedback from the teachers:

– It is better to manage and prepare the visit with a high profile manager of the centre, so the researcher that is going to stay with the students don’t have overload of work.

– A class of 30 students is too big for the visit, next time it should be better to split in 2 groups of 15. That means more researchers and rooms.

– The localization and the facilities of the technology centre are crucial for the experience (heater, the loud-speaker etc.).

– It is a good idea for the students to take prepared questions for the researchers, especially questions that serve as icebreaker.

– It is necessary to foresee any help for handicapped students. – It is advisable to have balanced gender in the researchers. – Talks and visits to lab, both are interesting. – The coffee break is a very good place to make contact between researchers and

students. If there is a table and they have to sit together they connect faster than if they have to stand.

– Language of foreign researchers can be a problem if the students can’t understand him or her.

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5 RESULTS

5.1 Descriptionoftheanalysisprotocol

INTRODUCTION

Asitssubtitleindicates,STIMULAprojectismainlydevotedtostimulateS&Tcompetenceinpost-primarypupils. It isthoughtthatthesenew(orbetter)competenceswill improveperceptionsandinterestonS&Tbypupils,leadingtoanincreaseoftheS&Tvocations.

Thepartnersoftheprojecthavedesignedanddevelopedseveralactivitieswiththisaim,and it is very important for us to have available tools for detecting the effects of theseactivities.Themaintoolsforthisarethetwosurveyswepassedtothepupilsduringtheproject.Theirmaincharacteristicsarethefollowing:

– Thequestionnairesforthesurveysinclude23questions,andweredesignedbytheSTIMULAteam.

– ThequestionsaremainlydevotedtoknowtheviewsofthepupilsonseveralitemsrelatedtoS&T,bothasacademicorsocialissues.

– Theanswersaredisplayedasachoicebetweenseveral(closed)possibilities:Yes/No,levelofagreementwithagivenassessment,etc.

– Thesamequestionnairewasfilledoutbythepupils inallthecountries,schoolsandagegroups.

– Thefirstsurveywasdoneseveralmonthsbeforetheactivities;thesecondone,justaftertheactivities(severaldaysorweekslater).

– Thesamequestionnairewasfilledoutbythepupils inbothsurveys, inordertodetectchangesrelatedwiththeactivities.

– Besidesthe“experimental”groups,thesurveyshavealsobeenpassedby“control”groups(thatdidnotparticipateintheactivities).

Fortheanalysisoftheresults,wehavedevelopedagroupof“workinghypotheses”.Wehadfocusedonthemtogettherelevantinformationforthesurveys.Thiswillbedonebyusingaspecificprotocoltoobtain(statistical)informationforthesurveyresults.


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WORKING HYPOTHESES

Themainworkinghypothesesarethefollowing:

WH1)Thequestionnairesallowobtainingstatisticallyrelevantinformationonperceptions about S&T, interest about S&T issues and vocations in S&T of the post-primary pupils’groups.

WH2)Positiveperceptions,interestandvocationsareconnected.

WH3)TheparticipationofpupilsinthedesignedactivitiescauseaenrichmentintheirS&Tcompetences.Asaconsequence,pupils:

a) DevelopmorepositiveperceptionsaboutS&T,

b) IncreasetheirlevelofinterestaboutS&Tissues,

c) IncreasetheirinterestinpursuingcareersinS&T.

WH4)Individualfeaturesofthepupilscaninfluenceperceptions,interestandvocationsinS&T.Specifically,wewillanalyze:

a) Gender

b) Levelofeducationoftheparents/guardians

c) PupilownperceptionofS&Tknowledge.

WORKING PROTOCOL

Thequestionnairecontains23questions.Exceptforthosecorrespondingtoindividualdata(age,gender,socio-culturalenvironment)thequestionsaremainlydevotedtoevaluatetheperceptionsonS&Tissues(bothintheacademicenvironmentandinSociety)ofpupils.Insomequestions,pupilsshoulddeterminetheirlevelofagreementwithanassessment,ortheirlevelofintereststowardsaspecificissue.Inothercases,adirectquestionisput,andpupilsshouldchooseanansweras“Yes”or“No”.

FIRSTANALYSISOFTHESURVEY

The main objectives of the STIMULA project are related with motivation (i. e. positiveinterest)towardsS&T,andparticularlywithfosteringvocationsinS&T.Thus,thesurveyisfocusedinstudyingelementsoftheperceptionsconnectedwithmotivationandvocations.

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Withtheseideasinmind,andfollowingthehypothesisWH1,wecanselectfourmain items tobeevaluatedinouranalysis:

I.1)PerceptionofS&T

I.2)InteresttowardsS&T

I.3)VocationsinS&T

I4)Instrumentalissues

Eachquestionwill beassociated tooneof thosemain items. Logically, all the itemsarerelated:positiveperceptions, interest,academic interestandvocationswillusuallybeallconnected.Moreover,itisnotalwayseasytoclearlyseparatetheseitems.Butwethinkwecanmakeuseofthisstructureforasuitableanalysisofthesurvey.

Statisticaltools

Thepercentageoftheanswerstoeachquestionwillbeusedtoinferthestatisticalopinionsof thepupilsaboutperceptions, interestandvocations.Forquestionscontaining severalstatements,methods,etc.,statisticalranksofagreement,interest,use…withinthequestioncanbeestablished.Directquestions (wherepossibleanswersare“yes”or“not”)canbeeasily ranked for a simple statistical analysis. However,whenquestions ask for levels ofagreementorlevelofinterest,answersareobtainedasordinalvalues,thatis,fourorfivequalitativevaluesthatcanbeordered,fromthelowerslevelofagreementorinterest,tothehighestone.Inthiscase,obtainingarankofagreementorinterestwithinthestatementsofaquestionbecomesmoredifficult.Theuseofthepercentageofeachansweristherightway for comparing, butwith a so large collectionof data, this canbe cumbersomeandevenpreventobtainingclearconclusions.Theuseofestimates, likethemodevalue(themostansweredone),thepercentageofoneextremelevelofagreementorinterest,ortheaggregatepercentageofthetwohighestorlowestlevelsofagreementorinterest,ortheuseofquantitativeestimatesbytransformingtheordinalvaluesintoascale,areinprinciplenotsuitablebecauseinsomecasesitcandrivetoawronganalysis.Fortunately,thisdifficultycanbeovercomewhenthestatisticaldistributionoftheordinalvaluesshowabellshape.Itcanbeseenthatitissoformostofourresults.Insuchacase,allthepreviouslydescribedestimatesdisplayalmostthesameordering,andameaningfulrankingisobtainedfortheanalysisoftheresults.Forthisanalysis,wewillmainlymakeuseofthemodevalueofeachanswer,butalsoglobalcomparisonoftheanswerswillbeused.

Descriptionoftheanalysis

Thegroupsincludepupilsofthesamecountryandthesameeducationallevel.“Experimental”and“control”groupswillbeanalyzedseparately.

Inthefollowing,wewilldescribeeachmainitemwithsomedetail,developingitinsecondaryitemsandexplainingthewaytheyareusedfortheanalysis:


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I.1)PerceptionofS&T

WecandefineitasthepupilsviewofS&Tasusefultoolsforunderstandingtheworldandformodifyingitinawaythatbothsolvespracticalproblemsofindividualsorgroupswithoutdamagingotherindividuals,groups,ortheenvironment.

Inourquestionnaire,thefollowingquestionsarerelatedwithperceptionofS&T:

– Question9

– Question14

– Question15

– Question16

– Question20

– Question21

WecanselectthefollowingsecondaryitemsonperceptionofS&T:

I.1.1)PerceptionoftheusefulnessofS&T

I.1.1.a)UsefulnessoftheS&Tacademicsubjects:Eachstatementofquestion9wasusedforanestimationoftheusefulnessperceptionofusefulnessinaspecificfield.

I.1.1.b)UsefulnessofS&T:Eachstatementofquestion14wasusedforanestimationoftheusefulnessinaspecificfield.Thestatementscanbeseparatedinthreegroups:

i)Practicalissues:“S&Tareusefulforsolvingproblems”

ii)Ethicalissues:“S&Tareethicallypositive”

iii)Ambivalence:“S&Tarepositiveornegativedependingonthewaypeopleusethem”

The statements of question 14 were separated in these three groups and used for anestimationoftheusefulnessperceptioninaspecificfield.

Notethatsomestatementsarewritteninanegativestyle.Insomediscussions,thepositiveperceptionwillbeconsidered.

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I.1.2)StereotypesaboutpeopleworkinginS&T

Thereareseveralgroupsofstereotypes:

I.1.2.a)Individualfeatures:Thelevelofassumptionofthesestereotypescanbeestimatedfromquestion15,statements15.a,15.cand15.i.Theyareconsidered“negative”astheycorrespondtothestereotypeof“male,oldpeople,geniuses”.

I.1.2.b)Socialskills:The levelofassumptionof thesestereotypescanbeestimatedfromquestion15,statements15.b,15.g,15.j,15.kand15.l.Theyareconsidered“negative”astheycorrespondtothestereotypeof“boring,competitive,nerdy,strange,addicttowork”.

I.1.2.c)Workingconditions:Thelevelofassumptionofthesestereotypescanbeestimatedfrom question 15, statements 15.e and 15.f. They are considered “negative” as theycorrespondtothestereotypeof“workingalone,workinginalaboratory”.

I.1.2.d)Positiveviews:Thelevelofassumptionoftwopositiveviewscanbeestimatedfromquestion15,statements15.dand15.h.Theyareconsidered“positive”astheyshowfeaturesthatcouldbeemphasized(“beingcreative”,“workinghard”).

I.1.2.e)ReasonsforchoosingaS&Tcareer:The levelofassumptionofthesestereotypescanbeestimatedfromquestion16.Arankingofthereasonsestimatedbythepupilscanbeestablished.

I.1.3)PerceptionoftheconnectionbetweenS&Tandothersubjects

I.1.3.a)ConnectionbetweenMathematicsandotherS&Tsubjects:Fromquestion20.

I.1.3.b)ConnectionbetweenS&Tsubjectsandothersubjects:Fromquestion21


WecandefineitasapositiveviewofpupilsiftheywanttoknowmoreaboutS&Trelatedissues,tolearnmoreS&Tintheclassroom,andtoiftheychooseS&Tissueswhendecidingtheiracademicitinerariesorcurricula.

Inourquestionnaire,thefollowingquestionsarerelatedwiththeinteresttowardsS&T:

– Question6

– Question8

– Question10

– Question13


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– Question18

– Question19

– Question23

WecanselectthefollowingsecondaryitemsoninteresttowardsS&T:

I.2.1)Interesttowardsgeneralissues

Arankingofinteresttowardsgeneralissuescanbeestablishedfromquestion6.Besidestherankof6.b(“ScienceandTechnology”)attentionshouldbepaidto6.a,6.d,6.g,6.hand6.i,astheactivitiesoftheprojectcouldbeconnectedwithsuchissues.

I.2.2)InteresttowardsacademicS&Tsubjects

I.2.2.a) A ranking of interest towards academic S&T subjects can be established fromquestion8.

I.2.2.b)AffinitytowardsacademicS&Tsubjects

Question10reflectsthreedifferentaspectsofaffinity:

i)EnjoymentwithS&T:correspondstostatements10.a,10.c,10.eand10.f

ii)Rationalinterest:correspondstostatements10.band10.d

iii)InteresttowardsspecificissuesinS&T:correspondstostatements10.g,10.hand10.i

Notethatsomestatementsarewritteninanegativestyle.Insomediscussions,thepositiveaffinitywillbeconsidered.

I.2.3)InterestininstrumentalactivitiesofS&T

Arankingofinterestininstrumentalactivitiescanbeestablishedfromquestion13

I.2.4)InterestinschoolactivitiesrelatedwithS&T

I.2.4.a)InterestinS&Ttrips:Fromquestion18.

I.2.4.b)InterestinS&Tpracticalprojects:Fromquestion19.Thelevelofinterestforpracticalprojectswasinferredforanswers“Yes”,“No,Idon’tneedmorepracticalprojects”,and“No,becausemyschoolallowsusenoughpracticalprojects”.

I.2.4.c)Interestindifferentkindsofactivities:Fromquestion23.Weconsiderthreedegreesofoffer foreachactivity (from thepercentageof theanswer “Schooldoesn’toffer suchactivities”):

65


i)<20%:Weconsiderthattheschoolofferstheactivitytoallofthestudents

ii)between20%and85%:Weconsiderthattheschoolofferstheactivitytorestrictedgroupsofstudents

iii)>85%:Weconsiderthattheschooldoesn’toffertheactivity.

Additionally,arankingofinterestinschoolactivitiescanbeestablishedfromthepercentageoftheanswer“Yes”.

I.3)VocationsinS&T

WecandefineitastheconsiderationofpupilsfordevelopingaS&Tcareerinthefuture.

Inourquestionnaire,thefollowingquestionsarerelatedwithvocationsinS&T:

– Question11

– Question12

WecanselectthefollowingsecondaryitemsonvocationsinS&T:

I.3.1)Vocationsorientedtosomecareers:Fromquestion11.Arankingofcareersconsideredbypupilscanbeestablished.Attentionshouldbepaidtocareer11.a,11.b,11.c,11.land11.m,thatarerelatedwithS&T.

I.3.2)Influenceincareerchoice:Fromquestion12.Arankingoftheperceivedinfluencescanbeestablished.

I .4) Instrumental issues

Itincludesquestionsabouttoolsandmethodsthatcouldbeusefulfordesigningactivities.

Weconsiderthefollowingquestionsasrelatedwithinstrumentalissues:

– Question7

– Question17

– Question22

Wecanselectthefollowingsecondaryitemsoninstrumentalissues:

I.4.1)UseofmediatogetinformationonS&T:Fromquestion7.Arankingofmediacanbeestablished.


66

I.4.2)S&Ttripsintheschool:Fromquestion17.WeconsiderthreedegreesofofferofS&Ttrips(fromthepercentageoftheanswer“Yes”):

i)>80%:WeconsiderthattheschoolofferssuchS&Ttripstoallofthestudents

ii)between80%and15%:WeconsiderthattheschoolofferssuchS&Ttripstorestrictedgroupsofstudents

iii)<15%:Weconsiderthattheschooldoesn’toffersuchS&Ttrips.

I.4.3)Self-evaluationinS&T:Fromquestion22.

CROSSANALYSISWITHINTHESURVEY

ThepreviouslydescribedprotocolallowsobtaininginformationaboutourfirsthypothesisWH1. Fordetectingconnectionbetweenperceptions, interestandvocations(WH2),andtherelationshipwithindividualfeatures(WH4),additionalstatisticaltoolsshouldbeused.Inthisreport,onlythegenderinfluencewillbetakenintoaccount.Amoredetailedcrossanalysisofthedatawillbedoneinthefuture.

THEEFFECTOFTHESTIMULAACTIVITIES

InordertoobtaininformationabouttheeffectoftheSTIMULAactivities(WH3),theprotocolofthe“firstanalysis”andthe“crossanalysis”(theprevioustwosections)willbeappliedtothequestionnairesofthesecondsurvey.Again,“experimental”and“control”groupswillbeanalyzedseparately.Fromtheseresults,wewillcomparethetwosurveys:

– Changesbetweenfirstandsecondsurveyforthe“control”groupwillberecorded.As they won’t be connected with the activities, they will inform us about thevariablilityofthedata,mainlyrelatedtotime.

– Changesbetweenfirstandsecondsurveyforthe“experimental”groupwillgivevaluableinformationabouttheWH3hypothesis.

Fromthisanalysisstructure,conclusionsaboutthefourhypothesesforeachageandcountrycanbeobtained.Then,finalresultsandconclusionswillbeellaborated.

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5.2 Results

5 .2 .1 France

Code Activity Questionnaire Age Number of questionnaires

E1 ContestFirst questionnaire, experimental group

11-12 y.o. 52

E2 ExperimentsFirst questionnaire, experimental group

13-14 y.o. 59

E3 ExperimentsSecond questionnaire,

experimental group14-15 y.o. 55

E4 Visit to RCFirst questionnaire, experimental group

15-16 y.o. 60

Becauseofsomeproblemswhendevelopingthesurvey,thefollowingincidencesoccurfortheFrancegroups:

– Forpupilsofthegroups11-12yearsoldand15-16yearsold,thesecondsurveycouldnotbepassed.

– Forpupilsofthegroup13-14yearsold,acontrolgroupwasnotavailable.

5.2.1.1 Results of the survey

FIRST SURVEY: FEBRUARY 2012, Classe 6ème (PUPILS 11-12 Y .O .)

Onlyone(experimental)groupwasavailable.

RESULTS OF THE FIRST SURVEY

I.1)PerceptionofS&T


I.1.1.a)UsefulnessoftheS&Tacademicsubjects


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Table 1: Percentage of pupils who think that learning about S&T improves their understanding of certain issues

% “Yes”

9.a Things that affect you and your family 35

9.b Opinions on society and political issues 19

9.c Communicating with different people 52

9.d Solving problems in your daily life 54

9.e Being more sensitive towards other people 31

9.f Being a more responsible consumer 37

9.g A career in science and/or technology 75

Ingeneral,pupilsperceivesmallusefulnessofS&Tsubjectsforpracticalissues,exceptforvocations

I.1.1.b)UsefulnessofS&T(question14)

i)Practical issues(“S&Tareusefulforsolvingproblems”,questions14.a,14.b,14.c,14.e,14.f,14.h,14.k)

Table 2: Level of agreement (percentage) of pupils with the following statements

Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%

14.a S&T provide the best ways to understand our world

17 31 29 15 2

14.b S&T are increasingly complicated 6 27 48 8 6

14.c S&T are harmful to our health 4 2 35 35 19

14.e S&T provide us with a comfortable lifestyle

10 19 52 8 6

14.f S&T enable me to make friends 2 12 25 29 29

14.h S&T help cure diseases 13 21 35 15 10

14.k S&T make life enjoyable 12 15 42 15 12

PupilsareratherundecidedaboutusefulnessofS&T.

iiandiii)Ethicalissues(questions14.d,14.g,14.i,14.j,14.l,14.m)

69



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%

14.d S&T help improve environment 13 42 29 8 4

14.g S&T should be used properly to avoid danger

25 27 31 8 2

14.i S&T are concerned with people’s needs

12 23 42 13 6

14.j S&T cause a division between rich and poor people

8 10 52 12 15

14.l S&T present serious risks to the world

12 8 38 25 12

14.m S&T are very beneficial to society 2 13 42 8 6

PupilsshowamorepositiveviewofusefulnessofS&Tinethicalissues.

I.1.2)StereotypesaboutpeopleworkinginS&T(questions15and16)

Table 4: Level of agreement of pupils with the following statements: “People who have a career in S&T…”

Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%

15.a are typically old 10 12 46 13 13

15.b are typically boring 4 17 29 37 10

15.c are typically men 6 15 40 29 8

15.d are typically creative 10 17 52 10 4

15.e typically work alone 8 10 35 38 8

15.f typically work in a laboratory 15 19 48 12 2

15.g are typically competitive 10 6 65 10 4

15.h are typically hard-working 17 35 35 4 4

15.i are typically geniuses 13 21 35 21 2

15.j are typically nerdy 10 17 40 23 6

15.k are typically strange 4 15 37 29 12

15.l are typically addicted to their work 6 10 60 19 2

Pupilsareratherundecidedaboutstereotypes.Thismeansthattheyareinfluencedbytheminsomedegree.


70

Table 5: Percentage of pupils who believe that people choose S&T as a career for the following reasons

% “True”

16.a Earn a lot of money 37

16.b Think it is worthwhile 56

16.c Enjoyed studying it 25

16.d Believe others think it is worthwhile 35

16.e Can become famous 38

16.f Get the opportunity to travel 44

VocationisconsiderednearlyasimportantasotherpracticalreasonsforchoosingacareerinS&T.

I.1.3) Perception of the connection between S&T and other subjects (“Mathematics”,question20,and“Othersubjects”,question21)

Table 6: Connection between S&T and other subjects

% “Yes” % “No”

Mathematics 38 50

Other subjects 54 37

PerceptionoftheconnectionbetweenS&Tandothersubjects,especiallyMathematics,ispoor.


I.2.1)Interesttowardsgeneralissues(question6)

Table 7: Level of interest (percentage) of pupils in the following areas of life

Very interested, %

Fairly interested, %

Not very interested, %

Disinterested, % (no.)

