Drawing attention to attitudes toward scientists: Changes in 10- to 13-year-old students as a result of a GeoCamp experience in New Zealand

Abstract

This paper reports on a two-week Earth Science programme, designed and delivered by the New Zealand Crown Research Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Limited (GNS Science) referred to as the GeoCamp. This initiative has offered 10- to 13-year-old students learning experiences outside the classroom in several regions throughout New Zealand. The programme discussed in this paper was held in the Wairarapa region in the south-east of the North Island. We examined 23 students’ attitudinal changes toward scientists and science. Data collection reported in this paper occurred on the first day of the programme and six months later, when students were asked to draw annotated diagrams of scientists. Our results indicate that students participating in the camp broadened their views of scientists from being stereotypically eccentric chemists in lab coats, to those being aligned with real-world scientists, i.e. not being eccentric, some being females, some working outdoors, and being collaborative. They also recognized that scientists engage in a diverse range of work, and suggested some specific problems that they would like to solve if they were to be scientists. We suggest that these results reveal affective learning outcomes of this Education Outside the Classroom (EOTC) approach.