Stereotypical Images Of Scientists Research Articles

Scientist of the week: evaluating effects of a teacher-led STEM intervention to reduce stereotypical views of scientists in young children

ABSTRACT Background Previous research into children’s perceptions of science shows that children like science but often hold stereotypical views of scientists and commonly do not see themselves with a career as a scientist. Purpose The aim of this study is to examine if a carefully designed medium-term, teacher-led STEM intervention, ‘Scientist of the Week’ which showcased a diverse range of working scientists and the skills they need, can lead to a positive change in the perception of scientists among young people. Sample Design and Methods Using a case-control approach, this research used a tracked sample of 118 young people from aged 7 to 11 in a primary school in the North East of England. Words associated with scientists were collected before and after (directly, one month, one year) the intervention from the tracked sample and analysed to assess changes in stereotypical perceptions and any difference in responses between male and female participants. Results Before the intervention, young children held many of the common stereotypes associated with scientists. Shortly afterwards, and one year following the intervention, the use of common stereotypes had fallen significantly across all children, with particular improvements in counter-stereotypical word usage for males. It also found that stereotypical images of scientists as highly intelligent were more difficult to counteract and that many of the positive changes in this view seen in the short term (weeks and months) diminished in the long term (one year later). Conclusions This research has shown that with minimal expense and effort from teachers, negative stereotypes of scientists can be reduced through an intervention that does not require bringing scientists into the classroom. Some of the observed changes persisted in the longer-term, suggesting a lasting alteration in children’s perceptions of scientists following the intervention.

Changes in Elementary Student Perceptions of Science, Scientists and Science Careers after Participating in a Curricular Module on Health and Veterinary Science.

This study examined to what extent a curriculum module that uses animal and human health scientists and science concepts to portray science and scientists in a relevant and authentic manner could enhance elementary students' aspiration for science careers, attitudes to science, positive perceptions of scientists, and perceived relevance of science. The curriculum was developed by a research-based university program and has been put into practice in two early elementary classrooms in an urban school in the Midwest. An attitudinal rating survey and the Draw-A-Scientist Test (DAST) were used to assess pre to post changes in student attitudes toward science, perceptions of scientists, perceived relevance of science, and aspiration for science careers. Findings indicated that the implementation of this curriculum contributed positively to student attitudes toward science, decreased students' stereotypical images of scientists, and increased student aspirations to become a scientist.

Identity Matching to Scientists: Differences that Make a Difference?

Students' images of science and scientists are generally assumed to influence their related subject choices and aspirations for tertiary education within science and technology. Several research studies have shown that many young people hold rather stereotypical images of scientists, making it hard for them to see themselves as future scientists. Adolescents' educational choices are important aspects of their identity work, and recent theories link individual choice to the perceived match between self and prototypical persons associated with that choice. In the present study, we have investigated images of scientists among the segment of the upper secondary school students (20 % of the cohort) from which future Danish scientists are recruited. Their images were rather realistic, only including vague and predominantly positive stereotypical ideas. With a particular Science-and-Me (SAM) interview methodology, we inquired into the match between self- and prototypical- scientists (N=30). We found high perceived similarity within a core of epistemological characteristics, while dissimilarities typically related to a social domain. However, combining interview data with survey data, we found no significant statistical relation between prototype match and aspirations for tertiary education within science and technology. Importantly, the SAM dialogue revealed how students negotiate perceived differences, and we identified four negotiation patterns that all tend to reduce the impact of mismatches on educational aspirations. Our study raises questions about methodological issues concerning the traditional use of self-to-prototype matching as an explanatory model of educational choice.

