Abstract
Our empirical study monitored science teachers’ motivation and technology interest within a Professional Development (PD) module in a science summer school. The first empirical measurement consisted of the Science Motivation Questionnaire (SMQ) and the second of the Technology Questionnaire (TQ). A pre-/post-measurement recorded very high motivation and interest scores even before participation, which in a kind of ceiling effect might have caused the monitored stagnation in motivation and interest. However, science motivation and technology interest showed a close relationship, while no gender difference appeared in both scales. The inquiry-based science education (IBSE) strategy is regarded one brick to enrich teachers’ daily classroom life, as 65.8% of the participating teachers had used IBSE already before, while after participation 60.5 % of them intended to even further increase its application in their classrooms. Within that context, motivation is regarded as one of the major positive features of IBSE to bring new life into classrooms. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.17.5. 4
Highlights
Introduction science nowadays is incorporated in our daily routine (Ardies, De Maeyer, Gijbels, & van Keulen, 2015), too few students choose careers in STEM (Dabney et al 2012)
We used the Technology Questionnaire (TQ) for detecting the interest in technology and the social aspects of technology of the teachers, who are participating in the summer schools
Most of the literature indicated gender differences in the science sector, our study showed that the gender differences are could be conquered with motivation and interest, because in the summer school with highly motivated participants, we have no gender gap between male and female participants
Summary
Science nowadays is incorporated in our daily routine (Ardies, De Maeyer, Gijbels, & van Keulen, 2015), too few students choose careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) (Dabney et al 2012). Teaching science and improving scientific literacy are major goals for preparing our young children for life after school (DeBoer, 2000). Science education in its major aim is supporting scientific literacy in school as teachers act as “vehicles” to transfer intrinsic motivation to students‟ mind. For students , summer camps outside of school time provide a great possibility to raise interest and motivation towards science as well as to influence later-on career choices (Gibson & Chase, 2002). Out-of-school time science activities like summer camps could offer a possibility to raise motivation and to alert more students to the science sector (Dabney et al, 2012). Many universities have established outreach summer programs for precollege students and in-service teachers to strengthen the science sectors, to let them participate on the real work of scientists as well as to acquire new skills (Markowitz, 2004). As teachers have to motivate and promote science, self-motivation is the trigger to motivate students, too (Knox, Moynihan, & Markowitz, 2003)
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