6.a Food/consumer issues 8 25 31 19

6.b Science/technology 33 44 10 6

6.c Movies 48 27 12 4

6.d Art/culture 44 38 10 2

6.e Sports 50 17 19 8

6.f Economy/business 12 15 27 31

6.g Education 19 29 21 10

6.h Medicine/health 17 37 19 15

6.i Environment 19 37 23 6

6.j Politics 4 13 25 48

6.k Famous people 40 33 8 10

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PupilsarequiteinterestedinS&T,andfairlyinterestedinEducation,MedicineandHealthandEnvironment.

I.2.2.a)InteresttowardsacademicS&Tsubjects(question8)

Table 8: Level of interest (percentage) of pupils in the following academic subjects

Very interested, %



Disinterested, %

8.a Biology 23 33 33 10

8.b Geology 15 25 17 15

8.c Chemistry 29 38 17 8

8.d Electronics 33 33 19 8

8.e Engineering 17 23 23 19

8.f Mathematics 27 33 21 15

8.g Physics 23 23 27 13

8.h Product design 21 17 29 19

8.i Product manufacture 44 13 15 19

Pupilsshowsimilarinterestinallthesubjects.

I.2.2.b)AffinitytowardstheacademicS&Tsubjects(question10)

Table 9: Level of agreement (percentage) of pupils with the following statements on S&T subjects

Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%

10.a S&T subjects at school are boring 2 15 12 40 31

10.b Studying S&T subjects will help obtain my desired job

25 23 35 13 4

10.c S&T activities are fun 12 37 37 12 0

10.d S&T issues are difficult to understand

10 15 23 38 8

10.e I like S&T 42 29 21 4 2

10.f S&T subjects are the most interesting to study

17 21 27 21 12

10.g I am interested in S&T subjects related to people’s health

10 37 33 12 6

10.h I like learning about S&T related to space travel & the universe

21 29 33 10 6

10.i I like learning about laws of S&T 15 27 21 12 4

PupilshavearatherpositiveviewoftheacademicS&Tsubjects.


72

I.2.3)InterestininstrumentalactivitiesofS&T(question13)

Table 10: Level of interest (percentage) of pupils in the following S&T activities

Very interested, %



Disinterested, %

13.a Doing research projects 23 35 17 21

13.b Planning research projects 15 15 33 29

13.c Collecting information for research projects

6 37 31 23

13.d Coming up with solutions to problem-solving

23 37 17 15

13.e Testing solutions to problem-solving

13 25 29 21

13.f Examining results from research projects

21 31 19 23

13.g Writing research reports 8 19 33 27

13.h Working as a member of a research team

17 35 27 13

13.i Making presentations about research

8 25 42 17

Pupilsareinterestedindoingresearchprojects,buttheyhavelessinterestintheactivitiesduringtheprocessofresearch.

I.2.4)InterestinschoolactivitiesrelatedwithS&T(questions18,19and23)

Table 11: Agreement of pupils with the following statements: “Your school should provide…”

% “Yes”

More S&T trips 42

More S&T practical projects 54

JustahalfofthepupilswantsmoreS&TtripsorS&Tprojects.

Table 12: Percentage of pupils who are interested in the following S&T activities at school

Yes, %

Competitions 21

Experiments 54

Research projects 33

Speakers 12

Trips 31

Assemblies 10

Displays 42

Only“experiments”areinterestingS&Tactivitiesforamajorityofthepupils.

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I.3)VocationsinS&T

I.3.1)Vocationsorientedtosomecareers(question11)

Table 13: Percentage of pupils who are interested in the following future careers

Yes, %

11.a Doctor 25

11.b Researcher 27

11.c Engineer 21

11.d Judge 12

11.e Lawyer 13

11.f Sports person 44

11.g Artist 38

11.h Journalist 27

11.i Business person 13

11.j Teacher 19

11.k Politician 2

11.l Inventor 40

11.m Designer 19

11.n Other 75

Ingeneral,pupilsareundecidedaboutthechoiceoffuturecareers.InteresttowardscareersrelatedwithS&Tisfair,exceptforacareeras“inventor”,thatisconsideredinterestingformanyofthem.

I.3.2)Influenceincareerchoice(question12)

Table 14: Level of agreement (percentage) of pupils with the idea that the following people will be a strong influence on their career choice

Strongly agree, %

Agree, % Undecided, %

Disagree, % Strongly disagree, %

12.a Parents/guardians 21 21 42 4 8

12.b Other relatives 13 23 44 8 6

12.c Friends 8 37 27 19 6

12.d Teachers 6 19 37 13 17

12.e Famous people 13 8 31 12 31

Pupilsconsider that theyarequite influencedbyexternalpeopleon theircareerchoice,especiallyfromparentsandrelatives.


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I.4.1)UseofmediatogetinformationonS&T(question7)

Table 15: Use (percentage of all pupils) of the following methods for getting information on S&T

Always, % Sometimes, % Never, %

7.a Television 27 65 8

7.b Radio 17 38 44

7.c Newspapers 10 48 42

7.d Magazines 6 46 46

7.e Books 33 37 29

7.f Encyclopaedias 15 23 54

7.g Educational software programmes 2 19 58

7.h DVDs 8 56 33

7.i Teachers 25 52 13

7.j Parent/guardian 35 35 23

7.k Blogs/on-line discussion forums 6 25 63

7.l Podcasts 2 10 69

7.m Twitter 0 12 87

7.n Facebook 2 23 71

7.o Google 37 46 17

7.p YouTube 19 40 40

7.q Other 12 52 27

“Google”,“Parents”and“Teachers”arethemostusedmethods.

I.4.2)S&Ttripsintheschool(question17)

% “Yes” Offer consideration

17.a S&T museum 30 B

17.b S&T exhibition 17 B

17.c S&T fair 9 C

17.d S&T library 11 C

17.e S&T park 15 C

17.f S&T conference 6 C

I.4.3)Self-evaluationinS&T(question22)

%

Excellent 8

Very good 17

Good 40

Average 15

Poor 10

Self-evaluationinS&Tismedium.

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CROSS ANALYSIS WITHIN THE SURVEY

GENDERINFLUENCE

Resultsshowthefollowingdifferencesformaleandfemalepupils:

I.1)PerceptionofS&T



– MalepupilsconsiderS&Tacademicsubjectsmoreusefulforresolvingproblemsofdailylifeandforconsumerissues.


– MalepupilsshowamoremorepositiveviewoftheusefulnessofS&T,bothinpracticalandethicalissues.


– MalepupilsshowamorestereotypedviewofpeopleworkinginS&T.


Norelevantdifferencesarefound.



– Femalepupilsshowmoreinteresttowardsfood/consumerissues.

– MalepupilsshowmoreinteresttowardsS&T,Economy/businessandsports.


– Male pupils are more interested in “Electronics”, Engineering”, “Mathematics” and“Productmanufacture”.


– MalepupilsshowamorepositiveviewoftheS&Tsubjects.


76


– Male pupils are more interested in doing research projects, but in the instrumentalactivitiesmaleandfemalepupilsshowsimilarscores.


– Malepupilsshowmoreinterestincompetitions,researchprojectsanddisplays.

I.3)VocationsinS&T










FRANCE


SECOND SURVEY: FEBRUARY-MARCH 2013, Classe 3ème (PUPILS 14-15 Y .O .)



I.1)PerceptionofS&T



77



% “Yes”








Ingeneral,pupilsperceivesmallusefulnessofS&Tsubjectsforpracticalissues,exceptforvocations




Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%


12 27 49 5 7




19 34 39 3 5




PupilsareratherundecidedaboutusefulnessofS&T.



78


Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



22 39 31 2 7


8 22 49 8 8


14 17 46 12 10


5 15 51 17 12


PupilsarealsoundecidedaboutethicalissuesconcerningS&T.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%














79



% “True”







VocationisconsiderednearlyasimportantasotherpracticalreasonsforchoosingacareerinS&T.



% “Yes” % “No”

Mathematics 76 22


OnlyahalfofthepupilsperceivetheconnectionbetweenS&Tandothersubjects.




Very interested, %






6.c Movies 47 44 8 0


6.e Sports 47 36 10 3





6.j Politics 7 10 14 64


Pupils show just medium interest in “S&T”, “Education”, “Medicine and Health” and“Environment”.


80



Very interested, %



Disinterested, %

8.a Biology 17 39 29 15

8.b Geology 5 29 37 29





8.g Physics 14 17 34 34



Pupilsshowsimilarinterestinallthesubjects.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



24 34 14 17 12



19 36 19 22 5

10.e I like S&T 15 27 17 29 10


7 10 20 41 22


10 29 46 12 3


14 17 36 19 15


Affinity towardsacademicS&Tsubjects is fair;manyquestionsshow“undecided”as themodeanswer.

81




Very interested, %



Disinterested, %




12 29 39 20


19 39 27 14


22 27 34 17


10 24 46 20



24 32 17 24


22 22 24 31

Ingeneral,pupilsshowmediuminteresttowardsS&Tactivities.



% “Yes”

More S&T trips 61


JustahalfofthepupilswantsmoreS&TtripsorS&Tprojects.


Yes, %

Competitions 15

Experiments 66


Speakers 10

Trips 22

Assemblies 7

Displays 37

Only“experiments”areinterestingS&Tactivitiesforamajorityofthepupils.


82

I.3)VocationsinS&T



Yes, %

11.a Doctor 22

11.b Researcher 15

11.c Engineer 24

11.d Judge 17

11.e Lawyer 24


11.g Artist 36

11.h Journalist 36


11.j Teacher 20

11.k Politician 3

11.l Inventor 25

11.m Designer 32

11.n Other 63

Ingeneral,pupilsareundecidedaboutthechoiceoffuturecareers.InteresttowardscareersrelatedwithS&Tisfair.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree, %

Strongly disagree, %



12.c Friends 5 12 19 44 19

12.d Teachers 0 17 24 34 24


Pupilsperceiveinfluenceontheircareerchoicefromtheirparents/guardians

83







7.b Radio 22 47 31



7.e Books 19 46 34



7.h DVDs 12 59 29





7.m Twitter 3 10 86


7.o Google 42 41 17


7.q Other 14 41 41

“Television”,“Google”,and“YouTube”arethemostusedmethods,evenmorethan“Parents”and“Teachers”.





17.c S&T fair 10 C

17.d S&T library 19 B

17.e S&T park 31 B



%

Excellent 5

Very good 10

Good 44

Average 31

Poor 8


84

Self-evaluationinS&Tisratherlowerthangood.


GENDERINFLUENCE


I.1)PerceptionofS&T







– MalepupilssupportpracticalreasonsforchoosingacareerinS&T,femalepupilsthinkthatvocationisthemostimportantone.





– Femalepupilsshowmoreinteresttowardsfood/consumerissues,art/culture,educationandmedicine/health.

– MalepupilsshowmoreinteresttowardsS&Tandsports.


– Malepupilsaremoreinterestedin“Electronics”,Engineering”and“Productmanufacture”.



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I.3)VocationsinS&T


– Femalepupilsaremoreinterestedinpursuingacareerasdesigner.

– Malepupilsareabitmoreinterestedinpursuingcareersasengineerorinventor.







– Malepupilsscorethemselvesabithigherthanfemalepupils.

THE EFFECT OF THE STIMULA ACTIVITIES

COMPARISON OF RESULTS FROM THE FIRST SURVEY AND THE SECOND ONE, FOR THE“EXPERIMENTALGROUP”

Differencesbetweenfirstandsecondsurveyforthecontrolgroupwillalsobecommented.

Relevantdifferencesarethefollowing:

I.1)PerceptionofS&T



Ingeneral,perceptionofusefulnessofS&Tsubjectsisabitincreased.


86


Norelevantchangesaredetected


– Stereotypesseemtobeabitmoreacceptedaftertheactivities.


Norelevantdifferencesaredetected



– InteresttowardsEducation,Medicine/healthandEnvironmentisabitreduced.


– InteresttowardsProductdesignandProductmanufactureisabitreduced.


Norelevantdifferencesaredetected




TheinteresttowardsS&Tresearchprojectsisincreased.

I.3)VocationsinS&T





87







FRANCE




I.1)PerceptionofS&T




% “Yes”








PupilsperceiveusefulnessofS&Tsubjectsforvocations,andalsoforthingsaffectingtheirfamilies,problemsofdailylifeandconsumerissues.




88


Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%


15 35 28 17 5




17 38 30 12 0




PupilshaveapositiveviewoftheusefulnessofS&Tinpracticalissues,exceptformakingfriends.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%

14.d S&T help improve environment 15 47 32 5 014.g S&T should be used properly to

avoid danger23 65 8 3 0


7 43 42 5 0


8 17 52 15 8


8 23 40 23 3


PupilsareratherundecidedabouttheusefulnessofS&Tinethicalissues.

89




Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%













Pupilsarelittleinfluencedbynegativestereotypes,andratherundecidedbypositiveones.


% “True”







VocationisconsideredthemostimportantreasonforchoosingacareerinS&T,prestigeandpracticalreasonareconsideredinsomedegree.



% “Yes” % “No”

Mathematics 70 30


PupilsperceivetheconnectionbetweenS&Tandothersubjects.


90




Very interested, %






6.c Movies 30 40 22 8


6.e Sports 22 30 33 12





6.j Politics 5 22 23 43


PupilsarefairlyinterestedinS&T,Education,Medicine/HealthandEnvironment.



Very interested, %



Disinterested, %

8.a Biology 48 38 13 0

8.b Geology 22 32 35 12





8.g Physics 28 35 32 5



PupilsareveryinterestedinBiologyandlittleinterestedinElectronicsandEngineering.

91




Strongly agree, %


Disagree, %

Strongly disagree,

%



20 50 20 7 3



10 30 27 25 5

10.e I like S&T 25 52 8 8 5


15 35 13 23 10


23 48 15 8 5


17 28 20 20 15


PupilshaveaquitepositiveviewoftheacademicS&Tsubjects.



Very interested, %



Disinterested, %




5 40 37 18


22 48 25 5


18 48 27 7


18 40 30 12

13.g Writing research

reports

2 30 33 33


32 35 25 7


10 27 35 27

Pupils are interested in doing research projects and instrumental activities, except forplanningplanningresearchprojects,writingreportsandmakingpresentations.


92



% “Yes”

More S&T trips 72


ManypupilswantmoreS&TtripsorS&Tprojects.


Yes, %

Competitions 7

Experiments 95


Speakers 20

Trips 47

Assemblies 7

Displays 38

Competitions,assembliesandspeakersarenotinterestingforpupils.

I.3)VocationsinS&T



Yes, %

11.a Doctor 37

11.b Researcher 30

11.c Engineer 15

11.d Judge 5

11.e Lawyer 17


11.g Artist 27

11.h Journalist 23


11.j Teacher 32

11.k Politician 7

11.l Inventor 22

11.m Designer 27

11.n Other 57

“Doctor”, “Researcher” and “Teacher” are quite interesting careers for pupils. Interesttowards“Engineer”and“Inventor”islower.

93



Table 14: Level of agreement (percentage) of pupils with the idea that the following people will be a strong

influence on their career choice

Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



12.c Friends 0 10 22 38 28

12.d Teachers 0 17 23 40 18


Pupilsconsiderthattheyarelittleinfluencedbyexternalpeopleontheircareerchoice.






7.b Radio 8 63 28



7.e Books 7 60 33



7.h DVDs 8 50 38





7.m Twitter 5 8 85


7.o Google 25 63 12


7.q Other 2 50 27

“Teachers”isbyfarthemostusedmethodforobtaininginformationonS&T.


94





17.c S&T fair 2 C


17.e S&T park 28 B



%

Excellent 0

Very good 8

Good 50

Average 38

Poor 3

Self-evaluationinS&Tislowerthangood.


GENDERINFLUENCE


I.1)PerceptionofS&T





– MalepupilsaremoreconcernedaboutS&Tethicalissues.


– MalepupilsshowamorestereotypedviewofpeopleworkinginS&T.


95





– Female pupils show more interest towards art/culture, medicine/health and famouspeople.

– MalepupilsshowmoreinteresttowardsS&T,Sports,Economy/businessandPolitics.


– Malepupilsaremoreinterestedin“Electronics”andEngineering”.

– Femalepupilsaremoreinterestedin“Biology”.




– Malepupilsaremoreinterestedindoingresearchprojects,workinginaresearchteamandmakingpresentations.



I.3)VocationsinS&T


– Malepupilsshowmoreinterestinpursuingcareersasengineerorinventor.

– Femalepupilsshowmoreinterestinpursuingcareersasdoctororteacher.







96



5.2.1.2 Conclusions

FRANCE

In general, the youngest pupils perceive small usefulness of learning S&T subjects forpracticalissues,exceptforvocations.TheoldestgroupsperceivetheusefulnessoflearningS&Tforvocationstoo,andalsoforthingsaffectingtheirfamilies,problemsofdailylifeandconsumerissues.

PupilshavearatherpositiveviewoftheacademicS&Tsubjects,butitisjustmediumfortheyoungestpupils.Forolderpupils, interesttowardsBiologyincreasesandinteresttowardsElectronicsdecreases.IngeneralallgroupsshowmediuminteresttowardsS&Tinstrumentalactivities.

PerceptionoftheconnectionbetweenS&Tandothersubjectsispoorintheyoungestgroupbutincreasesinoldergroups.

JustahalfofthepupilswantmoreS&TtripsorS&Tprojectsinthefirstandsecondgroups,andmanypupilswantthemintheoldestgroup.Only“experiments”arequiteinterestingS&Tactivitiesforamajorityofthepupils.IngeneraltheoldestpupilsshowmoreinterestinS&Tschoolactivities.


PupilsareratherundecidedaboutusefulnessofS&Tinthefirsttwogroups.TheoldestoneshaveapositiveviewofS&Tinpracticalissues,exceptformakingfriends.

The vocational reason to choose a career in S&T growswith the age of the pupils, theyoungest consider it nearly as important as other practical reasons, the second groupconsiders vocationmore important than other practical reasons, and the oldest groupsconsider vocation themost important reason, although practical reasons remain highlyscored.

Pupils are interested in S&T, and fairly interested inMedicine/health andEnvironmentalissues.

VocationsinS&T

Ingeneral,pupilsareundecidedaboutthechoiceoffuturecareers.Inthiscontext,interesttowardscareersrelatedwithS&Tisrelativelyhigh.

97


Pupils consider themselves quite influenced by external people on their career choice,especiallyfromparentsorguardians.

“Google”, “Parents”, “Television” and “Teachers” are the most used methods to getinformationaboutS&T,especiallytheteachersinthelastgroups.

Self-evaluationinS&Tisbetweengoodoraverageinallgroups.Thescoregoesdecreasingwiththeage.

GENDER INFLUENCE

MalepupilsoftheyoungestandoldestgroupsshowamorepositiveviewoftheusefulnessofS&T,bothinpracticalandethicalissues,andtheyshowamorestereotypedviewofpeopleworking in S&T. Themalepupils of the youngest group consider S&Tacademic subjectsmoreusefulforresolvingproblemsofdailylifeandforconsumerissuestoo.

In the second group female pupils think that vocation is themost important reason forchoosingacareerinS&T,whilemalepupilssupportsomepracticalreasons.Inthesecondgrouptoomalepupilsscorethemselvesabithigherthanfemalepupils.

AbouttheinteresttowardsS&T,ingeneralfemalepupilsshowmoreinteresttowardsfood/consumerissues,artandculture,andmedicineandhealth,whilemalepupilsshowmoretowardsS&T,Economy/businessandsports.

AskedabouttheinterestoflearningsubjectsofS&T,themalepupilsoftheyoungestgroupshowamorepositiveviewoftheS&Tsubjectsthanfemalepupilsofthefirstgroup.Thatgroup and the next age-group are more interested in “Electronics”, “Engineering” and“Productmanufacture” than female pupils of the same group, and female pupils of theoldestgrouparemoreinterestedinBiologythanmalepupils.

AbouttheinterestindoingresearchprojectsandinstrumentalactivitiesofS&T,malepupilsofthefirstandthirdgrouparemoreinterestedthanfemalepupils,andthosepupilsofthefirstgroupshowmoreinterestincompetitions,researchprojectsanddisplaystoo.

Asked about their vocations, female pupils aremore interested in pursuing a career asdesignerinthesecondgroupandasdoctororteacherinthethirdgroup,whilemalepupilsofthesecondandthirdgroupareabitmoreinterestedinpursuingcareersasengineerorinventor.


Ingeneral,perceptionofusefulnessofS&Tsubjectsisabitincreasedandstereotypesseemtobeabitmoreacceptedaftertheactivitiesinthesecondgroup.

