Open AccessIn- and out-of-school activities and their influence on attitudes and expectations regarding science and technology
Author(s) -
Anna Engel,
Antonio Membrive,
María José Rochera,
César Coll
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
revista electrónica de investigación psicoeducativa y psicopedagógica/revista de investigación psicoeducativa
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.256
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1699-5880
pISSN - 1696-2095
DOI - 10.25115/ejrep.v16i46.2238
Subject(s) - preference , socioeconomic status , perception , context (archaeology) , psychology , sample (material) , test (biology) , social psychology , science education , sociocultural evolution , developmental psychology , demography , pedagogy , population , sociology , geography , paleontology , chemistry , archaeology , chromatography , neuroscience , economics , biology , microeconomics , anthropology
Introduction. Interest in understanding the decline in positive attitudes to science and technology (S&T) among children and young people has led to numerous studies in recent years. Some research has focused on how personal characteristics of children and young people and other demographic and sociocultural factors influence the development of these attitudes, while other studies have centred on activities in which they participate that provide learning opportunities. In both cases, further research is required to determine how children and adolescents perceive S&T, and how this perception is associated with their expectations of working in science in the future. In this context, the aim of this study was to examine whether student’s preference for taking part in S&T-related activities in- and out-of-school was related to their attitudes towards science and scientists and their future professional aspirations.Method. We administered a survey to 1,336 students aged 10, 13 and 16 years. The frequencies and corresponding percentages were calculated with respect to the total for the sample, and according to the factors (regional location, socioeconomic status, age and gender) that were considered. The Pearson’s chi-squared test was used to seek significant differences among the two populations of each factor.Results. The results showed that the greater the students’ preference for participating in S&Trelated activities, the more value they attributed to science work to improve people’s quality of life. Future professional expectations were associated to a greater extent with a preference for taking S&T-related subjects at school than with participation in S&T-related activities outside school.Discussion and Conclusion. We discuss the need to analyse in depth the characteristics of these activities and what children and young people learn from participating in them, in order to define strategies that increase motivation and interest in learning about S&T and improving its teaching.