Analyzing prospective teachers’ images of scientists using positive, negative and stereotypical images of scientists

Background and purpose : This study details the use of a conceptual framework to analyze prospective teachers’ images of scientists to reveal their context-specific conceptions of scientists. The conceptual framework consists of context-specific conceptions related to positive, stereotypical and negative images of scientists as detailed in the literature on the images, role and work of scientists. Sample, design and method : One hundred and ninety-six drawings of scientists, generated by prospective teachers, were analyzed using the Draw-A-Scientist-Test Checklist (DAST-C), a binary linear regression and the conceptual framework. Results : The results of the binary linear regression analysis revealed a statistically significant difference for two DAST-C elements: ethnicity differences with regard to drawing a scientist who was Caucasian and gender differences for indications of danger. Analysis using the conceptual framework helped to categorize the same drawings into positive, stereotypical, negative and composite images of a scientist. Conclusions : The conceptual framework revealed that drawings were focused on the physical appearance of the scientist, and to a lesser extent on the equipment, location and science-related practices that provided the context of a scientist’s role and work. Implications for teacher educators include the need to understand that there is a need to provide tools, like the conceptual framework used in this study, to help prospective teachers to confront and engage with their multidimensional perspectives of scientists in light of the current trends on perceiving and valuing scientists. In addition, teacher educators need to use the conceptual framework, which yields qualitative perspectives about drawings, together with the DAST-C, which yields quantitative measure for drawings, to help prospective teachers to gain a holistic outlook on their drawings of scientists.

Rebecca’s in the dark: A comparative study of problem-based learning and direct instruction/experiential learning in two 4th-grade classrooms

Seeking improved student performance in elementary schools has led educators to advocate inquiry-based teaching approaches, including problem-based learning (PBL). In PBL, students simultaneously develop problem-solving strategies, disciplinary knowledge bases, collaborative skills, and dispositions. Research into the efficacy of PBL in elementary school settings is in the seminal stage and reveals mixed results. In this pilot study, 4th graders receiving PBL in science were compared with a corresponding group receiving the same instruction in thematic format. Using a quasi-experimental design, the researchers investigated students’ knowledge of content, stereotypical images of scientists, time-on-task, and transfer of problem-solving skills.

Young children's perceptionsof scientists: a preliminary study

Background Since the 1950s, there has been a growing body of research dealing with perceptions children have of scientists. Typically, research studies in this area have utilized children's drawings in an effort to discern what those perceptions are. Studies assessing perceptions children have of scientists have shown that children have stereotypical images of scientists. Although there is no direct evidence to demonstrate the link between children's images of science and scientists with their career choice, several researchers (including this researcher) have assumed that children's attitudes towards science are greatly influenced by their perceptions of science and scientists. Purpose This study aimed to find out if there was a difference in the way 5- to 8-year-old children drew scientists, taking account of age, gender and socio-economic status. Sample For this study a convenience sample of 30 young children was used. Participants included young children between the ages of 5 and 8 years from a public elementary school in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. Although the sample of the study was obtained from one school in a metropolitan area, children involved in this preliminary study were from very different socio-economic backgrounds. As the sample size is very small for making comparisons, it was intended to have a similar number of children from different age groups and socio-economic backgrounds and both genders. Design and methods The researcher worked individually with each child who participated in this study in an interview setting. Although each child was asked a set of standard questions, and given a standard set of directions, each interview session was informal enough to allow the researcher to gain additional information about children's drawings and to clarify any of their responses. During the interview sessions, children's responses were noted by the researcher. Before the children were asked to draw their picture of a scientist, they were offered a set of coloured pencils or crayons and told to feel free to colour their drawing or any parts of it they would like to accentuate. At the end of the interview and drawing sessions, the researcher went through all the drawings and notes to get a ‘feel’ for and ascertain what was being said, identifying key themes in each drawing. Results The most common scientist type drawn in this study was the stereotypical scientist type: someone who conducts research, or someone who tries to invent a new material. But unlike previous studies, around 35% of the scientist figures drawn (n = 15) were of the social scientist type. Stereotypical images drawn by the current study participants included symbols of research, such as scientific instruments and laboratory equipment of all kinds, and symbols of knowledge, principally books and cabinets, technology and the products of science. An interesting finding of this study was that perceptions of young children differed due to their age. Children at the age of 8 years drew non-stereotypical scientist images, and they drew more detail than did their younger peers. When children were compared in terms of their gender, no significant differences were observed between girls and boys. But on the other hand, none of the boys drew female scientists, and five out of 30 children who were girls drew female scientists. While children of parents with lower socio-economic status drew more stereotypical scientist images, children of parents with higher economic status drew different images of scientists, a result which showed us that the scientist perceptions of young children differ with socio-economic status. Conclusions Emergent from this research has been a non-stereotypical perception of scientists, and some evidence exists that such a non-stereotypical perception differs due to age and socio-economic status. While these images may seem amusing, they also provide a reflection of the image that children have about what a scientist looks like. These images may have a powerful impact on present functioning and future plans of young children.