There are some small effects more in the second group, for example, interest towardsEducation,Medicine/healthandEnvironmentisabitreduced.


98

InthisgrouptheinteresttowardsS&Tresearchprojectshasincreased,butinteresttowardssomeinstrumentalactivities(“Productdesign”and“Productmanufacture”)hasreduced.

SUMMARY

FrenchpupilsareratherlessinterestedbyS&Tthanothergroups;theyshowingenerallessaffinity toS&Tsubjectsandperceive lessusefulnessofS&T.They feel themselves ratherinfluencedbyothersforchoosingtheirfuturecareers.Althoughtheyarequiteundecidedabouttheirvocations,S&Trelatedcareersarerelativelylowconsidered.

Ingeneral,the“Stimula”activitiesdon’thaveaveryrelevanteffectinperceptions,interestorvocationsofthepupils.

99


5 .2 .2 Germany



11-12 y.o. 55

C1 ContestFirst questionnaire,

control group11-12 y.o. 54

E2 ContestSecond questionnaire,


C2 ContestSecond questionnaire,



13-14 y.o. 49

C1 ExperimentsFirst questionnaire,




C2 ExperimentsSecond questionnaire,


E1a Visit to RCFirst questionnaire, experimental group

14-15 y.o. 29

C1a Visit to RCFirst questionnaire,


E2a Visit to RCSecond questionnaire,


C2a Visit to RCSecond questionnaire,


E1b Visit to RCFirst questionnaire, experimental group

15-16 y.o. 24

C1b Visit to RCFirst questionnaire,


E2b Visit to RCSecond questionnaire,


C2b Visit to RCSecond questionnaire,



100


FIRST SURVEY: FEBRUARY 2012, KLASSE 6 (PUPILS 11-12 Y .O .)

SECOND SURVEY: FEBRUARY-MARCH 2013, KLASSE 7 (PUPILS 12-13 Y .O .)

Experimental group


I.1)PerceptionofS&T




% “Yes”








Pupilsperceive the influenceof theS&Tacademic subjectson their vocations (9.g), andshowperceptionoftheusefulnessofS&Tin“practical”issues(9.d,9.f)andalsoin“social”ones(9.b).Perceptionofusefulnessisreducedforpeopleandfamilyissues(9.c,9.e,9.a)

101





Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%


13 40 36 7 4




11 36 47 0 4




Exceptforthestatements“S&Tprovidethebestwaystounderstandourworld”,and“S&Tenablemetomakefriends”,themodevaluesarefor“undecided”.Pupilsdon’tshowaclearperceptionoftheusefulnessofS&T.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



27 33 33 4 2


5 22 65 4 2


13 5 56 13 11


11 15 51 15 7


Again,themodeanswerforallthestatementsis“undecided”,indicatinganambivalenceintheperceptionofS&T.


102



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%













Many statements show “undecided” as themode answer, indicating that a stereotypedvisionofpeopleworking inS&T isaccepted insomedegree. Inparticular, thestatement“peoplewhohaveacareerinS&Ttypicallyworkinalaboratory”showslargeagreement.


% “True”







PupilsseemtoperceiveS&Tcareerasveryvocational.



% “Yes” % “No”

Mathematics 36 64


TheperceptionofthelinksbetweenmathematicsandS&Tisquitelow.

103





Very interested, %






6.c Movies 51 35 13 2


6.e Sports 49 35 9 5





6.j Politics 5 33 38 22


Only “sports”, “movies” and “environment” show amajority of pupils “very interested”.Pupilsseemtobelessinterestedin“economy/business”and“politics”issues.



Very interested, %



Disinterested, %

8.a Biology 27 47 16 7

8.b Geology 22 47 20 9





8.g Physics 31 31 24 11



Pupilsaremoreinterestedin“Chemistry”,“Mathematics”and“Physics”,andlessinterestedin“productdesign”.


104



Strongly agree, %


Disagree, %

Strongly disagree,

%



11 15 44 18 13



0 33 42 22 4

10.e I like S&T 25 42 24 5 2


16 9 33 27 15


9 9 55 24 4


24 31 27 9 7


ThereisapositiveviewoftheacademicS&Tsubjects(they“likethem”,theyareconsidered“fun”,and“notboring”).



Very interested, %



Disinterested, %




9 44 27 18


18 36 29 13


27 38 16 15


22 36 25 15



29 35 22 13


16 35 27 22

Pupilslikedoingresearchprojects,butitseemstheydon’tliketowritethem.Itseemsthattheydon’trealizethat“doing”aprojectshouldalwaysinclude“reporting”theresults.

105




% “Yes”

More S&T trips 73


BothS&TtripsandS&Tpracticalprojectsarequiteappreciated.


Yes, %

Competitions 13

Experiments 73


Speakers 13

Trips 51

Assemblies 7

Displays 33

ItisworthnotingthatS&Tspeakersandcompetitionsareamongthelessscoredactivities.

I.3)VocationsinS&T



Yes, %

11.a Doctor 27

11.b Researcher 25

11.c Engineer 33

11.d Judge 13

11.e Lawyer 20


11.g Artist 35

11.h Journalist 27


11.j Teacher 24

11.k Politician 7

11.l Inventor 49

11.m Designer 51

11.n Other 42

Careersperceivedas“creative”areinterestingforpupils(designer,inventor,artist),buttheydon’tconsider“doctor”,“researcher”or“teacher”asoneofthem.


106



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



12.c Friends 2 7 38 31 22

12.d Teachers 0 5 42 24 29


Pupilsdon’tperceiveanystronginfluenceontheircareerchoicefromexternalpeople.






7.b Radio 11 56 33



7.e Books 24 51 22



7.h DVDs 15 58 25





7.m Twitter 2 13 84


7.o Google 29 51 15


7.q Other 4 64 24

SocialnetworksarealmostneverusedforgettinginformationonS&T.Pupilsdon’tidentifyFacebookorTwitterwithS&Tinformation.

107






17.c S&T fair 4 C


17.e S&T park 2 C



%

Excellent 4

Very good 7

Good 56

Average 29

Poor 4

Mostpupilsconsiderthemselvesas“good”or“average”inS&T.

COMPARISON WITH “CONTROL” GROUP

Deviations between both groups are considered in order to analyze the effect of theactivities.


I.1)PerceptionofS&T







– 41%ofpupilsincontrolgroupconsider“thinkingitisconsideredworthwhilebyother”isareasonforchoosingaS&Tcareer(percentageinexperimentalgroupis26%)


108


– Pupils incontrolgroupperceivemoreconnectionbetweenS&TandMathematicsandothersubjects.





– PupilsincontrolgroupshowlessinterestinGeologyandChemistry.




– Pupilsofcontrolgroupshowmoreinterestinwritingreportsandmakingpresentations.



I.3)VocationsinS&T


– Pupilsofcontrolgroupshowmoreinterestinpursuingacareeras“researcher”.








109



GENDERINFLUENCE

Resultsareingeneralverysimilar,withthefollowingdifferences:

I.1)PerceptionofS&T



– Femalepupilsshowmoreagreementwith“S&Timprovestheunderstandingofopinionsonsocietyandpoliticalissues”thanmalepupils.

– Male pupils show less agreement with “S&T improves the understanding of solvingproblemsinthedailylife”.




– Ingeneral,malepupilsseemtobemoreinfluencedbystereotypes.





– Femalepupilsshowmoreinterestinenvironment,andart/culture.

– MalepupilsshowmoreinterestinS&T.


– Femalepupilsshowmoreinterestinthefollowingsubjects:Biology,Geology.

– Malepupilsshowmoreinterestinthefollowingsubjects:Engineering,Electronics.



110

– Fromthe levelofagreementwiththestatements,malepupilsshowingeneralhigheraffinitytowardsacademicS&Tsubjects.


– ThelevelofinterestoffemalepupilsforS&Tactivitiesformostactivitiesislower,exceptforreportingresults,bothbywritingreportsormakingpresentations.



I.3)VocationsinS&T


– Female pupils are more interested in pursuing one of the following careers: doctor,researcher,artist,teacher.

– Male pupils are more interested in pursuing one of the following careers: engineer,inventor.


– Male pupils perceive more influence in their career choice, specially form parents/guardiansandfamouspeople.





– Malepupilsscorethemselveshigherthanfemalepupils.





111


I.1)PerceptionofS&T







– Ingeneral,theagreementwithstereotypeshasbeenabitincreased.Itissoalsoforthecontrolgroup.


ConnectionofS&TwithMathematicsismoreperceived.Forthecontrolgroup,perceptionoftheconnectionofS&TwithMathematicsremainthesame(butwashigherinthefirstsurvey),andtheperceptionoftheconnectionofS&Twithothersubjectshasbeenreduced.





– Interest towards Biology has been increased. In the control group, interest towardsBiologyhasbeenreduced.

– InteresttowardsChemistry,MathematicsandPhysicshasbeenreduced.Inthecontrolgroup,interesttowardsthesesubjectshasremainedalmostthesame.


– There are no relevant differences in the experimental group. For the control group,considerationofS&Tactivitiesasfunisdecreased.

– InterestofS&Tsubjectsrelatedwithhealthhasbeenincreasedintheexperimental.Forthecontrolgroupitremainsthesame.


112




No relevantdifferencesare found.For thecontrolgroup, ingeneral the interest forS&Tactivitieshasbeendecreased.

I.3)VocationsinS&T


– Interestinpursuingthefollowingcareershasbeenincreased:Lawyer,Journalist,Businessperson.Thesameevolutionisseenforthecontrolgroup.

– Interestinpursuingthefollowingcareershasbeenreduced:Inventor.Thesameevolutionisseenforthecontrolgroup.


– Theperceptionoftheinfluenceofexternalpersonshasbeenreduced,exceptforteachers.Forthecontrolgroup,theperceptionoftheinfluenceofteachershasbeenreduced.






113


GERMANY



Experimental group


I.1)PerceptionofS&T




% “Yes”








PupilsperceivetheinfluenceoftheS&Tacademicsubjectsontheirvocations(9.g),andshowperceptionoftheusefulnessofS&Tinpracticalandsocialissues(9.b,9.d,9.f)especiallyasconsumers.Onlyperceptionofusefulnessforbeingmoresensitivetowardsotherpeopleisverylow.




114


Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%


18 57 18 4 0




24 39 29 8 0




PupilsconsiderS&Tveryusefulforunderstandingourworld,forprovidingcomfortandforcuringdiseases.Ontheotherhand,theyareundecidedinconsideringS&Tusefulwayformakinglifeenjoyable,orformakingfriends.TheyconsiderS&Trathercomplicated.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%

14.d S&T help improve environment 12 59 24 4 014.g S&T should be used properly to

avoid danger27 35 35 2 2


2 41 51 6 0


8 31 43 14 4


10 27 57 6 0


Manymodeanswersare“undecided”,but14.dand14.mshowapositiveperceptionaboutthebenefitsofS&Ttoenvironmentandsociety.

115




Strongly agree, %


Disagree, %

Strongly disagree,

%













Some“positive” stereotypes (15.d,15.h)areaccepted,but there isalso somedegreeofagreementwithstereotypesaboutgender(15.c),placeofwork(15.f),etc.


% “True”







PupilsseemtoperceiveaS&Tcareerasveryvocational.



% “Yes” % “No”

Mathematics 67 27


Pupilsperceivethelinksbetweenmathematics,orothersubjects,andS&T.


116




Very interested, %






6.c Movies 69 22 6 2


6.e Sports 69 16 14 0





6.j Politics 6 22 53 12


“Sports”,“movies”and“famouspeople”,showamajorityofpupils“veryinterested”.Pupilsseemtobelessinterestedin“economy/business”,“politics”and“food/consumer”issues.“Science/technology”isinamediumrangeofinterest.



Very interested, %



Disinterested, %

8.a Biology 29 51 14 6

8.b Geology 14 47 24 12





8.g Physics 12 35 27 24



Interestforalmostalltheacademicsubjectsissimilar,exceptforPhysics,thatseemstobeabitlessinterestingforpupils.


117



Strongly agree, %


Disagree, %

Strongly disagree,

%



8 27 39 14 12



10 27 37 20 2

10.e I like S&T 14 33 27 16 4


10 16 16 39 18


12 39 29 16 4


12 31 22 22 12


ThereisapositiveviewoftheacademicS&Tsubjects(they“likethem”,theyareconsidered“fun”,and“notboring”),but theydon’tconsiderS&Tsubjectsasdemost interesting tostudy.



Very interested, %



Disinterested, %




6 47 31 12


16 43 39 2


29 45 22 2


10 39 39 12



27 33 29 12


22 37 27 14

Althoughpupilssaytobeinterestedindoingresearchprojects,manyoftheprocessesofsuchprojectsarelessinterestingforthem(13.b,13.c,13.f,13.g).


118



% “Yes”

More S&T trips 59


AboutahalfofthepupilswantmoreS&TtripsorS&Tprojects.


Yes, %

Competitions 12

Experiments 67


Speakers 20

Trips 53

Assemblies 4

Displays 27

S&Tassembliesandcompetitionsarethelessscoredactivities.Alsospeakersarelowscored.

I.3)VocationsinS&T



Yes, %

11.a Doctor 41

11.b Researcher 18

11.c Engineer 39

11.d Judge 22

11.e Lawyer 31


11.g Artist 35

11.h Journalist 27


11.j Teacher 22

11.k Politician 12

11.l Inventor 16

11.m Designer 55

11.n Other 63

Only“designer”seemstobemoreinterestingthanothercareers.Pupilsshowsomeinterestforcareersas“doctor”and“engineer”.Theinterestforcareersas“researcher”,“inventor”and“teacher”isquitelow.

119




Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree, %

Strongly disagree, %



12.c Friends 0 8 20 37 33

12.d Teachers 2 6 14 29 49


Pupilsdon’tperceiveanystronginfluenceontheircareerchoicefromexternalpeople.






7.b Radio 8 59 31



7.e Books 18 65 14



7.h DVDs 14 65 20





7.m Twitter 2 16 82


7.o Google 35 51 8


7.q Other 4 82 10

SocialnetworksarealmostneverusedforgettinginformationonS&T.Pupilsdon’tidentifyFacebookorTwitterwithS&Tinformation.“Parents”,“Teachers”and“Google”arethemostusedmethods.


120





17.c S&T fair 12 C


17.e S&T park 18 B



%

Excellent 6

Very good 20

Good 31

Average 27

Poor 8

Amajorityofpupilsconsiderthemselves“good”or“verygood”inS&T.




I.1)PerceptionofS&T





ExperimentalgroupseemstohavemorepositiveperceptionsofS&T,especiallyinpracticalissues.


PupilsintheexperimentalgroupseemtodisplayamorestereotypedperceptionofpeopleworkinginS&T

121



PupilsintheexperimentalgroupperceivemoreconnectionbetweenS&TandMathematicsandothersubjects.












I.3)VocationsinS&T


– Pupilsofcontrolgroupshowmoreinterestinpursuingcareersas“businessperson”and“inventor”.








122



GENDERINFLUENCE

Resultsareingeneralverysimilar,withthefollowingdifferences:

I.1)PerceptionofS&T



– Femalepupilsshowmoreagreementwith“S&Timprovestheunderstandingofopinionsonsocietyandpoliticalissues”thanmalepupils.

– Male pupils show more agreement with “S&T improves the understanding ofcommunicatingwithdifferentpeople”.


– FemalepupilsconsiderS&Tas“increasinglycomplicated”morethanmalepupils.

– MalepupilsconsiderS&Tas“verybeneficialtosociety”morethanfemalepupils.




– Femalepupilsperceivemoreconnectionsinbothcases.



– Femalepupilsshowmoreinterestinart/culture.

– MalepupilsshowmoreinterestinS&T.


– Ingeneral,malepupilsshowmoreinterestinalltheacademicsubjectsrelatedwithS&T.

123



– Fromthe levelofagreementwiththestatements,malepupilsshowingeneralhigheraffinitytowardsacademicS&Tsubjects,exceptforsubjectsrelatedwithpeople’shealth.


– ThelevelofinterestoffemalepupilsforS&Tactivitiesformostactivitiesislower.



I.3)VocationsinS&T


– Female pupils are more interested in pursuing one of the following careers: artist,journalist,andteacher.

– Malepupilsaremoreinterestedinpursuingoneofthefollowingcareers:engineer,sportsperson,judge,lawyer,politician,anddesigner.







– Malepupilsscorethemselvesquitehigherthanfemalepupils.






124

I.1)PerceptionofS&T



Ingeneral,perceptionaboutusefulnessofS&Tsubjectsisreduced.Itdoesn’thappenforthecontrolgroup.


Norelevantchangesaredetected.


– Ingeneral,theagreementwithstereotypeshasnotchanged.Itissoalsoforthecontrolgroup.


ConnectionofS&TwithMathematicsis lessperceived.Forthecontrolgroup,perceptionabouttheconnectionofS&TwithMathematicsremainsthesame.





– Interest towards Electronics, Engineering, Product design and Product manufactureis reduced. In the control group, only interest towards Electronics and Engineering isreduced.


– MorepupilsconsiderS&Tsubjectsatschoolasboring,andlesspupilslikeS&T.Ontheotherhand,theyconsiderS&Tlessdifficulttounderstandthanpreviously.Theevolutionofthecontrolgroupissimilar.


– Theinterestintheseactivitieshasbeenclearlyreducedintheexperimentalgroup,butnotinthecontrolgroup

125



No relevant differences are found. For the control group, the interest for S&T trips andprojectshasbeendecreased.

I.3)VocationsinS&T


– Interestinpursuingthefollowingcareershasbeenincreased:Businessperson.Itisnotsoforthecontrolgroup.









126

GERMANY



PUPILS 14-15 Y .O .

Experimental group


I.1)PerceptionofS&T




% “Yes”








Theusefulnessfordecidingaboutthevocationisperceivedbynearlyallthepupils.Pupilsperceive the usefulness of S&T in consumer issues. The influence of S&T in social andpolitical issues isalsoperceived,and, insomedegree, in thingsaffectingthemandtheirfamilyandinproblemsofdailylifeaswell.

127





Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%


41 34 10 10 3




34 41 17 3 3




S&Tareperceivedasthebestwayforunderstandingtheworld.PupilsalsoperceiveS&Tasusefulforprovidingacomfortablelifestyleandforcuringdiseases.Ontheotherhand,theydon’tconsiderS&Tusefulformakingfriends.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



45 28 17 3 7


24 34 21 17 3


0 14 41 24 21


10 31 41 10 7


Ingeneral,pupilshaveaverypositiveviewonS&Tasusefulintheseethicalissues.


128



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%













“Negative”stereotypesareingeneralrejected,butstill“Workinginalaboratory”,“workinghard”and“beingagenius”areacceptedtosomedegree.


% “True”







Pupils seemtoperceiveaS&Tcareerasveryvocational,but“gettingtheopportunity totravel”isconsideredareasonforchoosingaS&Tcareerforthemajority.



% “Yes” % “No”

Mathematics 48 48


PerceptionofthelinkbetweenS&TandMathematicsseemslow.

129





Very interested, %






6.c Movies 69 28 0 3


6.e Sports 66 17 10 7





6.j Politics 17 48 24 10


“Sports” and “movies” are considered themost interesting areas; pupils showmediuminterestin“S&T”and“Environment”,ascomparedtootherareas,interesttowardsotherareasislower.



Very interested, %



Disinterested, %

8.a Biology 38 45 14 3

8.b Geology 38 38 14 10





8.g Physics 14 34 31 21



PupilsshowmoreinterestinChemistry.InterestinElectronics,Physics,andMathematicsislow.


130



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



17 41 21 7 10



0 31 34 31 3

10.e I like S&T 31 24 17 14 14


38 7 10 21 24


17 31 24 28 0


10 41 14 24 10


ThereisaverypositiveviewoftheacademicS&Tsubjects.Pupils“likethem”andconsiderthem as among themost interesting subjects to study. S&T are considered “fun”, “notboring”,andnotverydifficulttounderstand.



Very interested, %



Disinterested, %




7 34 48 10


21 38 28 14


45 31 21 3


10 31 41 17



45 24 31 0


17 52 17 14

131


Pupils are interested in research projects, they like most of the “creative” parts of theprocess(13.d,13.e,13.h,13.i),buttheydon’t like“planning”,collectingthe information,examiningtheresults,norwritingreports.



% “Yes”

More S&T trips 66


AboutahalfofthepupilswantmoreS&TtripsorS&Tprojects.


