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      The impact of out-of-school science activities for primary school children on science knowledge, interest and later academic choices: an evaluation study

      research-article
      1 , * , , 1 , 1
      Research for All
      UCL Press
      Summer Scientist Week, science engagement, impact evaluation

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          Abstract

          Although a growing number of young people are choosing to undertake non-compulsory education, there is concern that not enough are electing to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects. Research has suggested that out-of-school science activities, research participation and a child’s family interest can increase both knowledge of and interest in science, resulting in a higher likelihood of studying a science, technology, engineering and mathematics subject at an advanced level. However, the majority of research to date has been conducted with secondary school-age students. This study investigated the impact of Summer Scientist Week, an annual out-of-school science engagement event for 4–11-year-olds and their families held at the University of Nottingham, UK. This event introduces primary school-age children to psychology-related research and activities about the mind and brain. Findings from interviews conducted with children and parents at the event, as well as survey data from previous attendees aged 14–17 years, indicated an increase in knowledge and interest in science that was maintained over several years, influencing choices in A-level subjects. This is the first study to demonstrate the positive impact of out-of-school science activities in primary school-age children, and its sustained influence on later academic choices in secondary school.

          Most cited references55

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          The qualitative content analysis process.

          This paper is a description of inductive and deductive content analysis. Content analysis is a method that may be used with either qualitative or quantitative data and in an inductive or deductive way. Qualitative content analysis is commonly used in nursing studies but little has been published on the analysis process and many research books generally only provide a short description of this method. When using content analysis, the aim was to build a model to describe the phenomenon in a conceptual form. Both inductive and deductive analysis processes are represented as three main phases: preparation, organizing and reporting. The preparation phase is similar in both approaches. The concepts are derived from the data in inductive content analysis. Deductive content analysis is used when the structure of analysis is operationalized on the basis of previous knowledge. Inductive content analysis is used in cases where there are no previous studies dealing with the phenomenon or when it is fragmented. A deductive approach is useful if the general aim was to test a previous theory in a different situation or to compare categories at different time periods.
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            Expectancy-Value Theory of Achievement Motivation.

            We discuss the expectancy-value theory of motivation, focusing on an expectancy-value model developed and researched by Eccles, Wigfield, and their colleagues. Definitions of crucial constructs in the model, including ability beliefs, expectancies for success, and the components of subjective task values, are provided. These definitions are compared to those of related constructs, including self-efficacy, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and interest. Research is reviewed dealing with two issues: (1) change in children's and adolescents' ability beliefs, expectancies for success, and subjective values, and (2) relations of children's and adolescents' ability-expectancy beliefs and subjective task values to their performance and choice of activities. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.
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              Who Am I and What Am I Going to Do With My Life? Personal and Collective Identities as Motivators of Action

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                Author and article information

                Journal
                rfa
                Research for All
                UCL Press (UK )
                2399-8121
                14 December 2023
                : 7
                : 1
                : 20
                Affiliations
                [1 ]School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
                Author notes
                Author information
                https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4857-7485
                https://orcid.org/0009-0001-7135-2551
                https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7523-0204
                Article
                10.14324/RFA.07.1.20
                09a2a983-acc4-4bdf-9d28-0f78f00df072
                Copyright 2023, Stephanie McDonald, Samantha Beer and Lucy Cragg

                This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (CC BY) 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

                History
                : 19 January 2023
                : 29 October 2023
                Page count
                References: 53, Pages: 14
                Categories
                Research article

                Assessment, Evaluation & Research methods,Education & Public policy,Educational research & Statistics
                Summer Scientist Week,science engagement,impact evaluation

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