The changing identity of the scientist.

Last year's Science and Engineering Indicators 2002 , the US National Science Board's biennial report about science, technology and engineering in the USA, stated, “It is generally conceded that scientists and engineers have somewhat of an image problem” (US National Science Foundation, 2002, pp7‐25–7‐31). It further describes how a ‘Draw‐a‐scientist’ test administered to children revealed that the stereotypical images of scientists are “alive and well in the minds of children”. And the stereotype is not confined to children. A survey of general public opinion would readily find a scientist depicted as a white male, middle‐aged or older, wearing a lab coat and glasses and featuring some type of facial hair. This image and various literary characters from Dr Faust and Dr Frankenstein to Dr Moreau and Dr Jekyll have contributed to a constructed and more or less unattractive vision of the scientist, often at odds with the self‐image cherished by the scientists themselves. These fictional representations and the collective imagination of the scientist are reflections of the response to the role of science and technology in the social context. Even more radically, the actual image of scientists is inseparably linked with the transmutations of science itself, of which the scientist is at the same time product and agent. Without doubt, science has put on a new face in the past century. It has come to occupy a central role in society and now enjoys a privileged position among the knowledge‐producing disciplines. As a consequence, the resources devoted to science have increased hugely. There has also been, in general, a visible shift in the way in which science is organized and in how it produces knowledge. Science has become ‘big’, global and complex (Price, 1971), and the emphasis has shifted from the individual scientist to collaborative work. Similarly, scientific knowledge …

Applicability of the DAST-C to the images of scientists drawn by students of different racial groups

The perceptions students hold of scientists has been a subject of study since Mead and Metraux first reported having students draw scientists in 1957. Subsequent work in this area by Chambers (1983) and Schibeci and Sorensen (1983) led to the clear identification of a number of attributes or elements comprising stereotypical images students possess about scientists. Building on this work, Finson, Beaver, and Cramond (1995) developed a checklist (the Draw-A-Scientist Test Checklist, or DAST-C) for use in assessing drawings of scientists. One of the advantages of the checklist was that quantifiable scores for drawings could be derived and, hence, be subject to comparative data analysis. Researchers are finding out that stereotypical images can have specific influences on the shaping of children’s perceptions in science. Of particular concern is the impact of negative or stereotypical images of scientists on the career aspirations of females and minorities. Since the DAST-C has been used in a growing number of studies on students’ perceptions of scientists, the validity of the DAST-C for use with multicultural groups needs to be examined. In this study, drawings were obtained from eighth grade students who were Caucasian, Native American, and African American. The drawings were analyzed and scored using the DAST-C. Comparisons of those results showed no significant differences between groups.

Bringing female scientists into the elementary classroom: Confronting the strength of elementary students’ stereotypical images of scientists

This study explored the effectiveness of bringing female scientists into the elementary classrooms on promoting changes in the stereotypical images of scientists. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected and analyzed to illuminate changes in stereotypical images of scientists. Results indicate that despite the efforts of the scientists to encourage the students to question their image of a scientist, the students held on to stereotypical images. Instead, the students questioned the true identity of the scientists, categorizing them as teachers. The results led to questions of the strength of the image and the extent of efforts needed for students to question that image.