Abstract
Making science enjoyable inspires students to learn more. Out-of-class activities such as science fairs and Olympiads, serve as reasonable informal learning environments that demand attention. The association <b><sup>&nbsp;</sup></b>of students’ involvement in these activities with increased student interest in science followed by the selection of <b>&nbsp;</b>science-related careers, should motivate all in-charge stakeholders. In this work, we analysed the outcomes of the Bosnia Science Olympiad (BSO) as the first national Science Olympiad in<b> </b>Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), aiming the improvement of science education and bringing different ethnic groups under the umbrella of science, in a post-conflict area. The two-day endeavour held in Sarajevo includes competition in <b><sup>&nbsp;</sup></b>four sciencerelated categories (Environment, Engineering, Have an Idea, Web Design) and social activities. In this work, the comprehensive data, including participants’ gender, their ethnic background, cities, schools, and supervisors, over five years, was analysed. The number of participating high-school students increased from 78 to 143, of supervisors from 21 to 95, and of schools from 7 to 15, reaching a wide demographic acceptance to cover all<b>&nbsp;</b>ethnic regions in BiH. The relationship between gender and the selection of a category, shows bias of male<b>&nbsp;</b>participants towards Web Design (21%) and Engineering (40%), and of female students towards “Have an Idea” (40%) and Environment (44%) categories. The contribution of BSO choosing a science career, getting socialized <b>&nbsp;&nbsp; </b>without prejudices, and the improvement of students’ self-confidence, were as well addressed. Our work demonstrates a model work to successfully promote science in post-conflict settings.<b> </b>
Highlights
Obstacles of Science Education and the Role of Project OlympiadsTo achieve the required level of science literacy and teach science to modern-day students, societies need a well-established educational system and curriculums integrated with technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) ( Generation Science Standards: For States, By States, 2013)
Practical means of reflecting the students’ science literacy is even more important in international schools all over the world, where students with English as Second Language (ESL) perform worse in Science classes due to the language barriers. This is well documented in standardised testing for science literacy (The Nation’s Report Card, 2016)
The additional obstacle is introduced in conflict and post-conflict areas where the burden upon the education systems move teaching science from the centre-stage, that it deserves, and makes it not a core component of the society (Hayes & McAllister, 2009)
Summary
To achieve the required level of science literacy and teach science to modern-day students, societies need a well-established educational system and curriculums integrated with technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) ( Generation Science Standards: For States, By States, 2013). The first step to achieve a successful STEM integration lies in aligning the teachers’ pedagogical methodologies with the standards of teaching science, and by energizing the educational systems by higher levels of organization (Top et al, 2015) In this context, out-of-class activities serve as reasonable informal learning environments that demand attention. By this natural boost of student engagement, these activities result in the enhancement of attention given to the understanding of core scientific concepts (Weir, 2016); high-school students’ enthusiasm and productivity show to be critical factors for their involvement in science (Lent et al, 2008; Miller et al, 2002) Another benefit of science Olympiads is that they guide the participating students in choosing a career for their future studies (Basu & Barton, 2007; Drew, 2011; Hannover & Kessels, 2004). The following research questions were assessed relevant to the purpose of the study: 1: How is the relation between student’s gender and the categories in which they competed? 2: How did participation in the science Olympiad affect high-school students’ careers? 3: How does a science Olympiad contribute to interethnic communication? 4: How does participation in a science Olympiad affect self-confidence in students?
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