Yes, %

Competitions 24

Experiments 72


Speakers 24

Trips 62

Assemblies 21

Displays 66

AgainS&Tassemblies,competitionsandspeakersarethelessscoredactivities.Ingeneral,interestforalltheactivitiesisincreasedwithrespecttoyoungerpupils.

I.3)VocationsinS&T



Yes, %

11.a Doctor 21

11.b Researcher 38

11.c Engineer 48

11.d Judge 17

11.e Lawyer 17


11.g Artist 31

11.h Journalist 55


11.j Teacher 3

11.k Politician 17

11.l Inventor 38

11.m Designer 55

11.n Other 34


132

“Journalist” and “Designer” are considered the most interesting careers. The score for“Researcher” shows a medium interest, comparable to “Business person”, “Engineer”,“Inventor”,“Sportsperson”or“Artist”.“Teacher”isverylowscored.



Strongly agree, %


Disagree, % Strongly disagree, %



12.c Friends 0 14 14 41 31

12.d Teachers 0 3 14 52 28


Pupils don’t perceive any strong influence on their career choice from external people.Influenceofteachersisespeciallylowscored.






7.b Radio 17 55 28



7.e Books 34 38 28



7.h DVDs 17 59 21





7.m Twitter 0 3 93


7.o Google 59 38 3


7.q Other 21 38 21

“Parents”,“Teachers”,“Television”and“Google”arethemostusedmethods.

133






17.c S&T fair 10 C


17.e S&T park 17 B



%

Excellent 10

Very good 7

Good 38

Average 31

Poor 14

Alargemajorityofpupilsconsiderthemselves“good”,“verygood”or“Excellent”inS&T.




I.1)PerceptionofS&T



– Experimental group perceivesmore usefulness of S&T subjects in understanding of acareerinS&Tandforconsumerissues.


– ExperimentalgroupseemstohaveabitmorepositiveperceptionofS&T,bothinpracticalandethicalissues.


– PupilsinthecontrolgroupperceivepeopleworkinginS&Tas“competitive”morethanthoseintheexperimentalgroup.


134

– VocationalreasonsforchoosingaS&Tcareerarelessscoredbythecontrolgroup.


PupilsinthecontrolgroupperceiveevenlessconnectionbetweenS&TandMathematics.



– Pupilsinthecontrolgrouparelessinterestedin“art/culture”,environmentalandpoliticalissues.


– Pupilsinthecontrolgrouparelessinterestedinthefollowingsubjects:Biology,Geology,Chemistry,andProductdesign.







I.3)VocationsinS&T


– Pupilsofcontrolgroupshowmoreinterestinpursuingcareersas“teacher”and“doctor”.






135



– Pupilsincontrolgroupdisplayahigherself-evaluation.


GENDERINFLUENCE

Thenumberoffilledquestionnairesissmallandnorelevantconclusionscanbeobtained.





I.1)PerceptionofS&T







– Agreementwiththefollowingstereotypesisincreased(PeopleworkinginS&Tare…”):“typicallymen”,“typicallygeniuses”,“typicallyboring”,“typicallycompetitive”,“Typicallynerdy”,“Typicallystrange”,“typicallyaddictedtowork”.Itseemsthatnegativestereotypesaremoreaccepted.Inthecontrolgroup,stereotypesremainnearlythesame.


Intheexperimentalgroup,norelevantdifferencesarefound.Inthecontrolgroup,perceptionoftheconnectionbetweenS&TandMathematicsisincreased,butitwasratherlowinthefirstsurvey.Forthesecondsurvey,valuesoftheexperimentalandcontrolgroupsaresimilarforthesetwoquestions.


136





– InteresttowardsChemistryisreduced,whereasinteresttowardsBiologyisabitincreased.Inthecontrolgroup,Norelevantchangesaredetected.


– More pupils consider S&T subjects at school as boring, but there are no relevantdifferencesintheotherstatements.Itdoesn’thappeninthecontrolgroup.


Norelevantchangesaredetected.Itisalsosoforthecontrolgroup.


Theinteresttowardspracticalprojectsisincreasedintheexperimentalgroup,butnotinthecontrolgroup.

I.3)VocationsinS&T


– Interest in pursuing the following careers has been increased: Doctor, Teacher. Theinterest in thesetwocareers isnotchanged in thecontrolgroup,but theybothweremoreinterestingforthecontrolgroupinthefirstsurvey.








137


GERMANY



Experimental group


I.1)PerceptionofS&T




% “Yes”








PupilsperceivesomeusefulnessofS&Tsubjectsinsomedegreeforalltheissues,exceptforcommunicatingandbeingsensitivewithotherpeople




Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%


29 38 17 13 4




38 33 17 13 0



138



Again,pupilsdon’tseeS&Tusefulforrelationships(14.f).Ingeneral,theyperceiveS&Taspositiveinpracticalissues,buttheythinkthatS&Tareincreasinglycomplicated.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



17 58 21 4 0


8 29 38 13 8


4 33 29 25 0


8 25 38 25 4


Pupilsareundecidedaboutseveralstatements,buttheyperceiveS&Tasverybeneficialtosocietyandtotheenvironment.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%













Severalstereotypesarerejected,butsomeother(15.c,15.d,15.f,15.g,15.h,15.i15.l)areassumedinsomedegree.

139



% “True”







PupilsseemtoperceiveS&Tcareersasveryvocational,buttheprestigeofthecareersinS&T(16.d)isalsoconsidered.



% “Yes” % “No”

Mathematics 79 13


PupilsclearlyperceivetheconnectionbetweenS&TandMathematics,andalsobetweenS&Tandothersubjects.




Very interested, %






6.c Movies 63 17 17 4


6.e Sports 63 21 13 0





6.j Politics 13 63 17 0


Pupilsarequiteinterestedin“Education”,“Medicine/health”and“Environment”,andalsoin“S&T”,ascomparedtootherareas.


140



Very interested, %



Disinterested, %

8.a Biology 58 33 0 0

8.b Geology 21 67 13 0





8.g Physics 17 38 25 17



“Biology”isthemostinterestingsubjectforpupils.Theyhaveatleast“fairinterest”foralltheseS&Tsubjects.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



8 8 46 38 0



0 42 21 29 8

10.e I like S&T 21 33 21 17 4


13 21 21 17 29


17 58 17 4 4


17 25 8 21 29


PupilsconsiderS&Tsubjects“notboring”,and“fun”,andthey“likeS&T”insomedegree,buttheythinkthatS&Tissuesaredifficulttounderstandandarenotthemostinterestingtostudy.

141




Very interested, %



Disinterested, %




13 38 42 8


29 25 21 25


42 21 21 13


13 42 29 13



33 50 8 8


33 38 21 8

Pupilsareinterestedindoingresearchprojects,andtheyareatleastfairlyinterestedintheS&Tactivities,exceptforwritingresearchreports.



% “Yes”

More S&T trips 79


AlargemajorityofpupilswantbothmoreS&TtripsandS&Tprojects.


Yes, %

Competitions 13

Experiments 79


Speakers 17

Trips 54

Assemblies 4

Displays 42

AgainS&Tassemblies,competitionsandspeakersarethelessscoredactivities.


142

I.3)VocationsinS&T



Yes, %

11.a Doctor 50

11.b Researcher 33

11.c Engineer 25

11.d Judge 42

11.e Lawyer 67


11.g Artist 33

11.h Journalist 46


11.j Teacher 33

11.k Politician 38

11.l Inventor 21

11.m Designer 50

11.n Other 46

All thecareersare rather interestingtopupils.Theyseemtohaveamorepracticalviewof their vocations (careers as “inventor”, sportsperson”and “artist” areamong the lessinteresting).“Researcher”,engineer”and“teacher”arenotveryinterestingforthem.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



12.c Friends 0 0 17 75 8

12.d Teachers 0 4 33 38 25


Pupilsperceivesomeinfluencefromparents/guardians.

143







7.b Radio 4 38 58



7.e Books 8 63 29



7.h DVDs 0 63 38




7.l Podcasts 0 8 92

7.m Twitter 0 0 100


7.o Google 13 71 17

7.p YouTube 4 33 58

7.q Other 8 42 38

“Teachers”arethemainwayforgettinginformationonS&T.





17.c S&T fair 4 C


17.e S&T park 9 C



%

Excellent 0

Very good 25

Good 38

Average 25

Poor 4

Self-evaluationispoorerthanthoseofyoungerpupils.


144




I.1)PerceptionofS&T



– Pupils in the experimental group perceive more usefulness of S&T subjects inunderstandingthingsthataffectthemselvesortheirfamilies.




– Pupilsinthecontrolgroupconsider“earningmoney”asarelevantreasonforchoosingaS&Tcareer.


– PupilsinthecontrolgroupperceivelessconnectionbetweenS&TandMathematics.







– Ingeneral,pupilsinthecontrolgroupshowlessaffinitytowardsS&Tsubjects.


– PupilsinthecontrolgrouparealsolessinterestedinS&Tinstrumentalactivities.

145



– PupilsinthecontrolgrouparelessinterestedinS&Ttrips,projectsoractivities.

I.3)VocationsinS&T









– Pupilsincontrolgroupdisplayalowerself-evaluation.


GENDERINFLUENCE




Asthenumberoffilledquestionnairesinthesecondsurveyofthecontrolgroupissmall,norelevantconclusionscanbeobtainedforthecontrolgroup.

Relevantdifferencesintheexperimentalgrouparethefollowing:

I.1)PerceptionofS&T





146


– Thelevelofagreementwiththestatement“S&Tpresentseriousriskstotheworld”isincreased.


Norelevantchangesarefound.


PerceptionoftheconnectionbetweenS&TandMathematicsisreduced.





– InteresttowardsBiologyandGeologyisreduced,whereasinteresttowardsMathematicsandPhysicsisabitincreased.




– Theinterestindoingresearchprojectsisreduced,buttheinterestfortheinstrumentalactivitieskeepsthesame.


– TheinteresttowardsS&Ttripsandresearchprojectsisreduced.

I.3)VocationsinS&T


– Interestinpursuingthecareersasresearcher,engineerandinventorisincreased.Interestincareersasteacherisseriouslydecreased.


147








5.2.2.2 Conclusions

GERMANY

PERCEPTION OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Pupilsperceive the influenceof theS&Tacademic subjectson their vocations, and theyagreesayingthattheyhelpbeingmoreresponsibleconsumers.

Ingeneral,pupilshaveaverypositiveviewoftheS&T,theythinkitprovidesthebestwaystounderstandtheworldandthattheyarebeneficial forthesociety.But ifweaskabouttheir usefulness and ethical issues, especially the youngest groups don’t show a clearperception,manystatementsshow“undecided”asthemodeanswer.Thathappensinbothexperimentalandcontrolgroups,anditchangesinhigherage-groupsexceptfor15-16yearsoldpupils,whoperceivelessusefulnessofS&Tsubjectsinalltheissuesascomparedto14-15yearsoldpupils.

About the stereotypes,many statements show “undecided” as themode answer in theyoungestgroup, indicatingthatastereotypedviewofpeopleworking inS&Tisacceptedinsomedegree(“Typicallyworkalone”,“Typicallycompetitive”,“Typicallyhard-working”,“typicallygeniuses”).Inparticular,thestatement“peoplewhohaveacareerinS&Ttypicallyworkinalaboratory”showslargeagreement.SomestereotypedviewofS&Tcareersremainforalltheages.Ontheotherhand,pupilsseemtoperceiveS&Tcareerasveryvocationalinallage-groups.

PerceptionoftheconnectionbetweenS&TsubjectswithMathematicsandothersubjectsisingenerallow,especiallyfortheyoungestpupils.

The level of interest towards S&T is medium (about two thirds of the pupils are “veryinterested”or“fairlyinterested”inS&Tasageneralissue)inallagegroups.Environmentalissues arequite interesting for thepupils, and they also showmedium interest towardsEducationandMedicine/Health.


148

Pupils tend to increase their interest towards Biology and Product design as their ageincreases.

PupilsshowaffinitytowardstheacademicS&Tsubjects(“notboring”,“fun”),buttheyarenot themost interesting. In theoldergroups, therearemorepupils that think thatS&Tissuesaredifficulttounderstand.

Ingeneral,pupilslikedoingresearchprojects,testingandworkinginteams,butnotwritingreports. S&T tripsandexperimentsareveryappreciated inall groups,andS&Tpracticalprojectsarequiteappreciatedtoo.Theinterestinsciencecompetitionsisratherlow.

VocationsinS&T

Thevocationofpupilsisvaried,thoseperceivedas“creative”aremoreinterestingfortheyoungestpupils (designer, inventor,artist…),and theoldestpupilshaveamorepracticalvocation(Lawyer,Businessperson…).“Designer”isoneofthemostinterestingcareers,and“Researcher”,“Engineer”and“Doctor”areratherinterestingtoo(betweenonethirdandonehalfareconsideringthem).Acareeras“Teacher”islessinteresting.

Pupilsdon’tperceiveanystronginfluenceontheircareerchoicefromexternalpeople,onlysomeofthemperceivesomeinfluencefromtheparents/guardians.

Instrumental issues

Asked about theuseofmedia to get information about S&T, pupils affirm that parents,teachers,Googleandtelevisionarethemostusedmethods.TheuseofYouTubeincreasesin the last age-groups,but the restof the socialnetworksarevery lowused (Facebook,Twitter…).

Alargemajorityofpupilsconsiderthemselves“Good”,“Verygood”or“Excellent”inS&T,buttheself-evaluationdecreasesinthelastage-group.

GENDER INFLUENCE

In the oldest groups, the groups that visited the Research Centre, the number of filledquestionnairesissmallandnorelevantconclusionscanbeobtainedfromtheirquestionnaires.

Intherestofthegroupstheresultsareingeneralverysimilar,buttherearesomesmalldifferences.

In general, female pupils showmore interest in environment and art/culture, andmalepupilsshowmoreinterestinS&T.Inrelationwiththis,morefemalepupilsareinterestedinacareerasartistorteacherthanmalepupils,andmoremalepupilsareinterestedinacareerasengineer.

149


Malepupils havehigher affinity towardsacademic S&T subjects too, except for subjectsrelatedwithpeople’shealth. Femalepupils aremore interested inBiology andGeology,andmalepupilsaremoreinterestinEngineeringandElectronics.MalepupilsshowhigheraffinitytowardsS&Tinstructionalactivitiestoo,exceptforwritingreports.

Malepupilsscorethemselveshigherthanfemalepupilsintheself-evaluationinS&T.

Malepupilsoftheyoungestgroupsseemtobemoreinfluencedbystereotypes(“Scientistworkinlaboratories”).


Therehavebeenlittlechanges intheperception, interestandvocationaboutS&Tinthepupils,buttherearenotcleardifferencescomparedwiththecontrolgroups.

Thesearethemostremarkable:

Activity:Contest

– InteresttowardsBiologyhasincreasedinexperimentalgroupandreducedinthecontrolgroup.

– Interest of S&T subjects related with health has been increased in the experimentalgroup.Forthecontrolgroupithasremainedalmostthesame.

– Theperceptionoftheinfluenceofexternalpersonsinthevocationshasbeenreduced,exceptforteachers.Forthecontrolgroup,theperceptionoftheinfluenceofteachershasbeenreducedtoo.

Activity:Scienceexperiments

Ingeneral,perceptionaboutusefulnessofS&Tsubjectshasbeenreduced.Itdoesn’thappenforthecontrolgroup.

Theinteresttowardsinstrumentalactivitieshasbeenclearlyreducedintheexperimentalgroup,butnotinthecontrolgroup.

Forthecontrolgroup,theinterestforS&Ttripsandprojectshasbeendecreased.

Activity:VisittotheResearchcentre:

Agreementwith the followingstereotypeshas increased (Peopleworking inS&Tare…”):“typicallymen”, “typically geniuses”, “typicallyboring”, “typically competitive”, “Typicallynerdy”,“Typicallystrange”,“typicallyaddictedtowork”.Itseemsthatnegativestereotypesaremoreaccepted.Inthecontrolgroup,stereotypesremainnearlythesame.


150

InteresttowardsChemistryisreduced,whereasinteresttowardsBiologyisabitincreased.Inthecontrolgroup,Norelevantchangesaredetected.

Theinteresttowardspracticalprojectshasincreasedintheexperimentalgroup,butnointhecontrolgroup.

SUMMARY

GermanpupilshavearatherpositiveperceptionoftheusefulnessofS&T.TheyareinterestedinS&Tandthecorrespondingacademicsubjects,butingeneraltheyshowjustamediuminterest towardsadditionalS&Tschoolactivities.They feel themselvesnot influencedbyotherforchoosingtheirfuturecareers,andshowmediuminteresttowardscareersrelatedwithS&T.


151


5 .2 .3 NORTHERN IRELAND (U .K . SYSTEM)



11-12 y.o. 33








12-13 y.o. 38




experimental group13-14 38


control group13-14 40


14-15 26

C1 Visit to RCFirst questionnaire,


E2 Visit to RCSecond questionnaire,

experimental group15-16 26

C2 Visit to RCSecond questionnaire,



152


NORTHERN IRELAND (U . K . SYSTEM)

FIRST SURVEY: FEBRUARY 2012, YEAR 8 (PUPILS 11-12 Y .O .)

SECOND SURVEY: FEBRUARY-MARCH 2013, YEAR 9 (PUPILS 12-13 Y .O .)

Experimental group


I.1)PerceptionofS&T




% “Yes”








Pupilsperceivethe influenceoftheS&Tacademicsubjectsontheirvocations,andshowperceptionoftheusefulnessofS&Tinpracticalissues(9.b,9.d,9.f).Ingeneral,perceptionofusefulnessoftheS&Tacademicissuesisfair.

153





Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%


30 55 12 0 3




33 36 21 3 3




PupilsshowaquitepositiveperceptionoftheusefulnessofS&Tinpracticalissues.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



61 21 15 0 3


27 27 33 6 6


3 9 52 24 12


9 9 36 24 18


PupilsaremainlyundecidedaboutethicalissuesrelatedwithS&T,andtheythinkthatS&Taregoodonlywhentheyareproperlyused.


154



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%













Manystereotypesarerejected,butthoserelatedwithhighcapacity(15.i)orhardworking(15.g,15.h,15.l)areacceptedinsomedegree.


% “True”







PupilsthinkthatS&Tcareersarevocational,buttheyalsoconsiderprestigeormoneyasreasonsforpursuingthem.



% “Yes” % “No”

Mathematics 73 27



155





Very interested, %






6.c Movies 67 27 3 0


6.e Sports 58 21 15 6





6.j Politics 12 18 30 36


Pupils seem to be very interested by S&T (it is theirmain interest). They are also quiteinterestedineducation,butnotsomuchinenvironmentalissues.



Very interested, %



Disinterested, %

8.a Biology 33 45 18 3

8.b Geology 12 61 18 9





8.g Physics 42 39 6 12



Pupils are mainly interested in Chemistry, Electronics, Engineering and Product design.ExceptforGeologyandMathematics,allthesubjectsarequitehighlyscored.


156



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



42 27 21 3 6



6 15 33 33 9

10.e I like S&T 76 21 0 0 3


52 12 18 12 6


24 39 12 18 6


52 27 9 6 3


Pupils have a very positive view of the academic S&T subjects (they “like them”, theyareconsidered“fun”,and“notboring”),buttheyconsidertheseissuesratherdifficulttounderstand.



Very interested, %



Disinterested, %




36 33 21 9


27 45 24 3


45 39 9 6


30 33 27 9



52 30 15 3


45 36 15 3

Pupils are interested in doing research projects and in the corresponding instrumentalactivities.Theyhavespecialmotivationforworkingasateamandmakingpresentations.

157




% “Yes”

More S&T trips 97


AlargemajorityofpupilsareinterestedinS&Ttripsandprojects.


Yes, %

Competitions 39

Experiments 94


Speakers 36

Trips 55

Assemblies 42

Displays 79

Alltheactivitiesareinterestingforpupils,especiallyexperiments.

I.3)VocationsinS&T



Yes, %

11.a Doctor 33

11.b Researcher 18

11.c Engineer 33

11.d Judge 15

11.e Lawyer 45


11.g Artist 36

11.h Journalist 30


11.j Teacher 27

11.k Politician 9

11.l Inventor 48

11.m Designer 55

11.n Other 76

Careersas“inventor”or“designer”receivedhighscores,but“researcher”and“teacher”arelowscored.


