Are drawing-based instruments such as the Draw-A-Scientist-Test (DAST) and its derivatives effective probes for assessing the images of scientists held by girls and children of diverse ethnicities in developed countries, children in Asia, and children in the developing world? This paper is a review of the literature from 2002 to the present designed to answer that question. It also addresses a second research question of what insights these images reveal that can inform development of inclusive science curricula. Scientist image data obtained from drawing-based images reveal that drawings are heavily influenced by culture, gender and socio-economic status. These findings suggest an opportunity to engage girls and ethnic minority children in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) learning by integrating gender and ethnic content into STEM curriculum following the model developed by Joseph Banks (1989) for social studies and history curriculum.
This study examined how an informal science educator-elementary school teacher partnership based on a coordination relationship (Weiland & Akerson, 2013) operated in the development and implementation of a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Club for girls. A case study methodology was used to understand how the informal science educator-elementary school teacher partnership functioned in the context of the STEM Club. Images of scientists and engineers drawn by the girls before and after participation in the STEM Club were written artifacts used to assess the girls' perceptions of scientists and engineers. The girls maintained the traditional images of scientists that they brought to the Club, modified, however, to include more female images after participation in STEM Club. The girls' perceptions of engineers changed dramatically from non-existent or mechanics/ repairmen to realistic images of engineers, including female images, involved in design, laboratory investigation and testing activities. The percentage of female images drawn by the girls increased by 30% and 42% for scientist images and engineer images, respectively.
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