Speaker
Markus Obczovsky
(University of Graz)
Description
Students’ conceptions of scientists influence their attitudes towards science and job aspirations. Within a four-year project of the Kaiserschild-Foundation for STEM engagement in Austrian rural middle schools, we collected drawings of 240 students. To find out how these drawings developed over time, we analysed these drawings and complemented this analysis with twelve semi-structured interviews. The first analysis shows that the drawings tend to show two kinds of scientists: The stereotypical person in a laboratory and a naturalist, studying plants and animals. Over time less drawings show a naturalist and more drawings show a person in a laboratory.
| Education level | Age 12-15 (Secondary education) |
|---|---|
| Physics topic | Other |
| Research focus | Student conceptions / Preconceptions / Misconceptions |
| Research method | Mixed method (qualitative & quantitative) |
| Organizing preference criteria | Research focus |
Author
Markus Obczovsky
(University of Graz)
Co-authors
David Wohlmuth
(University of Graz)
Prof.
Claudia Haagen-Schützenhöfer
(University of Graz)