158



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



12.c Friends 18 30 27 21 3

12.d Teachers 21 48 18 6 6

12.e Famous people 24 15 21 21 18

Astronginfluenceofparentsandrelativesisperceived.Ingeneral,pupilsthinkthatmanyexternalinfluencesfortheircareerchoicearetakingplace.






7.b Radio 6 67 27



7.e Books 27 64 9



7.h DVDs 18 64 18





7.m Twitter 12 12 76


7.o Google 42 45 12


7.q Other 18 61 15

PupilsobtaininformationonS&Tmainlyfromteacher.EncyclopaediasandGooglearealsoused.Parentsarenotsorelevant.Socialmediaandsocialnetworksarealmostnotused.

159




17.a S&T museum 6 C

17.b S&T exhibition 9 C

17.c S&T fair 3 C


17.e S&T park 3 C



%

Excellent 15

Very good 36

Good 36

Average 6

Poor 3

Pupils give themselves a high evaluation, amajority consider themselves “excellent” or“verygood”inS&T.




I.1)PerceptionofS&T







PupilsinthecontrolgroupseemtoacceptabitmoreastereotypedimageofpeopleworkinginS&T


160









PupilsinthecontrolgroupshowabitloweraffinitytowardsS&Tsubjects.





I.3)VocationsinS&T


Pupilsofcontrolgroupshowmoreinterestinpursuingacareeras“teacher”.








161



GENDERINFLUENCE

I.1)PerceptionofS&T



– Ingeneral,femalepupilsperceivemoreusefulnessoftheS&Tsubjects.


– MalepupilsconsiderS&Tas“increasinglycomplicated”morethanfemalepupils.







– Male pupils showmore interest in sports, but for the interest in S&T, education andenvironmenttherearenorelevantdifferences.


– MalepupilsshowmoreinterestinEngineering.

– FemalepupilsshowmoreinterestinBiology.







162

Femalepupilsseemtobelessinterestedindoingmorepracticalprojects,theyconsidertheyhaveenough.

I.3)VocationsinS&T


– Femalepupilsaremoreinterestedinpursuingoneofthefollowingcareers:researcher,artist,journalist,teacher,inventoranddesigner.

– Malepupilsaremoreinterestedinpursuingcareersasengineerandsportsperson.







– Femalepupilsscorethemselvesabithigherthanmalepupils.





I.1)PerceptionofS&T






163



– Ingeneral,theagreementwithstereotypeshasnotchanged.Inthecontrolgroup,theagreementwithstereotypesisabitincreased.

– PupilsperceivemoreinfluenceofvocationalreasonsforchoosingaS&Tcareer,andlessinfluenceofotherreasons(prestige,fame…).Inthecontrolgroup,theperceptionsarenotchangedwithrespecttothefirstsurvey.





IntheexperimentalgroupintereststowardsS&Tandart/cultureisdecreased.Inthecontrolgroupthesametendencycanbeobservedandadditionallythere isadecreased interesttowardseducation.


– Interest towards Electronics andEngineering is reduced. In the control group interesttowardsElectronics,ProductdesignandProductmanufactureisreduced.


Ingeneral,affinitytowardsS&Tsubjectsisreduced.Itisalsosoforthecontrolgroup.


– Theinterestintheseactivitiesisabitreducedbothintheexperimentalandinthecontrolgroup.


Interest for some activities (competitions, trips) is increased. For the control group, theinterestforS&Tactivitiesisnotchanged.

I.3)VocationsinS&T


Therearenotrelevantchangesintheinterestofthegroupforthedifferentcareers.


164


Ingeneral,perceptionontheexternalinfluenceincareerchoiceisreduced.Itisalsosoforthecontrolgroup.





Self-evaluation isabitdecreased. In thecontrolgroup, thedecrease inself-evaluation isevenmoreimportant.




Experimental group


I.1)PerceptionofS&T




% “Yes”








Pupilsperceivethe influenceoftheS&Tacademicsubjectsontheirvocations,andshowperception of the usefulness of S&T in all the issues, except for “being more sensitivetowardsotherpeople”.

165





Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%


13 50 21 13 3




11 53 29 3 0




PupilsperceiveS&Tasquiteuseful,exceptformakingfriends(14.f),buttheyalsoperceiveS&Tasincreasinglycomplicated.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



47 32 16 5 0


13 39 39 8 0


5 18 34 29 11


0 32 42 24 0


Pupils aremainly undecided about ethical issues relatedwith S&T, they think that S&Tshouldbeusedproperlytoavoiddanger,buttheyconsiderS&Tasbeneficialtosociety.


166



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%













Manystereotypesarerejected,butthoserelatedwithhighcapacity(15.i)orhardworking(15.g,15.h,15.l)areacceptedinsomedegree.


% “True”







PupilsthinkthatS&Tcareersarevocational,buttheyalsoconsiderprestigeormoneyasreasonsforpursuingthem.



% “Yes” % “No”

Mathematics 84 13



167





Very interested, %






6.c Movies 58 34 3 0


6.e Sports 55 26 8 8





6.j Politics 13 11 45 32


PupilsarequiteinterestedinS&T.Interestineducation,healthorenvironmentislower.



Very interested, %



Disinterested, %

8.a Biology 18 58 21 3

8.b Geology 3 34 47 16





8.g Physics 29 37 26 5



PupilsaremainlyinterestedinElectronicsandEngineering.OnlyinterestinGeologyisverylow.


168



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



18 32 37 11 3



11 29 29 26 5

10.e I like S&T 47 39 13 0 0


21 26 24 21 5


8 21 39 26 3


24 42 13 18 0


Pupils have a very positive view of the academic S&T subjects (they “like them”, theyareconsidered“fun”,and“notboring”),buttheyconsidertheseissuesratherdifficulttounderstand,andtheyareratherundecidedaboutwhetherS&Tsubjectswillhelpthemtoobtaintheirdesiredjob.



Very interested, %



Disinterested, %




18 39 34 8


26 39 24 8


37 42 18 3


18 39 29 13



32 37 21 11


34 39 24 3

169


In general, pupils seem tobe just fairly interested indoing researchprojects and in thecorrespondinginstrumentalactivities.



% “Yes”

More S&T trips 92


AlargemajorityofpupilsareinterestedinS&Ttripsandprojects.


Yes, %

Competitions 63

Experiments 87


Speakers 21

Trips 84

Assemblies 34

Displays 63

Alltheactivitiesareinterestingforpupils,especiallyexperiments.

I.3)VocationsinS&T



Yes, %

11.a Doctor 29

11.b Researcher 8

11.c Engineer 34

11.d Judge 21

11.e Lawyer 34


11.g Artist 26

11.h Journalist 13


11.j Teacher 42

11.k Politician 13

11.l Inventor 39

11.m Designer 45

11.n Other 45


170

Careersas“designer”,“teacher”or“inventor”receivedhighscores,but“researcher”isverylowscored.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



12.c Friends 3 29 34 29 3

12.d Teachers 13 55 26 3 3


Astronginfluenceofparents,relativesandteachersisperceived.Ingeneral,pupilsthinkthatmanyexternalinfluencesfortheircareerchoicearetakingplace.






7.b Radio 0 39 61



7.e Books 29 47 24



7.h DVDs 24 66 11





7.m Twitter 0 13 84


7.o Google 37 50 11


7.q Other 8 58 26

PupilsobtaininformationonS&Tmainlyfromteacher.Alltheothermediaarelessused.Inthiscase,Facebookisfairlyused.

171






17.c S&T fair 11 C


17.e S&T park 5 C



%

Excellent 11

Very good 42

Good 26

Average 21

Poor 0

Pupils give themselves a high evaluation, amajority consider themselves “excellent” or“verygood”inS&T.




I.1)PerceptionofS&T









172







Control group shows more interest towards Biology, Geology, Chemistry and Productmanufacture.


PupilsinthecontrolgroupshowahigheraffinitytowardsS&Tsubjects.


PupilsinthecontrolgroupareabitmoreinterestedinS&Tinstrumentalactivities.


PupilsinthecontrolgroupareabitmoreinterestedinS&Tactivities.

I.3)VocationsinS&T


Pupilsofcontrolgroupshowmoreinterestinpursuingacareeras“Doctor”and“Businessperson”.







173


Pupils in the control group display even a higher self-evaluation than those of theexperimentalgroup.


GENDERINFLUENCE

I.1)PerceptionofS&T



– FemalepupilsperceivemoreusefulnessoftheS&Tsubjectsinvocationalissues(9.g).1




– Femalepupilsarelessinfluencedby“negative”stereotypes,as“peopleworkinginS&Taretypicallymen”,“…typicallynerdy”or“…typicallystrange”

– FemalepupilsthinkthatvocationalreasonsforchoosingS&Taremoreimportant,andmaterialreasons(money,fame)arelessimportant.





– Malepupilsshowmoreinterestinsportsandlessinterestinpoliticsandfamouspeople,but for the interest in S&T, education, health and environment there are no relevantdifferences.


– MalepupilsshowmoreinterestinEngineering.


– MalepupilsshowabitmoreaffinitytowardsS&Tsubjects.


174




– Femalepupilsseemtobelessinterestedindoingmorepracticalprojects.

– FemalepupilsaremoreinterestedinS&Tcompetitions.

I.3)VocationsinS&T


– Femalepupilsaremoreinterestedinpursuingcareersasdoctor,judgeorlawyer.Ithastobepointedoutthatnooneisinterestedinacareerasresearcher.

– Malepupilsaremoreinterestedinpursuingcareersasengineerorsportsperson.


– Ingeneral,malepupilsperceivemoreexternalinfluenceintheircareerchoice.










I.1)PerceptionofS&T



175




PupilsaftertheactivitiesperceiveS&Tasabitless“dangerous”.Thisdoesn’thappeninthecontrolgroup,thatperceivesS&Tasmorecomplicated.


– Ingeneral,pupilsshowmoreagreementwithstereotypesaftertheactivities.Ithappensalsoforthecontrolgroup.





Ingeneral,interesttowardsgeneralissuesisreduced,bothintheexperimentalandinthecontrolgroups.


– Interest towards Electronic, Engineering, Product manufacture and Product design isreduced.Thisisalsosoforthecontrolgroup.


Ingeneral,affinitytowardsS&Tsubjectsisreduced.Itisalsosoforthecontrolgroup.




Interestforcompetitionsisreduced.Thisdoesn’thappeninthecontrolgroup.

I.3)VocationsinS&T


– Interesttowardscareersas“inventor”and“designer”isreduced.Inthecontrolgroup,interesttowardsacareerasdesignerisreduced.


176





Norelevantchangeswerefound.






Experimental group


177


I.1)PerceptionofS&T



Table 1: Percentage of pupils who think that learning about S&T improves their

understanding of certain issues

% “Yes”








Pupilsperceivethe influenceoftheS&Tacademicsubjectsontheirvocations,andshowperception of the usefulness of S&T in all the issues, except for “being more sensitivetowardsotherpeople”.




Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%


12 65 23 0 0




35 50 12 0 0




PupilsperceiveS&Tasquiteuseful,buttheyalsoperceiveS&Tasincreasinglycomplicated.


178



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



50 38 12 0 0


12 42 38 8 0


8 23 42 19 8


4 19 54 23 0


PupilsshowapositiveviewofS&T,theythinkthatS&Tshouldbeusedproperlytoavoiddanger,buttheyconsiderthatS&Timproveenvironmentandareconcernedwithpeople’sneeds.TheyalsoagreethatS&Tarebeneficialtosociety.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%













Ingeneral,negativestereotypesarerejected,but“peopleworkinginS&Taretypicallymen”is acceptedbymanypupils. Stereotypes relatedwithhardworking (15.g, 15.h, 15.l) areacceptedtosomedegree.

179



% “True”







PupilsthinkthatS&Tcareersarevocational,buttheyalsoconsiderthatS&Tcareersallowearningalotofmoney.



% “Yes” % “No”

Mathematics 92 8


Pupilsclearlyperceivethelinksbetweenmathematics,orothersubjects,andS&T.




Very interested, %






6.c Movies 58 35 8 0


6.e Sports 54 19 8 19





6.j Politics 0 27 46 27


PupilsareveryinterestedbyS&T(itisthehighestscoredarea).Interestineducation,healthorenvironmentislower.


180



Very interested, %



Disinterested, %

8.a Biology 27 50 23 0

8.b Geology 12 23 62 4





8.g Physics 38 46 15 0



PupilsaremainlyinterestedinElectronics,EngineeringandProductdesign.OnlyinterestinGeologyandChemistryislow.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



38 42 19 0 0



4 12 38 38 4

10.e I like S&T 54 35 8 4 0


23 35 27 15 0


0 27 38 31 4


19 23 23 27 8


Ingeneral,pupilshaveapositiveviewoftheacademicS&Tsubjects

181




Very interested, %



Disinterested, %




12 38 38 12


42 46 12 0


46 38 8 8


4 35 58 4



23 50 19 8


35 27 27 12

Interestfordoingresearchprojectsisjustfair.Someinstrumentalactivitiesassolvingandtestingsolutions,andmakingpresentations,arequiteinterestingforpupils.



% “Yes”

More S&T trips 100


AllthepupilsareinterestedinS&Ttripsandprojects.


Yes, %

Competitions 63

Experiments 87


Speakers 21

Trips 84

Assemblies 34

Displays 63

All the activities are interesting for pupils. The lowest scored activities are “speakers”,“assemblies”and“researchprojects”.


182

I.3)VocationsinS&T



Yes, %

11.a Doctor 35

11.b Researcher 27

11.c Engineer 77

11.d Judge 8

11.e Lawyer 8


11.g Artist 31

11.h Journalist 15


11.j Teacher 35

11.k Politician 0

11.l Inventor 62

11.m Designer 62

11.n Other 62

Careersas“engineer”,“designer”,or“inventor”receivehighscores.“Researcher”,“teacher”and“doctor”aremediumscored.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



12.c Friends 4 15 27 54 0

12.d Teachers 12 50 19 19 0


Astronginfluenceofparents,relativesandteachersisperceived.Ingeneral,pupilsthinkthatmanyexternalinfluencesfortheircareerchoicearetakingplace.

183







7.b Radio 0 69 31



7.e Books 0 77 23



7.h DVDs 19 73 8





7.m Twitter 8 23 69


7.o Google 38 54 8


7.q Other 4 69 27

PupilsobtaininformationonS&Tmainlyfromteachers.Google,parentsandtelevisionarealsoquiteused.





17.c S&T fair 0 C


17.e S&T park 0 C



%

Excellent 4

Very good 42

Good 46

Average 8

Poor 0


184

Pupilsgivethemselvesaratherhighevaluation.




I.1)PerceptionofS&T














ControlgroupshowslessinteresttowardsMathematicsandPhysics.




PupilsinthecontrolgroupareabitmoreinterestedinS&Tinstrumentalactivities.

185



Pupilsinthecontrolgroupshowlessinterestincompetitionsandmoreinterestinspeakers.

I.3)VocationsinS&T


Pupilsinthecontrolgrouparealmostnotinterestedatallinacareerasresearcher.


Ingeneral,pupilsinthecontrolgroupperceivelessexternalinfluenceintheircareerchoice.







GENDERINFLUENCE






I.1)PerceptionofS&T



Perceptionofusefulnessinsomeissues(9.c,9.d,9.f)isincreased.Itdoesn’thappeninthecontrolgroup.


186


PupilsaftertheactivitieshaveabetterperceptionoftheusefulnessofS&T.Inthecontrolgroup,theperceptionoftheusefulnessofS&Tisnotimproved.







– Norelevantchangesarefound.


– No relevant changes are found. In the control group, interest towards Electronics,Engineering,ProductdesignandProductmanufactureisabitreduced.




Norelevantchangesarefound.Inthecontrolgroupinteresttowardsinstrumentalactivitiesisabitreduced.



I.3)VocationsinS&T




187








5.2.3.2 CONCLUSIONS


PerceptionofS&T

TheperceptionoftheusefulnessofS&Tisquitepositiveinallthegroups.Thepupilslinkittoawayofunderstandingtheworldandbenefitforsociety(“providecomfortablelifestyle”,“curediseases”…).Theysay thatS&Tshouldbeusedproperly toavoiddanger; this ideadecreasedintheexperimentalgroupthatparticipatedinthecontest.

ManystereotypesaboutS&Tandscientistsare rejected.Olderpupils showaneven lessstereotypedviewofpeopleworkinginS&T.However,stereotypesrelatedwithhardworkingandhighcapacityareacceptedinallagestages.

Inconnectionwiththis,allthepupilsthinkthatS&Tcareersarevocational.Somepracticalreasons(money,opportunitytotravel)arealsoconsideredforchoosingaS&Tcareer.

InteresttowardsS&TandEducationissuesisveryhigh, interesttowardsmedicine/healthissuesandenvironmentisjustmedium.

PupilshaveaverypositiveviewoftheacademicS&Tsubjects,andtheyareinterestedorveryinterestedinthem.TheyaremainlyinterestedinChemistry,Electronics,EngineeringandProductdesign.Theinterestofthepupilsforresearchprojectsisjustfair,althoughtheyareveryinterestedinallkindofS&Tschoolactivities,includingpracticalprojects.Thiscanbeexplainedbytheirinteresttowardssomeoftheinstrumentalactivitiesassolvingproblemsandtestingsolutions.Ontheotherhand,mostofthemarenotinterestedinwritingreports.

MostofthepupilsperceivethelinksbetweenMathematics,orothersubjects,andS&T.

PupilsofallagesperceivetheinfluenceoftheS&Tacademicsubjectsontheirvocations.Careersas“Inventor”or“Designer”arehighlyscored,“Teacher”receivesmediuminterest,


188

and“Engineer”isalsointerestingfortheolderpupils.Ontheotherhand,“Researcher”isverylowscored.

Astronginfluenceofparents,relativesandteachersisperceivedinallagegroups.

Teachers are the most important information resource about S&T. Other resources areusedbutinminorscale:EncyclopaediasandEducationalsoftwareareusedbytheyoungestpupils,YouTubeandtelevisionbythemidagegroups,andGoogle,parentsandTelevisionbytheoldestones.

Pupilsgivethemselvesahighself-evaluationinS&T.


Therearenoimportantdifferencesbetweenexperimentalandcontrolgroups.

Theself-evaluationisabithigherinthecontestparticipantsthanthecontrolgroup,andabitlowerintheexperimentparticipantscomparedwithitscontrolgroup.


Thenumberoffilledquestionnairesissmallinthegroupthatvisitedtheresearchcentre,andnorelevantconclusionscanbeobtained.

Inthefirsttwoage-stagestherearesomelittledifferencesbetweenmaleandfemalepupilsthatappearinbothage-stages.Therearegenderdifferencesintheinterestareas,butforS&T,educationandenvironmenttherearenorelevantdifferences.Ontheotherhand,therearegenderdifferencesinsciencevocations:malepupilsshowmoreinterestinEngineeringandfemalepupilsaremoreinterestedinBiology.


Therearenotverysignificantchangesrelatedwiththeactivities.Somechangeshavebeendetected,buttheyarelinkedwithbothexperimentalandcontrolgroups.

The changes that occur in all the groups are varied, for example the perception on theexternalinfluenceincareerchoiceisreducedinallgroups.

ThegeneralinteresttowardsS&Tisdecreasedinallthegroupstoo,andintheoldestonetheyconsiderS&Tsubjectsabitmoredifficulttounderstand.

SUMMARY

PupilsinNorthernIrelandshowaverypositiveperceptionoftheusefulnessofS&T.TheyareveryinterestedinS&Tasgeneralissues,inS&Tacademicsubjects,inadditionalS&Tschoolactivities and in the instrumentalwork relatedwith these activities.However, vocations

189


incareersrelatedwithS&Taresimilartotheothersgroups,andinthecaseofacareeras“Researcher”allthegroupsshowaratherlowinterest.

Ingeneral,the“Stimula”activitiesdon’thavearelevanteffectinperceptions, interestorvocationsofthepupils.


190

5 .2 .4 Romania



13-14 y.o. 53




15-16 y.o. 54




16-17 y.o. 48



Becauseofsomeproblemswhendevelopingthesurvey,thefollowingincidencesoccurfortheRomaniangroups:

– Inalltheagegroups,onlytheexperimentalgroupwasavailable.


FIRST SURVEY: FEBRUARY 2012, LEVEL VII (PUPILS 13-14 Y .O .)

SECOND SURVEY: FEBRUARY-MARCH 2013, LEVEL VIII (PUPILS 14-15 Y .O .)



