Effect of Embedded Careers Education in Science Lessons on Students’ Interest, Awareness, and Aspirations

In the last decades, secondary school students have indicated a low interest in science and a lack of awareness of authentic science careers that may impede their aspiration to work in science-related fields in future. To raise students’ aspirations, several studies used context-based approaches, but few integrated career aspects into the school curricula. Accordingly, this study aimed to promote lower secondary school students’ interest in and awareness of science careers by introducing science career-related scenarios reflected in a real-world context as embedded careers education in science lessons. In this study, we explored the effect of the interventions on students’ interest, awareness, and aspirations towards science careers using Estonian, Finnish, and German datasets. According to the results, the students participating in the project indicated a higher interest in science, aspiration towards science careers, and awareness of future careers than those who did not experience the embedded science career interventions. Also, the results showed that when students got more information about science careers at school, their interest in science was more easily transferred to their aspirations in science studies and careers. Thus, this result emphasizes the importance of fostering awareness of science careers at lower secondary schools in order to inspire young learners to engage in science studies and works in future.

The colours of the Higgs boson: a study in creativity and science motivation among high-school students in Italy

With the increasing shift from STEM to STEAM education, arts-based approaches to science teaching and learning are considered promising for aligning school science curricula with the development of twenty-first century skills, including creativity. Yet the impact of STEAM practices on student creativity and specifically on how the latter is associated with science learning outcomes have thus far received scarce empirical support. This paper contributes to this line of research by reporting on a two-wave quantitative study that examines the effect of a long-term STEAM intervention on two cognitive processes associated with creativity (act, flow) and their interrelationships with intrinsic and extrinsic components of science motivation. Using pre- and post-survey data from 175 high-school students in Italy, results show an overall positive effect of the intervention both on the act subscale of creativity and science career motivation, whereas a negative effect is found on self-efficacy. Gender differences in the above effects are also observed. Further, results provide support for the mediating role of self-efficacy in the relationship between creativity and science career motivation. Implications for the design of STEAM learning environments are discussed.

Children's perceptions of scientists, and of themselves as scientists

In rapidly developing countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where this study took place, having a body of competent, dedicated key workers in STEM fields is critical to growing national economies. This, in turn, requires motivated, well-qualified graduates of STEM degrees. School students' perceptions of science, scientists and science careers have been shown in some research to affect uptake of science degrees later on. How much of their science classwork students experience as authentically 'feeling like scientists' is less understood, yet important. This study took place in upper primary science classrooms in the UAE. Immediately following a science lesson, children were interviewed in focus groups (n=66, with an approximately even gender split). Broad questions were explored, such as whether they felt like 'real scientists' when they 'performed' science in the classroom, whether they enjoyed science, and their science career aspirations. 83% of students stated enjoying science, while 61% would like to have a career involving science in the future. The interview data revealed that, overall, children mostly disagreed that their classroom science was reflective of work a 'real scientist' would do, chiefly due to perceptions of a lack of discovery element in their work, which suggested to them a lack of authentic science exploration, and of the work not being dangerous enough. Students frequently reported feeling that they were 'following steps' because the teacher 'already knew the answers', which was different from the work of a scientist. The implications of these findings to classroom practice are discussed.

Content and Quality of Science Training Programs Matter: Longitudinal Study of the Biology Scholars Program

The current study examined a well-established science training program, the UC Berkeley Biology Scholars Program, to see which aspects of the program contribute to students’ greater integration into their professional communities and intentions to persist in science career pathways.

Conformity and Aptitude As Predictors Of Science Related Career Choice Among Secondary School Students In Rivers State, Nigeria.

The present study investigated conformity and aptitude as predictors of science related career choice among secondary school students in Rivers state. Correlation research design was used in the investigation. A sample of 675 SS2 students were drawn from a population of 13,204 SSII students across the 268 public secondary schools in the three senatorial zones in the state. Multiple stages of sampling procedures were used to draw this sample size. Three instruments namely “Adolescents Conformity Scale”, “Science Aptitude Test Question” as well as the Science Career ChoiceInventory were used for the study. Experts vetting was used in validating the instruments while the reliability was determined using Cronbach Alpha method with reliability indices of 0.71 for Adolescents Conformity Scale, 0.84 for Science Aptitude Test Question and 0.82 for Science Career Choice Inventory were obtained. Simple linear regression was used to analyze the data generated from the research instruments. Result of the study showed that conformity relates about 0.7% with science career choice and it (p=0.025<0.05) significantly predict science related career choice among secondary school students in Rivers State. Also aptitude relates about 1.1% with science career choice and(p=0.007<0.05) significantly predict science related career choice among secondary school students in Rivers State. It was concluded that conformity and aptitude are strong predictors of career choice in general and not just limited to science related ones.

Using the lens of science capital to capture and explore children’s attitudes toward science in an informal making-based space

Purpose Governments and organizations worldwide are concerned over the declining number of young people choosing to study Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), especially after the age of 16. Research has foregrounded that students with positive attitudes toward science are more likely to find it relevant and aspire to a science career. This study aims to understand the factors shaping students’ attitudes as these are pivotal in promoting science learning. Design/methodology/approach This study uses the framework of science capital to understand what shapes young people’s engagement with or resistance to science. The authors conducted four Computational Thinking making-based workshops with 106 children aged 15–16 years, of which 58 filled in a questionnaire and 22 were interviewed. Statistical and content analyses were performed respectively. Findings The results indicate that children who are more exposed to science-related activities and contexts are more likely to have higher self-efficacy, and that those with higher prior coding experience scored higher in their self-efficacy and science capital. Six themes emerged from the content analysis, highlighting the diverse factors shaping students’ attitudes, such as teaching methods, stereotypes and the degree of difficulty encountered while engaging with science in and out of school. Originality/value By combining qualitative and quantitative methods with the use of science capital, the authors found a number of aspects of the school experience that shape students’ attitudes to science learning in and out of school, as well as their science career aspirations.

Science Identity among Latinx Students in the Biomedical Sciences: The Role of a Critical Race Theory–Informed Undergraduate Research Experience

This study investigates science identity and intention to pursue a science career among three groups of graduating Latinx biomedical majors. Students who participated in an undergraduate research program guided by critical race theory reported the highest levels of science identity and intention to pursue a science career at the end of college.