Determinig the perceptions of middle school students towards scientists and the analyzing of the causing factors

Thesis Type: Postgraduate

Institution Of The Thesis: Necmettin Erbakan University, Instıtute Of Educatıonal Scıences, DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATİCS AND SCİENCE EDUCATİON, Turkey

Thesis Supervisor: Doç. Dr. Oktay Aslan

Approval Date: 2014

Thesis Language: Turkish

Supported Program: Teaching Staff Training Program

Abstract:

In this study, it is aimed to determining the perceptions of middle school students towards scientists and the analyzing of the causing factors. This study is a qualitative research and 746 volunteers (Girls= 377, Boys= 369) from middle school students (Grade 5= 85, Grade 6= 109, Grade 7= 82, Grade 8= 101) participated in this study. At the end of the study it is understood that the things told by the teachers about the scientists and "the figure of mad scientist continuously studying in the lab" formed by the visual and written media have caused some girl and boy students doesn't wish to become scientists in the future. However, the findings obtained from this study disprove the claim that the preference of the girls taking place in the literature to draw male scientist has been caused by the apprehension that girl students cannot become scientists and so they do not want to be scientists in the future. There are the images of female scientists in the drawings of only 73 out of 377 girl students. The remaining 304 girls drew boy scientists; however, %63, 5 out of these female students accurately stated that they want to be scientists in the future. The remaining girl students specified that they do not sympathize with the thought of being a scientist in the future because of their various interests or of the "figure of mad scientist continuously studying in the lab".

Key Words: Scientist Image, Visual Media, Written Media, Television