I.1)PerceptionofS&T



191


Table 1: Percentage of pupils who think that learning about S&T improves their

understanding of certain issues

% “Yes”








Mostoftheissuesarescoredthesame,exceptforcommunicatingwithdifferentpeople,andforvocations,forwhichpupilsconsiderS&Tmoreuseful.




Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%


32 30 23 8 8




43 28 17 4 8




PupilshaveaverypositiveviewoftheusefulnessofS&Tforresolvingpracticalproblems.


192



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



23 36 30 8 4


23 28 34 6 8


11 13 23 28 23


9 15 45 17 13


PupilshavealsoapositiveviewontheusefulnessofS&Tinethicalissues.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%













Pupils arequite influencedby stereotypes about peopleworking in S&T. “Typically old”,“creative”, “working in a laboratory”, “competitive”, “hard-working” and “geniuses” areratheraccepted.

193



% “True”







AlthoughvocationisconsideredasthemostimportantreasonforchoosingacareerinS&T,allthepracticalandprestigereasonsarevalued.



% “Yes” % “No”

Mathematics 81 19


PupilsclearlyperceivetheconnectionbetweenS&Tandothersubjects.




Very interested, %






6.c Movies 51 40 8 0


6.e Sports 66 21 11 2





6.j Politics 2 13 38 45


Pupilsareveryinterestedin“Education”,andalsoquiteinterestedinS&T,“Medicineandhealth”and“Environment”.


194



Very interested, %



Disinterested, %

8.a Biology 32 60 6 2

8.b Geology 21 34 32 11





8.g Physics 19 30 36 9



PupilsshowlargeinterestinmanyS&Tsubjects,especiallyinBiology,buttheyseemtobelessinterestedinElectronics,Engineering,PhysicsandProductmanufacture.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



28 34 23 15 0



2 26 47 25 0

10.e I like S&T 25 40 21 8 8


19 21 32 21 6


25 40 23 11 2


43 28 23 2 4


Pupils show affinity towards academic S&T subjects they like them and they are veryinterestedinhealthandspacetravel/universeitems.

195




Very interested, %



Disinterested, %




23 42 30 6


43 38 11 8


21 42 25 13


23 38 19 21



49 32 8 9


32 38 17 13

Ingeneral,pupilsareveryinterestedinS&Tactivities,exceptinwritingresearchreports.



% “Yes”

More S&T trips 77


Theinterestinpracticalprojectsislimited.


Yes, %

Competitions 40

Experiments 57


Speakers 53

Trips 62

Assemblies 34

Displays 60

Almostalltheactivitiesareinterestingforaboutahalfofthegroup.


196

I.3)VocationsinS&T



Yes, %

11.a Doctor 30

11.b Researcher 23

11.c Engineer 15

11.d Judge 34

11.e Lawyer 40


11.g Artist 38

11.h Journalist 34


11.j Teacher 11

11.k Politician 4

11.l Inventor 26

11.m Designer 49

11.n Other 45

“Designer”,“Sportsperson”and“Businessperson”arehighlyscoredasfuturecareersforthe pupils. “Researcher”, “Teacher” and other careers related to S&T are medium/lowscored.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



12.c Friends 4 13 17 34 32

12.d Teachers 2 13 26 21 38


Pupils perceive some degree of influence on their career choice from external people,especiallyfromparents/guardians.

197







7.b Radio 4 70 25



7.e Books 47 43 8



7.h DVDs 26 62 11







7.o Google 70 26 4


7.q Other 21 62 13

“Google” is themostusedmethod,“Parents”,“Teachers”and“Television”arealsoquiteused,butactuallymanymediaareconsideredasuseful.





17.c S&T fair 26 B


17.e S&T park 23 B



%

Excellent 8

Very good 21

Good 49

Average 15

Poor 8


198

Almostahalfofthepupilsconsiderthemselves“good”inS&T.


GENDERINFLUENCE


I.1)PerceptionofS&T



– Female pupils show more agreement with “S&T improve the understanding ofcommunicatingwithdifferentpeople”.

– Malepupilsshowmoreagreementwith“S&Timprovetheunderstandingofbeingmoresensitivetowardsotherpeople”.


– Ingeneral,malepupilshaveamorepositiveviewoftheusefulnessofS&Tthanfemalepupils.Malepupilsseemtobealsomoreconcernedaboutethicalissues.


– MalepupilsaremoreinfluencebythestereotypeconsideringpeopleworkinginS&Tas“typicallymen”.

– FemalepupilsconsiderprestigeasamoreimportantreasonforchoosingaS&Tcareer.





– Femalepupilsshowmoreinteresttowardsmedicine/health.

– MalepupilsshowmoreinteresttowardsS&T.

199



– FemalepupilsshowmoreinteresttowardsProductdesignandProductmanufacture.

– Male pupils show more interest towards Chemistry, Electronics, Engineering andMathematics.


– MalepupilsseemtobeabitmoreinterestedinS&Tsubjects,althoughtheyconsiderS&Tas“difficulttounderstand”.




– Femalepupilsaremoreinterestedinexperimentsandspeakers.

– Malepupilsaremoreinterestedincompetitions.

I.3)VocationsinS&T



– Malepupilsareabitmoreinterestedinpursuingacareerasengineer.


– Malepupilsperceivemoreexternalinfluence.





– Femalepupilsscorethemselvesbitlowerthanmalepupils.


COMPARISONOFRESULTSFROMTHEFIRSTSURVEYANDTHESECONDONE


200


I.1)PerceptionofS&T







– Ingeneral,thegroupdisplaysamorestereotypedviewofpeopleworkinginS&Taftertheactivities.


– TheperceptionoftheconnectionbetweenS&TandMathematics,andothersubjects,isreduced.



– InteresttowardsS&T,EducationandEnvironmentisreduced.


– InteresttowardsPhysicsisreduced.


– Ingeneral,affinitytowardstheacademicS&Tsubjectsisreduced.





201


I.3)VocationsinS&T


Norelevantchangesinvocationsaredetected








ROMANIA

FIRST SURVEY: FEBRUARY 2012, LEVEL IX (PUPILS 15-16 Y .O .)

SECOND SURVEY: FEBRUARY-MARCH 2013, LEVEL X (PUPILS 16-17 Y .O .)



I.1)PerceptionofS&T




202


% “Yes”








Usefulnessforvocationisclearlyidentified.Fortherest,onlyusefulnessforcommunicatingwithdifferentpeopleandforconsumerissuesareperceivedbyamajorityofthepupils.




Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%


28 48 19 6 0




50 26 19 6 0





203




Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



26 33 28 11 2


24 33 26 15 0


0 20 24 31 24


7 9 37 30 17


PupilshavesomeconcernsontheusefulnessofS&Tinethicalissues,althoughtheyconsiderS&Tasbeneficialtosociety.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%













PupilsareinfluencedinsomedegreebystereotypesaboutpeopleworkinginS&T.“Typicallyold”,“creative”,“workinginalaboratory”and“hard-working”areratheraccepted.


204


% “True”







AlthoughvocationisconsideredanimportantreasonforchoosingacareerinS&Tpracticalreasonsarealsoconsidered.



% “Yes” % “No”

Mathematics 57 41


Pupilsdon’tperceiveaclearconnectionbetweenS&TandMathematics.




Very interested, %






6.c Movies 35 37 26 0


6.e Sports 43 35 17 4





6.j Politics 0 7 30 61


PupilsareveryinterestedinS&T,Education”,“Medicineandhealth”,and“Environment”.

205




Very interested, %



Disinterested, %

8.a Biology 63 30 7 0

8.b Geology 15 30 44 9





8.g Physics 7 35 46 11



Pupils are very interested in Biology, Chemistry and Product design; interest towardsMathematicsisfair.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



39 41 13 4 4



2 41 26 26 6

10.e I like S&T 26 44 22 7 0


15 33 26 20 4


44 37 6 11 2


15 44 22 15 4


Pupils show affinity towards academic S&T subjects they like them and they are veryinterested inhealthand space travel/universe items.However, theyconsiderS&T ratherdifficulttounderstand.


206



Very interested, %



Disinterested, %




11 37 43 9


30 43 24 4


24 43 22 9


17 37 35 9



43 48 9 0


28 44 19 9

Ingeneral,pupilsarequiteinterestedinS&Tactivities,exceptincollectinginformationforresearchprojectsandwritingresearchreports.



% “Yes”

More S&T trips 89


Theinterestinpracticalprojectsislimited.


Yes, %

Competitions 50

Experiments 72


Speakers 59

Trips 76

Assemblies 43

Displays 63

Experimentsandtripsarethemostinterestingactivities,butallofthemarehighlyscored.

207


I.3)VocationsinS&T



Yes, %

11.a Doctor 80

11.b Researcher 17

11.c Engineer 17

11.d Judge 33

11.e Lawyer 43


11.g Artist 41

11.h Journalist 28


11.j Teacher 13

11.k Politician 7

11.l Inventor 19

11.m Designer 50

11.n Other 61

“Doctor” isan interestingcareerformostofthepupils.“Designer” isalsoconsideredbyamajorityofthem,but“Researcher”,“Engineer”,“Teacher”and“Inventor”areverylowscored.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



12.c Friends 0 15 19 41 22

12.d Teachers 0 13 33 35 15


Ingeneral,pupilsperceivesmallinfluenceontheircareerchoicefromexternalpeople.Theyperceiveanimportantinfluencefromparents/guardians.


208






7.b Radio 7 65 28



7.e Books 28 57 15



7.h DVDs 19 57 24







7.o Google 80 20 0


7.q Other 9 74 11

“Google” is the most used method, “Parents”, “Teachers”, “Television”, “YouTube” and“Facebook”arealsoquiteused.





17.c S&T fair 15 C


17.e S&T park 26 B



%

Excellent 0

Very good 11

Good 52

Average 35

Poor 0

209


Themajorityofthepupilsconsiderthemselves“good”inS&T.


GENDERINFLUENCE


I.1)PerceptionofS&T



– Female pupils show more agreement with “S&T improve the understanding ofcommunicatingwith different people” and “S&T improve the understanding of beingmoreresponsibleconsumer”




– Malepupilsareabitmoreinfluencedbystereotypes.

– Malepupilsconsiderpracticalreasons,likemoneyorfame,asmoreimportantreasonsforchoosingaS&Tcareer.


– MalepupilsperceivelessconnectionbetweenS&TandMathematics.





– FemalepupilsshowmoreinteresttowardsMathematicsandProductdesign.


– MalepupilsseemtobeabitlessinterestedinS&Tsubjects.


210


– MalepupilsareingenerallessinterestedinS&Tactivities.


– FemalepupilsaremoreinterestedinalltheschoolactivitiesactivitiesrelatedwithS&T.

I.3)VocationsinS&T


– Ingeneral,malepupilsarelessinterestedinpursuingacareersrelatedwithS&T,exceptforacareerasengineer.











I.1)PerceptionofS&T



PerceptionofusefulnessofS&Tin“thingsaffectingyouandyourfamily”,socialandpoliticalissues”and“communicatingwithdifferentpeople”isreduced.



211










– InteresttowardsMathematicsisabitincreased.






Interesttowardspracticalprojectisincreased.

I.3)VocationsinS&T









212



ROMANIA

FIRST SURVEY: FEBRUARY 2012, LEVEL X (PUPILS 16-17 Y .O .)

SECOND SURVEY: FEBRUARY-MARCH 2013, LEVEL XI (PUPILS 17-18 Y .O .)

PUPILS 16-17 Y .O .



I.1)PerceptionofS&T




% “Yes”








Usefulnessforvocationisclearlyidentified.Fortherest,usefulnessforcommunicatingwithdifferentpeople,solvingproblems indaily lifeand forconsumer issues isperceivedbyamajorityofthepupils.



213



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%


52 33 15 0 0




69 23 8 0 0







Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



35 46 19 0 0


35 33 23 6 2


4 4 10 38 42


4 10 48 31 6


PupilshavealsoapositiveviewofS&Tinethicalissues.


214



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%













Pupils are influenced by several stereotypes about people working in S&T, as “typicallycompetitive”,“creative”,“workinginalaboratory”,“geniuses”,“hard-working”and“addictedtotheirwork”areratheraccepted.


% “True”







AlthoughvocationisconsideredanimportantreasonforchoosingacareerinS&T,prestigeandpracticalreasonsarealsoconsidered.



% “Yes” % “No”

Mathematics 90 10


PupilsclearlyperceiveconnectionbetweenS&T,andMathematicsandothersubjects.

215





Very interested, %






6.c Movies 10 42 33 6


6.e Sports 23 27 33 10





6.j Politics 4 2 44 50


PupilsareveryinterestedinS&T,“Education”,“Medicineandhealth”,and“Environment”.



Very interested, %



Disinterested, %

8.a Biology 83 13 4 0

8.b Geology 6 50 29 13





8.g Physics 65 21 10 0



Pupils are very interested in Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics, and quiteinterestedinGeologyandProductdesign.


216



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



67 19 6 2 6



2 13 60 25 0

10.e I like S&T 33 52 15 0 0


23 69 6 2 0


44 40 15 2 0


33 38 21 8 0


PupilsshowahighaffinitytowardsacademicS&Tsubjects.



Very interested, %



Disinterested, %




23 46 23 6


44 42 8 4


15 48 31 4


6 60 29 4



19 65 15 2


23 33 35 8

Ingeneral,pupilsareveryinterestedinS&Tactivities,exceptinwritingresearchreports.

217




% “Yes”

More S&T trips 96


Thereisalargeinterestinbothtripsandpracticalprojects.


Yes, %

Competitions 75

Experiments 92


Speakers 71

Trips 88

Assemblies 50

Displays 75

Experimentsandtripsarethemostinterestingactivities,butallofthemarehighlyscored.

I.3)VocationsinS&T



Yes, %

11.a Doctor 69

11.b Researcher 31

11.c Engineer 17

11.d Judge 27

11.e Lawyer 27


11.g Artist 19

11.h Journalist 15


11.j Teacher 8

11.k Politician 10

11.l Inventor 23

11.m Designer 27

11.n Other 38

“Doctor”isaninterestingcareerformostofthepupils.“Designer”isalsoconsideredbyamajorityofthem,“Researcher”,“Inventor”and“Designer”isfairlyscored,and“Engineer”and“Teacher”arelowscored.


218



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



12.c Friends 0 17 25 42 15

12.d Teachers 4 48 27 15 6


Ingeneral,pupilsperceivesomeinfluenceontheircareerchoicefromparents/guardiansandteachers.






7.b Radio 0 48 48



7.e Books 73 25 0



7.h DVDs 6 65 25

7.i Teachers 88 6 6




7.m Twitter 2 19 75


7.o Google 75 17 4


7.q Other 6 67 10

“TehachersarethepreferredreferenceforgettinginformationonS&T.

“Parents”,“books”and“Google”arealsoquiteused.“Television”islowscored.

219






17.c S&T fair 10 C


17.e S&T park 25 B

17.f S&T conference 21 B


%

Excellent 6

Very good 29

Good 46

Average 17

Poor 0

Almostahalfofthepupilsconsiderthemselves“good”inS&T.


GENDERINFLUENCE


I.1)PerceptionofS&T



– Ingeneral,femalepupilsperceivemoreusefulnessinalltheissues.


– MalepupilsconsiderS&Tmoreusefulforunderstandingourworldandcuringdiseases,butalsomorecomplicated.


– FemalepupilsconsiderpeopleworkinginS&Tmoregeniusandmorecompetitive.



220




– Femalepupilsareingeneralmoreinterestedingeneralissues.


– Female pupils show more interest towards Product design, male pupils show moreinteresttowardsElectronicsandPhysics.


– MalepupilsconsiderS&Tsubjectsmorecomplicated.





I.3)VocationsinS&T


– Ingeneral,malepupilsarelessinterestedinpursuingacareerrelatedwithS&T,exceptforcareersasengineerandinventor.







– Malepupilsevaluatethemselveshigher.

221





I.1)PerceptionofS&T



PerceptionofusefulnessofS&Tinsocialandpoliticalissuesisincreased.


– Ingeneral,perceptionoftheusefulnessofS&Tisabitreduced.









– InteresttowardsMathematicsandPhysicsisreduced.







222

– Ingeneral,interesttowardsactivitiesisabitreduced.

I.3)VocationsinS&T




– Ingeneral,perceptionofexternalinfluencesisreduced.





– Self-evaluationisabitreduced.

5.2.4.2 Conclusions

ROMANIA

UsefulnessoflearningS&Tisclearlyidentified,andthescoresofsuchstatementsincreaseforolderpupils.UsefulnessoflearningS&Tforvocationsismostscoredinallgroups,andforcommunicatingwithdifferentpeopleandforconsumerissuesisperceivedbyamajorityofthepupilstoo.

PupilshaveaverypositiveviewoftheusefulnessofS&Tforresolvingpracticalproblems(“Provideacomfortablelifestyle”,“Helpcurediseases”).PupilshavealsoapositiveviewontheusefulnessofS&Tinethicalissues.

AmajorityoftheyoungestgroupconsidersS&Tincreasinglycomplicated.

Pupils arequite influencedby stereotypes about peopleworking in S&T. “Typically old”,“creative”,“workinginalaboratory”,“hard-working”and“geniuses”areratheraccepted.

AlthoughvocationisconsideredasthemostimportantreasonforchoosingacareerinS&T,all thepracticalandprestigereasonsarevalued (“Earna lotofmoney”,“Opportunity totravel”).

PupilsclearlyperceivetheconnectionbetweenS&TandMathematicsintheyoungestandtheoldestgroups,andnotveryclearlyinthesecondgroup.

223


Pupilsareveryinterestedin“Medicineandhealth”,“Education”,S&Tand“Environment”.

Pupils show large interest inmany S&T subjects. The youngest group ismost interestedinBiology; the intermediategroup ishighly interested inBiology,ChemistryandProductdesign,whereastheoldestgroupismoreinterestedinBiology,Chemistry,MathematicsandPhysics.

PupilsshowlargeaffinitytowardsacademicS&Ttopics,especiallyS&Trelatedtospacetravel&theuniverseintheyoungestgroup,andsubjectsthatwillhelptoobtaintheirdesiredjobinthesecondandthirdgroup.

Ingeneral,pupilsareveryinterestedinS&Tactivities(“Comingupwithsolutionstoproblem-solving”,“Workingasamemberofaresearchteam”),exceptinwritingresearchreports.

AllthegroupsareinterestedinS&Ttrips.Theinterestinpracticalprojectsislimitedinthefirsttwogroupsanditishighintheoldestgroup.

Experiments and trips are themost interesting activities for about half of the youngestgroupandallthesecondandthirdgroup.

I.3)VocationsinS&T

“Designer” ishighlyscoredasfuturecareerforthepupils, inallgroups,especially intheyoungestone,and“Doctor”isveryinterestinginthesecondandthethirdtoo.“Researcher”,“Teacher”and“Engineer”aremedium/lowscored.

Pupils perceive some degree of influence on their career choice from external people,especiallyfromparents/guardians,andteacherstoointheoldestgroup.

“Google” is the most used method for getting information about S&T, and “Parents”,“Teachers”and“Television”arealsoquiteused.

Self-evaluationinS&Tisgood,amajorityconsiderthemselvesbetterthanaverage.

GENDER INFLUENCE

Ingeneral,intheyoungestgroupmalepupilshaveamorepositiveviewoftheusefulnessof S&T than femalepupils and seemtobealsomoreconcernedaboutethical issues. Inthesecondage-groupthosedifferencesdonotexistandinthethirdgroupfemalepupilsperceivemoreusefulnessinalltheissues.

MalepupilsoftheyoungestgrouparemoreinfluencedbythestereotypeconsideringpeopleworkinginS&Tas“typicallymen”,andtheyareabitmoreinfluencedinotherstereotypesinthesecondgrouptoo.Itchangesintheoldestgroup,wherefemalepupilsconsiderpeopleworkinginS&Tmoregeniusandmorecompetitive.


224

TherearesomedifferencesabouttheinterestinS&Tintheyoungestgroup.Forexample,male pupils show more interest towards S&T but female pupils show more interesttowardsmedicine/health.MalepupilsshowmoreinteresttowardsChemistry,Electronics,EngineeringandMathematics,althoughtheyconsiderS&Tmore“difficulttounderstand”.

Male pupils aremore interested in competitions and female pupils showmore interesttowardsexperimentsandspeakers.

ThisinteresttowardsS&Tchangesintheoldergroups.Thisway,malepupilsseemtobeabitlessinterestedinS&TsubjectsandactivitiesinthesecondgroupandmalepupilsconsiderS&Tsubjectsmorecomplicatedintheoldestgroup.Despitethat,malepupilsshowmoreinteresttowardsElectronicsandPhysicsthanfemalepupils.

