Do outreach activities in secondary STEM education motivate students and improve their attitudes towards STEM?. Issue 11 (24th July 2018)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- Do outreach activities in secondary STEM education motivate students and improve their attitudes towards STEM?. Issue 11 (24th July 2018)
- Main Title:
- Do outreach activities in secondary STEM education motivate students and improve their attitudes towards STEM?
- Authors:
- Vennix, Johanna
den Brok, Perry
Taconis, Ruurd - Abstract:
- ABSTRACT: The present study investigated outreach activities, developed by STEM-based companies or universities in co-creation with secondary education with the aim to inform students about and motivate them for a career in STEM by connecting the work-context with school-science. Although many of such activities are being offered, little is known about their effects. We investigated students' perceptions with the outreach learning environment, perceived need-fulfilment, self-reported motivation and attitudes towards STEM. Data were gathered from 729 high-school students engaged in 12 activities in the USA and the Netherlands. The students completed a questionnaire, which contained questions about four elements of our theoretical frame based on the Self-Determination-Theory (SDT). Perceived needs-fulfilment and motivation were measured using the basic-psychological-needs-scale and the self-regulation-questionnaire. Attitudes were measured using the test-of-science-related-attitudes. Learning environment perceptions were measured in a previous study using subscales of what-is-happing-in-this-classroom (WIHIC), constructivist-learning-environments-scale (CLES) and classroom-environment-scale (CES) and typified by activity characteristics. Multilevel analyses of variance were conducted for the two motivation scales (controlled and autonomous-motivation) and the two attitude scales (social-implication and career-interest). Activity characteristics explained almost all variance inABSTRACT: The present study investigated outreach activities, developed by STEM-based companies or universities in co-creation with secondary education with the aim to inform students about and motivate them for a career in STEM by connecting the work-context with school-science. Although many of such activities are being offered, little is known about their effects. We investigated students' perceptions with the outreach learning environment, perceived need-fulfilment, self-reported motivation and attitudes towards STEM. Data were gathered from 729 high-school students engaged in 12 activities in the USA and the Netherlands. The students completed a questionnaire, which contained questions about four elements of our theoretical frame based on the Self-Determination-Theory (SDT). Perceived needs-fulfilment and motivation were measured using the basic-psychological-needs-scale and the self-regulation-questionnaire. Attitudes were measured using the test-of-science-related-attitudes. Learning environment perceptions were measured in a previous study using subscales of what-is-happing-in-this-classroom (WIHIC), constructivist-learning-environments-scale (CLES) and classroom-environment-scale (CES) and typified by activity characteristics. Multilevel analyses of variance were conducted for the two motivation scales (controlled and autonomous-motivation) and the two attitude scales (social-implication and career-interest). Activity characteristics explained almost all variance in these variables between activities. Specific characteristics of outreach activities that statistically significantly related to autonomous motivation and positive general attitudes towards STEM were: workshop-format, understanding science, an out-of-school component. The attitude towards a possible STEM-career was positively associated with autonomous-motivation and negatively associated with controlled-motivation. Thus, outreach learning environments indeed created opportunities to increase students' motivation in STEM and attitude towards STEM, but the impact varied according to particular characteristics of the activities. … (more)
- Is Part Of:
- International journal of science education. Volume 40:Issue 11(2018)
- Journal:
- International journal of science education
- Issue:
- Volume 40:Issue 11(2018)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 40, Issue 11 (2018)
- Year:
- 2018
- Volume:
- 40
- Issue:
- 11
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2018-0040-0011-0000
- Page Start:
- 1263
- Page End:
- 1283
- Publication Date:
- 2018-07-24
- Subjects:
- Outreach -- STEM -- motivation -- subject-related attitudes -- secondary education
Science -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals
Science teachers -- Periodicals
507 - Journal URLs:
- http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/09500693.asp ↗
http://www.tandfonline.com/ ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1080/09500693.2018.1473659 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 0950-0693
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - 4542.544000
British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store - Ingest File:
- 10625.xml