Authentic STEM research, practices of science, and interest development in an informal science education program

Abstract Background Two critical challenges in science education are how to engage students in the practices of science and how to develop and sustain interest. The goal of this study was to examine the extent to which high school youth, the majority of whom are members of racial and ethnic groups h...

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Autores principales:	Bobby Habig, Preeti Gupta
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	SpringerOpen 2021
Materias:	Informal learning Informal science education Interest development Science as practice STEM Education L Education (General) L7-991 Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Theory and practice of education LB5-3640
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/99f9f0cba2ee4d78bd04ee7b546ca015
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:99f9f0cba2ee4d78bd04ee7b546ca0152021-11-07T12:21:11ZAuthentic STEM research, practices of science, and interest development in an informal science education program10.1186/s40594-021-00314-y2196-7822https://doaj.org/article/99f9f0cba2ee4d78bd04ee7b546ca0152021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-021-00314-yhttps://doaj.org/toc/2196-7822Abstract Background Two critical challenges in science education are how to engage students in the practices of science and how to develop and sustain interest. The goal of this study was to examine the extent to which high school youth, the majority of whom are members of racial and ethnic groups historically underrepresented in STEM, learn the skills and practices of science and in turn develop interest in conducting scientific research as part of their career pursuits. To accomplish this goal, we applied Hidi and Renninger’s well-tested theoretical framework for studying interest development in the context of a museum-based, informal science education (ISE) program. We used a mixed methods approach, incorporating both survey and interview data, to address three research questions: (1) As youth engage in authentic science research, do they develop perceived competence in mastering the skills and practices of science? (2) Do participants increase, maintain, or decrease interest in science research as a result of this experience? (3) How does participation in scientific practices manifest in non-program contexts? Results Our study yielded three main results. First, we found that participants developed competence in mastering several of the skills and practices of science. Strikingly, there was significant improvement in self-reported level of competency for 15 specific research skills. Second, we found that participants maintained their interest in scientific research over time. Our post-survey results revealed that one hundred percent of students were either excited about or expressed deep interest in scientific research. Based on a Phases of Interest Development Rubric developed for this study, most participants exhibited emerging individual interest. Finally, participants exhibited significant increases in the frequency in which they engaged in scientific practices outside of the program. Conclusions Our findings suggest that participation in authentic research in an ISE context affords youth critical opportunities for gaining mastery of several of the skills and practices of science, which in turn reinforces, and in some cases increases participants’ interest in scientific research beyond the span of the program.Bobby HabigPreeti GuptaSpringerOpenarticleInformal learningInformal science educationInterest developmentScience as practiceSTEMEducationLEducation (General)L7-991Special aspects of educationLC8-6691Theory and practice of educationLB5-3640ENInternational Journal of STEM Education, Vol 8, Iss 1, Pp 1-18 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Informal learning Informal science education Interest development Science as practice STEM Education L Education (General) L7-991 Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Theory and practice of education LB5-3640
spellingShingle	Informal learning Informal science education Interest development Science as practice STEM Education L Education (General) L7-991 Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Theory and practice of education LB5-3640 Bobby Habig Preeti Gupta Authentic STEM research, practices of science, and interest development in an informal science education program
description	Abstract Background Two critical challenges in science education are how to engage students in the practices of science and how to develop and sustain interest. The goal of this study was to examine the extent to which high school youth, the majority of whom are members of racial and ethnic groups historically underrepresented in STEM, learn the skills and practices of science and in turn develop interest in conducting scientific research as part of their career pursuits. To accomplish this goal, we applied Hidi and Renninger’s well-tested theoretical framework for studying interest development in the context of a museum-based, informal science education (ISE) program. We used a mixed methods approach, incorporating both survey and interview data, to address three research questions: (1) As youth engage in authentic science research, do they develop perceived competence in mastering the skills and practices of science? (2) Do participants increase, maintain, or decrease interest in science research as a result of this experience? (3) How does participation in scientific practices manifest in non-program contexts? Results Our study yielded three main results. First, we found that participants developed competence in mastering several of the skills and practices of science. Strikingly, there was significant improvement in self-reported level of competency for 15 specific research skills. Second, we found that participants maintained their interest in scientific research over time. Our post-survey results revealed that one hundred percent of students were either excited about or expressed deep interest in scientific research. Based on a Phases of Interest Development Rubric developed for this study, most participants exhibited emerging individual interest. Finally, participants exhibited significant increases in the frequency in which they engaged in scientific practices outside of the program. Conclusions Our findings suggest that participation in authentic research in an ISE context affords youth critical opportunities for gaining mastery of several of the skills and practices of science, which in turn reinforces, and in some cases increases participants’ interest in scientific research beyond the span of the program.
format	article
author	Bobby Habig Preeti Gupta
author_facet	Bobby Habig Preeti Gupta
author_sort	Bobby Habig
title	Authentic STEM research, practices of science, and interest development in an informal science education program
title_short	Authentic STEM research, practices of science, and interest development in an informal science education program
title_full	Authentic STEM research, practices of science, and interest development in an informal science education program
title_fullStr	Authentic STEM research, practices of science, and interest development in an informal science education program
title_full_unstemmed	Authentic STEM research, practices of science, and interest development in an informal science education program
title_sort	authentic stem research, practices of science, and interest development in an informal science education program
publisher	SpringerOpen
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/99f9f0cba2ee4d78bd04ee7b546ca015
work_keys_str_mv	AT bobbyhabig authenticstemresearchpracticesofscienceandinterestdevelopmentinaninformalscienceeducationprogram AT preetigupta authenticstemresearchpracticesofscienceandinterestdevelopmentinaninformalscienceeducationprogram
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Authentic STEM research, practices of science, and interest development in an informal science education program

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