Concerningvocations, ingeneralmalepupilsare less interestedpursuingcareers relatedwithS&T,exceptforacareerasengineer.

Malepupilsevaluatethemselveshigherintheyoungestandoldestgroups.


Therearenocleareffectsoftheactivities.

In theyoungestgroup, ingeneral thegroupdisplaysamorestereotypedviewofpeopleworkinginS&T,andinteresttowardsS&TandS&Tsubjectshasreducedaftertheactivities.

InthesecondgroupinteresttowardsMathematicsandpracticalprojectshasincreasedabit.

IntheoldestgroupperceptionofusefulnessofS&TinsocialandpoliticalissueshasincreasedbutingeneralperceptionoftheusefulnessofS&Tisabitreduced,andingeneralinteresttowardsactivitiesisabitreducedtoo.Inthisgrouptheperceptionofexternalinfluencesforvocationsandself-evaluationhasreducedabittoo.

SUMMARY

RomanianpupilsareamongtheoneshavingamorepositiveviewofS&T.TheyconsiderS&Tveryuseful,theyareinterestedinS&Trelatedissues,astheylikestudyingthecorrespondingacademic subjects. Interestingly, all this interest and affinity doesn’t imply higher scoreswhen asking about considering careers in S&T. Careers as researcher and teacher areparticularlylessconsidered.


225


5 .2 .4 Spain



13-14 y.o. 28








14-15 y.o. 9








16-17 y.o. 30

C1 Visit to RCFirst questionnaire,




C2 Visit to RCSecond questionnaire,



226


FIRST SURVEY: FEBRUARY 2012, ESO 2 (PUPILS 13-14 Y .O .)

SECOND SURVEY: FEBRUARY-MARCH 2013, ESO 3 (PUPILS 14-15 Y .O .)


I.1)PerceptionofS&T




% “Yes”








AlargegroupofpupilsperceivestheusefulnessofS&Tsubjectsforpracticalissues,exceptforopinionsonsocialandpoliticalitems,andforsensitivitytowardsotherpeople.




Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%


4 50 39 4 4




14 36 39 11 0




227


PupilsareratherundecidedaboutusefulnessofS&T:theyperceiveS&Tasthebestwaytounderstandourworld,buttheyalsoconsiderS&Tasincreasinglycomplicated.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



29 46 21 0 4


7 29 57 4 4


18 14 46 14 7


7 7 68 11 7


PupilsarealsoundecidedaboutethicalissuesconcerningS&T,andtheyconsiderthatS&Timplyapotentialrisk,asitcanbeinferredfromtheanswerstoquestion14.g.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%













Pupilsareratherundecidedabout“negative”stereotypes.TheyconsiderpeoplehavingacareerinS&T“creative”and“hard-working”.


228


% “True”







VocationisconsideredasimportantasotherpracticalreasonsforchoosingacareerinS&T.



% “Yes” % “No”

Mathematics 71 29






Very interested, %






6.c Movies 32 32 32 4


6.e Sports 57 36 7 0





6.j Politics 14 18 29 36


Pupils seem to be quite interested in “S&T”, “Education”, “Medicine and Health” and“Environment”,ascomparedtootherareas.

229




Very interested, %



Disinterested, %

8.a Biology 14 18 50 18

8.b Geology 14 21 43 21





8.g Physics 11 29 46 14



Pupils showmore interest in Engineering, Electronics,Mathematics, Product design andProductmanufacture.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



4 39 54 4 0



11 29 43 14 0

10.e I like S&T 7 43 21 18 7


7 4 39 39 11


11 21 39 14 14


18 39 18 14 11


Affinity towardsacademicS&Tsubjects is fair,manyquestions show“undecided”as themodeanswer.


230



Very interested, %



Disinterested, %




11 11 54 25


18 29 39 14


7 43 29 21


14 21 46 18



14 25 46 14


4 25 39 32

Ingeneral,pupilsshowlittleinteresttowardsS&Tactivities.



% “Yes”

More S&T trips 86


AmajorityofthepupilswantsmoreS&TtripsorS&Tprojects.


Yes, %

Competitions 11

Experiments 68


Speakers 4

Trips 54

Assemblies 14

Displays 36

Only“experiments”and“trips”areinterestingS&Tactivitiesforamajorityofthepupils.

231


I.3)VocationsinS&T



Yes, %

11.a Doctor 43

11.b Researcher 14

11.c Engineer 39

11.d Judge 7

11.e Lawyer 36


11.g Artist 36

11.h Journalist 46


11.j Teacher 50

11.k Politician 11

11.l Inventor 18

11.m Designer 57

11.n Other 57

“Designer”,“Teacher”,“Doctor”and“Engineer”arehighlyscoredasfuturecareersforthepupils.“Researcher”and“Inventor”scorelow.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



12.c Friends 4 14 18 50 14

12.d Teachers 0 11 21 39 29


Pupils perceive some degree of influence on their career choice from external people,especiallyfromparents/guardians




232




7.b Radio 11 71 18



7.e Books 11 68 18



7.h DVDs 18 43 39





7.m Twitter 7 14 79


7.o Google 61 25 14


7.q Other 29 54 18

“Television”,“Google”,and“YouTube”arethemostusedmethods,evenmorethan“Parents”and“Teachers”.





17.c S&T fair 11 C


17.e S&T park 25 B



%

Excellent 11

Very good 21

Good 54

Average 14

Poor 0

Amajorityofthepupilsconsiderthemselves“good”inS&T.

233





I.1)PerceptionofS&T



– Ingeneral,pupilsincontrolgroupseemtoperceivemoreusefulnessoftheS&Tacademicissues.




– VocationalreasonsforchoosingaS&Tcareerarehigherscoredbythecontrolgroup.





– Pupilsinthecontrolgrouparemoreinterestedin“Foodandconsumerissues”,“Movies”and“Famouspeople”,andlessinterestedin“Politicalissues”.








234



I.3)VocationsinS&T


– Pupilsofcontrolgroupshowlessinterestinpursuingcareersas“Doctor”,“Researcher”,“Engineer”and“Designer”.Only“Teacher”isalsoconsideredinterestingforthisgroup.









GENDERINFLUENCE


I.1)PerceptionofS&T



– Female pupils show more agreement with “S&T improve the understanding ofcommunicatingwithotherpeople”and“S&TimprovetheunderstandingofacareerinS&T”thanmalepupils.


– Male pupils seems to be more concerned about ethical questions related with S&T(higheragreementwithstatements14.g,14.jand14.l)thanfemalepupils.

235



– Ingeneral,malepupilsarequitemoreinfluencedbystereotypes.





– Female pupils show more interest towards art/culture, medicine/health and famouspeople.

– Male pupils show more interest towards food/consumer issues, sports, economy/business,environmentandpoliticalissues.









I.3)VocationsinS&T



– Malepupilsareabitmoreinterestedinpursuingcareersasresearcherandinventor.




236





– Femalepupilsscorethemselvesabithigherthanmalepupils.





I.1)PerceptionofS&T



Perception of agreement with usefulness of S&T in more “social” issues is increased(statements 9.b, 9.c, 9.e). For the control group, agreement with those statements isreduced.




– Ingeneral,stereotypesarelessacceptedbypupilsintheexperimentalgroup.Itdoesn’thappenforthecontrolgroup.

– PupilsconsidervocationalreasonsmoreimportantthanpracticalreasonsforchoosingaS&Tcareer.Inthecontrolgroup,vocationalreasonsarehighscored,butpracticalreasonsarealsoincreased.



237






– Interest towards Engineering andMathematics is reduced, whereas interest towardsBiologyisabitincreased.Inthecontrolgroup,interesttowardsMathematicsandPhysicsisreduced.




Norelevantchangesaredetected.Interestininstrumentalactivitiesisevenreducedinthecontrolgroup.


TheinteresttowardsS&Tcompetitions,speakers,tripsandassembliesisincreasedintheexperimentalgroup,butnotinthecontrolgroup.

I.3)VocationsinS&T




Pupilsperceivelessexternalinfluencesintheircareerchoice,bothintheexperimentalandinthecontrolgroup.







238

SPAIN

FIRST SURVEY: FEBRUARY 2012, ESO 3 (PUPILS 14-15 Y .O .)

SECOND SURVEY: FEBRUARY-MARCH 2013, ESO 4 (PUPILS 15-16 Y .O .)


I.1)PerceptionofS&T




% “Yes”








MostpupilsperceiveusefulnessofS&Tforchoosingacareerinthefuture,andforsolvingproblemsindailylife.Fortherest,pupilsjustperceiveafairusefulness.




Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%


0 78 11 11 0




0 33 67 0 0




239


PupilsconsiderS&Tusefulforunderstandingourworldandcuringdiseases,buttheyalsothinkthatS&Tareincreasinglycomplicated.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



44 44 11 0 0


0 33 67 0 0


22 11 33 33 0


11 11 56 22 0


SomeconcernsaboutdangerofS&Taredisplayed,althoughS&Tareconsideredbeneficialtosociety.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%













Negative stereotypes are mostly rejected. People working in S&T are considered hard-working.


240


% “True”







VocationandprestigeareconsideredthemainreasonsforchoosingacareerinS&T.



% “Yes” % “No”

Mathematics 78 11






Very interested, %






6.c Movies 67 22 11 0


6.e Sports 44 33 11 11





6.j Politics 11 0 56 33


Pupils seem to be quite interested in “S&T”, “Education”, “Medicine and Health” and“Environment”,ascomparedtootherareas.

241




Very interested, %



Disinterested, %

8.a Biology 11 56 11 11

8.b Geology 11 56 11 22





8.g Physics 22 44 33 0



PupilsshowmoreinterestinEngineeringandChemistry.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



44 33 11 0 11



11 11 56 22 0

10.e I like S&T 44 22 11 11 0


11 33 44 0 11


33 11 33 11 11


11 22 44 11 11


PupilslikeS&Tandconsidersuchsubjectsratherfun,andnotverydifficult.


242



Very interested, %



Disinterested, %




0 22 33 44


0 44 33 22


11 56 11 22


11 56 22 11



67 11 22 0


11 33 33 22

Pupilsareveryinterestedinresearchprojectsandteamwork.



% “Yes”

More S&T trips 100


MostpupilswantmoreS&TtripsandS&Tprojects.


Yes, %

Competitions 11

Experiments 89


Speakers 56

Trips 67

Assemblies 33

Displays 33

“Experiments”,“Researchprojects”,“Trips”and“Speakers”areinterestingS&Tactivitiesforamajorityofthepupils.

243


I.3)VocationsinS&T



Yes, %

11.a Doctor 44

11.b Researcher 33

11.c Engineer 33

11.d Judge 0

11.e Lawyer 33


11.g Artist 56

11.h Journalist 11


11.j Teacher 33

11.k Politician 0

11.l Inventor 22

11.m Designer 33

11.n Other 67

“Doctor”,“Researcher”,“Engineer”,“Teacher”and“Designer”arefairlyinterestingasfuturecareersforthepupils.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



12.c Friends 11 11 11 33 33

12.d Teachers 22 11 11 22 33


Pupils perceive some degree of influence on their career choice from external people,especiallyfromparents/guardiansandteachers.


244






7.b Radio 0 67 33


7.d Magazines 22 78 07.e Books 22 67 11



7.h DVDs 22 56 22

7.i Teachers 78 22 07.j Parent/guardian 22 67 11



7.m Twitter 22 0 78


7.o Google 22 67 11


7.q Other 11 56 22

“Teachers”arebyfarthemostusedmethodforgettinginformationonS&T.





17.c S&T fair 11 C


17.e S&T park 33 B

17.f S&T conference 33 B


%

Excellent 0

Very good 22

Good 44

Average 22

Poor 11

Theself-evaluationofthegroupisratherlow.

245





I.1)PerceptionofS&T



– PupilsincontrolgroupperceivemoreusefulnessoftheS&Tacademicissuesforbeingamoreresponsibleconsumerandforcommunicatingwithdifferentpeople.


– Pupils in control groupconsider S&Tmoreuseful forprovidinguswitha comfortablelifestyleandformakingfriends.


– Ingeneral,pupilsincontrolgrouparemoreinfluencedbythestereotypes.







– Pupils in control group are less interested in “Chemistry” and “Physics”, and moreinterestedin“Productdesign”and“Productmanufacture”


– PupilsincontrolgroupconsiderS&Tsubjectsmoreboringandlessinterestingthanpupilsintheexperimentalgroup.


246


– Pupilsincontrolgrouparelessinterestedindoingresearchprojectsandinteamwork,butmoreinterestedincomingupwithsolutionstoproblemproblem-solving.


– PupilsincontrolgrouparelessinterestedinresearchprojectsandinS&Tspeakers.

I.3)VocationsinS&T


– Pupilsofcontrolgroupshowlessinterestinpursuingcareersas“Doctor”,“Researcher”and“Designer”.“Engineer”and“Teacher”keepasfairlyinterestingforthisgroup.


– Pupilsincontrolgroupperceivemoreexternalinfluenceintheircareerchoice.



– PupilsincontrolgroupobtainlesS&Tinformationfromteachers,andmorefromGoogle.




GENDERINFLUENCE






247


I.1)PerceptionofS&T



– Norelevantchangesaredetected for theexperimentalgroup.For thecontrolone, ingeneralperceptionoftheusefulnessoftheS&Tacademicsubjectsisreduced.


– Thelevelofagreementwiththestatement“S&Tareharmfultoourhealth”isincreased.Itissoalsoforthecontrolgroup.


– Although stereotypesstereotypeare still rejectedbymanypupils, theyareabitmoreacceptedbytheexperimentalgroup.Itdoesn’thappeninthecontrolgroup.


– PerceptionoftheconnectionbetweenS&Tandothersubjectsisreduced.



– Interesttowardsgeneralissues,includingthoserelatedwithS&T,isreduced,bothintheexperimentalgroupandinthecontrolone.


– Interest towards Chemistry, Engineering and Physics is reduced in the experimentalgroup.Inthecontrolgroup,interesttowardsalltheS&Tsubjectsisreduced,exceptforEngineeringandProductdesign.


– Fortheexperimentalgroup,norelevantchangesarefound.AffinitytowardsS&Tsubjectsisabitreducedinthecontrolgroup.


Interest inall the instrumentalactivities is reduced intheexperimentalgroup. Itdoesn’thappeninthecontrolgroup.


248


– Ingeneral,theinteresttowardsS&Tactivitiesisreducedintheexperimentalgroup.Inthecontrolgroup,onlytheinteresttowardsS&Texperimentsisclearlyreduced.

I.3)VocationsinS&T


ForcareersrelatedwithS&T,norelevantchangesinvocationsaredetected.


– Norelevantchangesinvocationsaredetected






249


SPAIN

FIRST SURVEY: FEBRUARY 2012, BAC 1 (PUPILS 16-17 Y .O .)

SECOND SURVEY: FEBRUARY-MARCH 2013, BAC 1 (PUPILS 17-18 Y .O .)


I.1)PerceptionofS&T




% “Yes”








AmajorityofpupilsconsiderS&Tsubjectsuseful,exceptfor“social”issues(9.e,9.band9.c)




Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%


17 33 50 0 0




20 60 17 3 0





250

Pupilshave, ingeneral,aquitepositiveviewof theusefulnessofS&T,but theyconsiderthemincreasinglycomplicated.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



37 40 13 0 7


7 47 37 7 0


17 20 47 7 7


17 13 47 17 7


PupilsconsiderS&Tasbeneficial,buttheyareconcernedabouttheirrisks.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%













Stereotypesarenotcompletelyrejected.PupilsconsiderpeopleworkinginS&Tascreativeandhard-working.

251



% “True”







VocationandprestigeareconsideredthemainreasonsforchoosingacareerinS&T.



% “Yes” % “No”

Mathematics 77 20


PupilsperceivejustafairconnectionbetweenS&Tandothersubjects.




Very interested, %






6.c Movies 17 40 23 20


6.e Sports 47 17 23 13





6.j Politics 7 27 40 27


PupilsshowlargeinterestinS&TandMedicine/health,andtheyarealsoquiteinterestedinEducationandEnvironment.


252



Very interested, %



Disinterested, %

8.a Biology 23 37 17 23

8.b Geology 7 23 33 37





8.g Physics 47 33 17 3



Pupils show large interest in Chemistry and Physics; they are also quite interested inEngineering,Mathematics,Productdesign,BiologyandElectronics.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



53 33 13 0 0



3 23 30 30 13

10.e I like S&T 43 53 3 0 0


27 40 27 3 0


33 17 20 17 10


23 20 23 27 7


PupilslikeS&Tandconsidersuchsubjectsfun,interesting,andnotverydifficult.

253




Very interested, %



Disinterested, %




17 20 47 13


23 53 23 0


20 53 13 7


23 37 23 13



47 20 23 10


10 30 37 20

Doing research projects, team working, and some of their instrumental activities areconsideredinteresting,butpupilsdon’tlikecollectingdataandpresenting.



% “Yes”

More S&T trips 97


MostpupilswantmoreS&TtripsandS&Tprojects.


Yes, %

Competitions 23

Experiments 70


Speakers 20

Trips 57

Assemblies 13

Displays 23

“Experiments”,“Researchprojects”and“Trips”areinterestingS&Tactivitiesforamajorityofthepupils.


254

I.3)VocationsinS&T



Yes, %

11.a Doctor 37

11.b Researcher 37

11.c Engineer 57

11.d Judge 0

11.e Lawyer 13


11.g Artist 23

11.h Journalist 13


11.j Teacher 47

11.k Politician 3

11.l Inventor 37

11.m Designer 37

11.n Other 53

Pupils are very interested in a career as “Engineer”. “Teacher, “Doctor”, “Researcher”,“inventor”and“Designer”arealsoconsideredinterestingasfuturecareersforthepupils.



Strongly agree, %

Agree, %Undecided,

%Disagree,

%

Strongly disagree,

%



12.c Friends 0 0 20 43 37

12.d Teachers 10 10 37 23 20


Pupils perceive relevant influence on their career choice from parents/guardians andteachers.

255







7.b Radio 7 37 57



7.e Books 10 67 23



7.h DVDs 10 43 47





7.m Twitter 7 17 77


7.o Google 43 53 3


7.q Other 10 70 17

“Google”isthemostusedmethodforgettinginformationonS&T,“Teachers”,“Parents”and“YouTube”arealsoquiteused.





17.c S&T fair 3 C


17.e S&T park 17 B



%

Excellent 10

Very good 37

Good 43

Average 10

Poor 0


256

The self-evaluationof thegroup is ratherhigh, amajorityofpupils consider themselves“Excellent”of“Verygood”inS&T.




I.1)PerceptionofS&T












– Pupilsincontrolgrouparelessinterestedinfood/consumerissues,economyandpolitics,buttherearenodifferencesinS&Trelevantissues.


– Pupilsincontrolgrouparelessinterestedin“Chemistry”and“Physics”.


– PupilsincontrolgroupconsiderS&Tsubjectsmoreboring,moredifficultandlesslikeable.

257



– Ingeneral,pupilsincontrolgrouparelessinterestedinthiskindofactivities.



I.3)VocationsinS&T




– Pupilsincontrolgroupperceivemoreexternalinfluenceintheircareerchoice.







GENDERINFLUENCE


I.1)PerceptionofS&T



– Femalepupils perceivemoreusefulnessof S&T subjects in issues relatedwith family,problemsofthedailylife,andconsumers.MalepupilsperceivemoreusefulnessofS&Tsubjectsinsocialandpoliticalissues,andincommunicatingwithotherpeople.


258


– Malepupilsshowamorepositiveview,astheyconsiderS&Tasthebestwaytounderstandtheworldandtomakelifeenjoyable,andtheyarelessconcernedaboutrisksofS&T.


– Ingeneral,malepupilsarequitemoreinfluencedbystereotypes.

– FemalepupilsconsiderthatreasonsotherthanvocationarenotrelevantforchoosingaS&Tcareer.


– FemalepupilsperceiveevenlowerconnectionbetweenS&Tandothersubjects.



– Female pupils show more interest towards movies, education, medicine/health andfamouspeople.

– Malepupilsshowmoreinteresttowardssports,economy/businessandpoliticalissues.


– Femalepupilsshowmoreinterestin“Biology”and“Chemistry”.

– Malepupilsshowmoreinteresttowards“Geology”,“Electronics”,Engineering”,“Physics”,“Productdesign”and“Productmanufacture”.


