Development and Field Test of the Modified Draw‐a‐Scientist Test and the Draw‐a‐Scientist Rubric

Abstract

Even long before children are able to verbalize which careers may be interesting to them, they collect and store ideas about scientists. For these reasons, asking children to draw a scientist has become an accepted method to provide a glimpse into how children represent and identify with those in the science fields. Years later, these representations may translate into students' career choices. Since 1995, children's illustrations of scientists have been assessed by the Draw-a-Scientist Checklist (DAST-C). The checklist was created from the common aspects or features found in illustrations from previous studies and were based initially on the scientists, broken down into "stereotypical" and "alternative" images shown in the drawings. The purpose of this article is to describe the development, field test, and reliability of the modified DAST Test and the DAST Rubric designed as an improvement of the DAST-C to provide a more appropriate method of assessing students' drawings of scientists. The combination of the modified DAST and the DAST Rubric brings more refinement as it enables clarities to emerge and subsequently increased detail to what one could ascertain from students about their mental images of scientists.School Science and Mathematics 109

Fundamental Research: Developing a Rubric to Assess Children's Drawings of an Engineer at Work

“…It was, however, different in two ways. In the first difference, following on the details of the mDAST, 19 the mDAET also prompted students to add an illustration and a comment (or speech balloon) to further detail their understanding of an engineer's work.…”

“…Taken together, these drawings and narrative details, allowed Farland-Smith to create an mDAST rubric that organizes a scoring rubric continuum ranging from "sensationalized" to "traditional" to broader than traditional" (p. 111). 19 As she explained, ". .…”

“…More recently, Farland-Smith 19 envisioned the modified Draw a Scientist (mDAST). This new protocol expanded the "draw a scientist" test to include three drawings of a scientist and added prompts for speech balloons and other explanatory narrative details.…”

“…DAST-C" (p. 115). 19 FarlandSmith was the first to consider children's thinking on a continuum (from limited to advanced understanding) and to organize a scoring rubric to guide the ranking of these illustrations. These scores newly allowed for increased detail about children's mental images and quantitative analysis of children's conceptions beyond a list of stereotypical attributes.…”

Integrated Engineering in Elementary Education: Tackling Challenges to Rural Teacher Training

“…Current literature indicates that many teachers, including elementary teachers, have stereotypical images of scientists and negative views towards science. 17,18 Similar problems plague engineering education, as many teachers and students do not understand what engineering is and often confuse the work of engineers with the work of scientists, construction workers, or mechanics. [19][20][21][22] Many elementary teachers may need help in recognizing and understanding the role of engineering in the world around them.…”