– Femalepupilsaremoreinterestedinsubjectsrelatedtohealth.

– MalepupilsaremoreinterestedinsubjectsrelatedtospacetravelandlawsofS&T.


– Ingeneral,malepupilsaremoreinterestedininstrumentalactivities.


– Femalepupilsarenotinterestedatallincompetitions,speakers,assembliesanddisplays,butaremoreinterestedthanmalepupilsinexperiments,researchprojectsandtrips.

259


I.3)VocationsinS&T


– Femalepupilsaremoreinterestedinpursuingcareersasdoctorandjournalist.

– Malepupilsareabitmoreinterestedinpursuingcareersasresearcher,engineer,sportsperson,artist,businessperson,inventoranddesigner.


– Femalepupilsperceivelessexternalinfluenceintheircareerchoice.










I.1)PerceptionofS&T







260


– Although stereotypesstereotypeare still rejectedbymanypupils, theyareabitmoreacceptedbytheexperimentalgroup.Itdoesn’thappeninthecontrolgroup.





– InteresttowardsS&Tisabitreduced.Itdoesn’thappeninthecontrolgroup.


– InteresttowardsChemistryandPhysics isreduced,both,both intheexperimentalandthecontrolgroups.


– MorepupilsconsiderS&Tas“boring”,bothintheexperimentalandinthecontrolgroup.





I.3)VocationsinS&T


Norelevantchangesinvocationsaredetected.


Perception of external influence is a bit increased in the experimental group, and a bitreducedinthecontrolgroup.

261







5.2.5.2 Conclusions

SPAIN

PERCEPTION OF S&T

Amajority of pupils perceive usefulness of learning about S&T for choosing a career inScienceorTechnologyinthefuture.Theyconsiderthemusefulforsolvingproblemsindailylifeandtobeamoreresponsibleconsumertoo.

PupilshaveaquitepositiveviewoftheusefulnessofS&Tingeneral(“Best way to understand the world”,“help cure diseases”,“Provide comfortable lifestyle”),buttheyconsiderthemincreasinglycomplicatedtoo.PupilsarealsoundecidedaboutethicalissuesconcerningS&T,andtheyassumethatS&Tcouldimplyapotentialrisk.

Stereotypes about S&Tand scientists arenot completely rejected; they consider peoplehaving a career in S&T “creative” and “hard-working”. Vocation is considered themainreasonforchoosingacareerinS&T,especiallyinthesecondandthirdage-group.

PupilsperceivetheconnectionbetweentheS&Ttechnologyandothersubjects.

INTEREST TOWARDS S&T

ThereisanevolutionoftheinteresttowardsS&T.TheyoungestgroupisquiteinterestedinS&Tissues.Thesecondgroupismoreinterestedandtheyareinterestedin“Education”and“MedicineandHealth”and“Environment”too.TheoldestgroupshowslargeinterestinS&Tand“MedicineandHealth”.

ConcerningS&Tsubjects,theyoungestgroupshowsinterestinEngineering,ElectronicsandMathematics.ThesecondgroupismoreinterestinEngineeringandChemistry.Finally,theoldestgroupisveryinterestedinChemistryandPhysics,andtheyarealsoquiteinterestedinmanyothersubjects.

AffinitytowardsacademicS&Tsubjectsisfairintheyoungestgroupanditincreasesinthenextgroups.Theyoungestaremore interested inspacetravelandtheuniverse,andthe


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oldestthinkthatstudyingS&Tsubjectswillhelptoobtaintheirdesiredjob,buttheyalsoconsiderS&Tsubjects“fun”and“interesting”.

AmajorityofthepupilswantsmoreS&Ttripsandexperiments.Thesecondandthirdgroupaskformoreresearchprojects,too.Thereisafairinteresttowardsdoingresearchprojectsandthecorrespondinginstrumentalactivitiesthatincreasesfortheoldestgroups.

“Designer”, “Teacher”, “Doctor” and “Engineer” are highly scored as future careers forthepupils.“Researcher”scoreslowinthefirstgroupandhighintheoldergroups.Pupilsperceivesomedegreeofinfluenceontheircareerchoicefromexternalpeople,especiallyfromteachersandparents/guardians.

The most used methods for getting information about S&T are “Television”, “Google”,“YouTube”,“Parents”and“Teachers”.

Theself-evaluationishighintheyoungestandoldestgroup,andlowerinthesecondgroup.

GENDER INFLUENCE

PERCEPTION

The number of the questionnaires in the second age-group is small and no relevantconclusionscanbeobtained.

Resultsshowsomesmalldifferencesformaleandfemalepupilsintheyoungestandoldestgroups,forexample,malepupilsarequitemoreinfluencedbystereotypes.

Anotherdifferenceisthatmalepupilsoftheyoungestgroupseemtobemoreconcernedabout ethical questions related with S&T (“Used properly to avoid danger”, “S&T areconcernedwith the needs of people” and “S&Tpresents serious risks to theworld”). Itchangesinthethirdgroup,malepupilsarelessconcernedaboutrisksofS&Tthanfemalepupils.

Femalepupilsof theyoungestgroupshowmoreagreement thanmalepupilswith“S&Timprove theunderstandingofcommunicatingwithotherpeople”and“S&T improve theunderstandingofacareerinS&T”.FemalepupilsoftheoldestgroupperceiveevenlowerconnectionbetweenS&Tandothersubjects.

InteresttowardsS&T

Femalepupilsshowmoreinteresttowardsmedicine/healthandfamouspeople,andmalepupilsshowmoreinteresttowardssports,economy/businessandpoliticalissues.

Therearebiggerdifferencesintheoldestgroupaboutthistopic.

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Femalepupilsshowmoreinterestin“Biology”and“Chemistry”,andtheyaremoreinterestedinsubjectsrelatedtohealth.Femalepupilsarenotinterestedatallincompetitions,speakers,assembliesanddisplays,butaremoreinterestedthanmalepupilsinexperiments,researchprojectsandtrips.

Malepupilsshowmoreinteresttowards“Geology”,“Electronics”,Engineering”,“Physics”,“Product design” and “Productmanufacture”, and they aremore interested in subjectsrelatedtospacetravelandlawsofS&T.

Whenpupilsareaskedaboutresearchactivities,ingeneralmalepupilsaremoreinterestedininstrumentalactivitiesthanfemalepupils.

VocationsinS&T

Femalepupilsaremore interested inpursuingacareerasdesigner in theyoungest,anddoctorandjournalistintheoldestgroup.Malepupilsareabitmoreinterestedinpursuingcareersasresearcherandinventorintheyoungest,andresearcher,engineer,inventoranddesignerintheoldestgroup.

Femalepupilsscorethemselvesabithigherthanmalepupilsinthefirstgroupbuttherearenotcleardifferencesintheoldergroups.Thosefemalepupilsoftheoldestgroupsperceivelessexternalinfluenceintheircareerchoice.


Afterthe“Stimula”activitiesthelevelofagreementwiththestatement“S&Tareharmfultoourhealth”increasedinallthegroups.Thistendencyisalsoobservedinthecontrolgroupsandcomparingtheage-groupsinthefirstsurvey.

Intheyoungestgroupstereotypesare lessacceptedbypupils intheexperimentalgroupaftertheactivity,andtherearenotchangesinthecontrolgroup.Inthesecondandthirdgroupalthoughstereotypearestillrejectedbymanypupils,theyareabitmoreacceptedbytheexperimentalgroup,andtherearenochangesinthecontrolgroup.

Interest towards S&T has not changed in the youngest group, it has decreased in thesecondgroupforbothexperimentalandcontrolgroups,andithasdecreasedabitintheexperimentalgroupbutnotinthecontrolgroupoftheoldestgroup.

InterestinS&Tsubjectsandinstrumentalactivitieshavenotchangedorhavebeendecreasedinallthesubjectsofallthecontrolandexperimentalgroups.

IntheexperimentalgroupoftheyoungestpupilsinterestinBiologyhasincreasedabit,andtheinteresttowardsS&Tcompetitions,speakers,tripsandassemblieshasincreased.Therearenochangesinthecontrolgroup.


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Norelevantchangeshavebeendetectedinvocations,onlyasmallchangeintheperceptionoftheexternalinfluence.

SUMMARY

The youngest pupils of the Spanish groups are just fairly interested in S&T issues, buttheinterest increases intheoldergroups.ThistendencyisreflectedintheperceptionoftheusefulnessofS&T, interest towardsbothS&T issuesandacademicS&Tsubjectsandactivities,andaffinitytoS&T.Careersasteacher,doctorordesignerareconsideredbymanyofthem,andalsocareersasresearcherorengineerareconsideredbymanypupilsintheoldestgroup.They feel themselves rather influencedbyothers for choosing their futurecareers.


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6 OVERALL CONCLUSIONS

TheresultsobtainedfromthesurveysoftheSTIMULAProjectreflectperceptions,interestandvocationsinrelationwithS&TofseverallocalgroupsfromtheBasqueCountry(SpainandFrance),Germany,NorthernIreland(UK),andRomania.Differencesrelatedtolanguage,culturalbackground,academiccurriculaandothersareevident.Wedonotconsiderthatthegroupsarerepresentativeoflocal,regionalornationalpopulations.

Nevertheless,we could describe our results as rather homogeneous, indicating that theviewof S&Tbypupils in secondary schools inwithinEuropecould showsomecommonpoints.Thus,wewillstarttheseconclusionsbydescribingthe“generalview”aboutS&TofEuropeansecondaryschoolpupilsthatcanbeinferredfromourresults.

GENERAL VIEW

Perception of usefulness of learning about S&T subjects is quite positive. Amajority ofpupilsconsiderthemusefulespeciallyforchoosingacareerinScienceandTechnologyinthe futureaswellas solvingdailyproblemsorbeing responsibleconsumers.The lowestscoresarerelatedwith“socialskills”ascommunicatingwithotherpeopleorbeingmoresensitivetowardsotherpeople.Theydon’tseemtoperceivethelinkbetweentheacademictechnologysubjectsandthecommunication.

In general, pupils perceive that S&T is the best way for understanding our world andprovidingcomfortandwelfare.Itisalsoevidentthattheydon’thaveanidealizedviewofS&T,astheyareconcernedabouttheirrisks.Ontheotherhand, inmanycasestheyareconvincedthatS&Tareincreasinglycomplicated.

AlthoughmanytypicalstereotypesaboutpeopleworkinginS&T(“men”,“boring”,“strange”)are rejected, someof themarestill in somesenseaccepted.Someof thesestereotypescould be considered “positive” (people working in S&T are considered “hard-working”,“creative”,sometimes“addictedtowork”),butthisreflectsaviewofS&Tcareersthatcaninfluencetheconsiderationof thepupils forchoosingacareer inS&T,aswewilldiscusslater.Infact,almostallthepupilsconsidervocationalreasonsasthemainonestochooseaS&Tcareer,althoughotherreasons,asprestige,oreventhepossibilityofearningalotofmoney,arealsoconsidered.

Sometimesithasbeenassumedthatsecondaryschoolpupils’interesttowardsS&Tislow,andeducationalprogramsusuallydeclaretobedevotedtoimprovethisinterest.However,oursurveyresultsdon’tsupportthisidea.PupilsarebothinterestedinS&Trelatedissuesin their lifeand in studyingS&Tsubjects.S&Trelatedsubjectsareconsidered“fun”and“interesting”bymanyofthem.PupilslikeS&Tschoolactivitiesasexperiments(thisactivity


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was high scored by almost all the groups in the surveys), projects and trips. Others ascompetitionsorspeakersareusuallyinterestingjustforaminority.

ItisworthnotingthatmuchinformationaboutS&Tcomestothepupilsbytheacademicenvironment (lectures, activities…), but S&T issues arise also in their daily lives throughdifferentmediatoo.Althoughpupilsusuallygetinformationfromteachersandparentsaboutthoseitems,manyofthemgetthatkindofinformationfromtelevision,GoogleandYouTubetoo.Itshouldbenotedthatinformationcomingfromtelevisionisnot“ondemanding”,asitcouldbetheinformationobtainedthroughasearchinGoogleoraquestiontoateacher.PupilsliveinaworldveryinfluencedbyS&T,informationisveryaccessibleandiscomingtothemindifferentwaysandformats.

As far as vocations are concerned, there is an important dispersion between groups ofdifferentregionsandages.Ingeneral,interesttowardscareersasresearcherorteacherisjustmedium/low.Interesttowardscareersasdoctor,engineerordesignerismedium.TheseresultsimplythattheratherlargeinterestofpupilsinS&TissuesandinstudyingS&Tsubjecthasjustalimitedinfluencewhenpupilsconsidertheirfuturecareers.

GENDER CONSIDERATIONS

Ingeneral,thegenderinfluenceissmall,andperceptions,interestandvocationsrelatedwithS&Tofmaleandfemalepupilsareveryhomogeneous.Genderdifferencesarecomparablewithdifferencesbetweenexperimentalandcontrolgroupforagivenplaceandage,andarenot systematic.Anyway thereare somedifferences, forexample femalepupils showmore interest towards issues relatedwithart/cultureandhealth, towards thebiologyasanacademicsubject,andlessinteresttowardsElectronicsandEngineering.Femalepupilsconsidermoreoftenacareerasteachertoo,butthesetendenciesaresmallandformanygroupsdon’tapply.Theprevious“generalview”properlydescribesbothmaleandfemalepupils.

EFFECT OF THE STIMULA ACTIVITIES

Foralltheregions,alltheactivitiesandalltheages,theeffectsoftheSTIMULAactivitiesonthesurveyresultsareminororirrelevanttoimprovetheperceptionorincreasetheinterestand vocations of S&T. This (apparently) “negative” result could seem surprising or evendisappointing. Fromourpointof view, thereare several factors contributing to considertheseresultsaslogicalinsomesenseandtoobtainnotsonegativeconclusionsfromthem.

Oneofthefactorscanbethedurationoftheactivities, justoneday-long insomecases,andnotmorethanafewdaysintherestofthem.Fromtheresultswecanconcludethataone-timeactivityhasnotaclearinfluenceintheperception,interestandvocations,andlong-termactivitiescouldbemoreinterestinginanyofthem.

Besidesandaswediscussedabove,S&Tispresentinmanyaspectofthepupils’life,andtheadditionalschoolactivities(inS&Torothersubjects)arenotrare.WethinkthatthepositiveperceptionandtheinteresttowardsS&Tofthepupilscomefromacombinationof

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theacademicsubjects,additionalactivitiesandexternalinformation.S&Tissuesarequiteattractiveandpupilsjustneedtheopportunitytoparticipateinthem.Inthissense,eachcontactwithS&TissuesgivespupilsawiderperspectiveofS&T,fromthestudyofformallawstoanamazingTVdocumentary.ItwillbeanerrortoconsiderthatadditionalS&TschoolactivitiesarenotnecessaryjustbecausethereisnotameasurableincreaseoftheinterestinS&Taftertheseactivities,whenthisinterestalreadywashigh.Additionalactivitiesallowpupilsdeveloping instrumentalskillsandfilling thegap fromformal lectures torealS&T.Thus,theyareconvenientfromapedagogicalpointofview.ConcerningtheinfluenceoftheS&Tschoolactivitiesonvocations,wewilldiscussthispointlater.

LOCAL CONSIDERATIONS

Somesystematicdifferencesbetweengroupsfromdifferentplacesaredetected.Wewanttoemphasizethatwedon’tconsiderthestudygroupsasrepresentativeofanylocal,regionalornationalarea.Whenwereferto“French”or“German”groupswearejustusingthelocalreferencetoidentifyourstudygroupwithoutanyfurtherassumption.

In general, pupils fromNorthern Ireland andRomaniawere themost interested in S&T,S&TsubjectsandS&Tactivities.PupilsfromSpainandGermanydisplayedabitlessinteresttowardsS&T,andPupilsfromFrancewereevenlessinterested.Besidesthat,pupilsfromGermanydisplayedlessinteresttowardsadditionalS&Tschoolactivities(perhapsbecausetheyareusedtosuchactivities).

There is a pretty nice correlation between interest towards S&T and perception of theusefulnessofS&T.Pupils fromRomaniaandNorthern IrelandperceivedmoreusefulnessofS&T.

Ontheotherhand,ahigherinterestinS&Tdoesn’timplymorepupilsconsideringfuturecareers in S&T. Consideration of S&T related careerswere similar for the different localgroups,andinsomecases(forinstance,inRomania),pupilsareveryinterestedinS&Tbutjustafewconsideredpursuingcareersasteacherorresearcher.Theseresultsmightseemsurprisingandrequireafurtherdiscussion.

VOCATIONS IN S&T

Aswehavedescribedduringtheseconclusions,pupilsshowaratherhighinteresttowardsS&TandhaveapositiveperceptionofS&Tissues,butconsiderationaboutpursuingacareersrelatedwithS&Tislimitedand,infact,moreinterestdoesn’timplymorevocations.Asmanyreportsandstudiesare indicatingthatEuropeshouldneedmorepeoplewithdegrees inS&Tareas,someevidentquestionsarise:Whymore interestseemsnottobeconnectedwithmorevocations?Canadditionalschoolactivitiescontributetoincreasevocations?Ifitisso,how?

Of course, these are very complexquestions, andwedon’t think thatourproject couldobtain“therightanswers”tothem(eveniftheseanswersreallyexist).Butwethinkthatsomeusefulideascanbedraftfromoursurveys.


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PupilsseeS&Tsubjectsasinteresting,evenfun,butcomplicated;theythinkthatacareerinS&Tmustbeveryvocational,asitrequiresbeinghard-working,creative,evencompetitive,andthatcouldscarethemoff.Itcouldbeinterestingtomakeanapproachwiththepupilstoarealisticvisionofthisdifficultyandtheself-perceptionofthecapabilitiesofthem.

Additionally,pupilsalreadyhaveapositiveviewofS&T.Ouractivitiesmustbeorientedtokeepthisinterestaliveinpupils,butmaybetheactivitiesshouldnotbeaimedto“improve”the interest towardsS&T,as italreadyexistsandthere ismuch informationabout theseissuescomingtopupilsfromoutoftheschool.

This could be described as the “environment” where secondary school pupils have toconsider their post-Secondary studies in order to pursuing a career. We think that ourresultsindicatethat,eveninagroupwithhighinterestinS&T,onlyaminorityofpupilswillhaveavocationasresearcher,designerordoctor.Thesefewpupilssurelywillfollowpost-SecondarystudiesrelatedwithS&T.butwhatabouttherest?TheyarepupilsinterestedinS&Tbuttheydon’thave(still)avocationforacareerinthisarea.Theymightdevelopthisvocationlater,but itwillonlyoccur if theykeepstudyingS&Trelatedsubjects.However,forthemomentthis isnottheiroption,andthesepupilsarereceivingthemessagethatstudyingS&TwillonlybeusefulfordevelopingacareerinS&T.Then,theyrejectthisoption.

ThismessageisreinforcedbymanyadditionalS&Tschoolactivities:whenaspeakercomestotheschool,orwhenthegroupisvisitingaCompanyoralaboratory,pupilsseepeoplethathadavocationinS&TanddevelopedacareerinS&T.Thesepeoplearealwaystalkingabouthownicetheircareersare,andhowtheylikeworkinghardinthem.Thisisapositivemessage,butitisonlyusefulforpupilstodevelopanS&Tvocation.

Besides, thismessage is not the picture of the real situation.Only a part (sometimes aminority)ofpeoplewithadegreeinS&Tactuallydevelopsacareerintheseareas.ButtherestoftheS&Tgraduatesusetohavesuccessfulcareersaswell,becausenowadayspost-SecondarystudiesinS&Tareasareaverynicegeneralpreparationforanyjob.Manypeopleworkinginabank,orinbusiness,haveadegreeinS&T.Andusuallytheydon’tgivetheirvisiontothepupilsduringtheS&Tschoolactivities.

PerhapstheadditionalS&TschoolactivitiesshouldincludeawiderviewofS&Tsubjectsasoneofthebestwaystobeprepared,notonlyforS&Tcareers,butforanycareerinaworldthatisincreasinglydependingonS&T.Inthisway,theseactivitieswouldstimulatevocationstowardsacareerinS&Tbuttheyalsowouldcontributetoincreasethenumberofpupilsconsideringpost-Secondarystudies relatedwithS&T,whichcould foster“late”vocationsandincreasetheaveragelevelofthepopulationinS&Tissues.

Stimulating Science and Technology competences through … · 2013-09-23 · • Take schools to...

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