High school science fair: Positive and negative outcomes

Grinnell, Frederick; Dalley, S.; Reisch, Joan

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0229237

Cited by 19 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 21 publications

(29 reference statements)

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“…Table 2 and Fig 1 compare the SURF students with the national cohort of high school students that we surveyed during 2017 and 2018. SURF students participated in science fair to a similar extent each year of high school unlike the high school students who participated in science fair mostly in 9 th and 10 th grades [ 17 ]. Also, twice as many SURF students carried out science fair more than once compared to the high school students.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These high school students had completed surveys that were incorporated into the web-based application called Scienteer , now used by Texas, Alabama, Maine, Missouri, Vermont, and Virginia for student science fair registration, parental consent, and project management. A detailed description of the student population, results and data sets from the 2017 and 2018 national high school student surveys can be found in reference [ 17 ] including supplemental information.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Students had the option to complete a survey after they had finished completely all science fair competitions. Unlike the regional group of high school students, of whom only 6% (4 of 64 students) were required to participate in science fairs [ 16 ], 67% (245 of 363 students) of the students in the 2017 & 2018 national cohorts indicated that they were required to participate in science fairs [ 17 ]. Regardless of their interests in science and engineering, regional and national high school students were opposed to being required to participate in science fair [ 17 , 18 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unlike the regional group of high school students, of whom only 6% (4 of 64 students) were required to participate in science fairs [ 16 ], 67% (245 of 363 students) of the students in the 2017 & 2018 national cohorts indicated that they were required to participate in science fairs [ 17 ]. Regardless of their interests in science and engineering, regional and national high school students were opposed to being required to participate in science fair [ 17 , 18 ]. Moreover, students required to participate in science fairs reported reduced interest in the sciences or engineering and an increased likelihood of engaging in research misconduct [ 17 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Regardless of their interests in science and engineering, regional and national high school students were opposed to being required to participate in science fair [ 17 , 18 ]. Moreover, students required to participate in science fairs reported reduced interest in the sciences or engineering and an increased likelihood of engaging in research misconduct [ 17 ]. Required participation in science fair had not been recognized previously as an important variable regarding the impact of science fair.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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High school science fair: Experiences of two groups of undergraduate bioscience students

2021

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Science fairs offer potential opportunities for students to learn first-hand about the practices of science. Over the past six years we have been carrying out voluntary and anonymous surveys with regional and national groups of high school and post high school students to learn about their high school science fair experiences regarding help received, obstacles encountered, and opinions about the value and impact of science fair. Understanding what students think about science fairs will help educators make science fairs more effective learning opportunities. In this paper, we focus on the findings with two national groups of post high school students–undergraduate research fellows (SURF students) who did research at UT Southwestern Medical Center during 2014–2019 and undergraduates biology students attending the 2019 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Science Education Alliance (SEA) summer symposium. About 25% of the students who completed surveys indicated that they had participated in high school science fair, but more than half attended high schools where science fairs were unavailable. Effectively, 6 out of every 10 students participated in science fair if available. Students who could have participated in high school science fair but chose not to do so identified not enough time and coming up with their project idea as major reasons why not. About half the SURF students favored requiring non-competitive science fair regardless whether they themselves had participated in science fair. On the other hand, less than 1 in 5 thought that competitive science fair should be required. Introduction to the scientific process and general learning were mentioned most frequently as the reasons to require non-competitive science fair; these reasons were mentioned rarely in connection with competitive science fair. Unlike the national cohort of high school students we surveyed previously, who mostly did science fair in 9th and 10th grades, SURF students participated in science fair throughout high school and were twice as likely as high school students to have carried out science fair more than once. In conclusion, our findings suggest that participation of the undergraduate bioscience majors in high school science fairs occurs far more frequently than recognized previously and provide insights into how these successful college students (gauged by the fact that they are doing summer science research) view science fairs. The findings emphasize further the importance of incentivizing rather than requiring science fair participation, especially in 9th and 10th grades, and the potential value of developing non-competitive science fairs.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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High school science fair: Experiences of two groups of undergraduate bioscience students

2021

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An idea to explore: Engaging high school students in structure‐function studies of bacterial sortase enzymes and inhibitors ‐ A comprehensive computational experimental pipeline

Godse,

Sapar,

Amacher

2023

Biochem Molecular Bio Educ

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High school science fairs provide an exceptional opportunity for students to gain experience with scientific research, and participation has positive outcomes with respect to chosen careers in the sciences. However, it can be challenging to engage high school students in university‐level research outside of formal internship programs. Here, we describe an experimental pipeline for a computational structural biology project that engages high school students. Students are involved at every step of the investigation and utilize freely available software to dock inhibitors onto protein homologues, and then analyze the resulting complexes. Bacterial sortases are transpeptidases on the cell surface of Gram‐positive bacteria and are a potential target for the development of antibiotics. Students modeled inhibitors bound to sortases from several organisms, asking questions about affinity and selectivity. Their project was ranked in the top 10% at both regional and state science fairs. This project design is easily adaptable to countless other protein systems and provides a pipeline for collaborative high school student/university professor inquiry.

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Rubbing elbows with them: Building capacity in STEM through science and engineering fairs

Koomen

Hedenstrom

Moran³

2021

Science Education

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Using social cultural career theory (SCCT) linked with tenets of equity, we examined the role of participation in science and engineering fairs (SEFs) on youth's science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) educational and career choices. We analyzed data for evidence of the SCCT constructs of self-efficacy, interest, and learning experiences using constructs of Native American (NA), culturally responsive, and rural equitable pedagogies. Qualitative data included semi-structured interviews, focus groups, practice presentations of SEF prtojects, classroom observations, and mentoring students. Quantitative data consisted of two surveys: STEM Semantics Survey and the Motivation Strategies for Learning Questionnaire. Qualitative results reveal how the teacher built self-efficacy using equitable pedagogy by putting the students in control of their projects, created a network of experts in various science disciplines, developed a culture of mentorship that promoted belonging, and removed barriers for student participation by blending academics with culture for NA and rural mixed socioeconomic status students. She evoked asset-based pedagogies that inspired students to further their education and go into STEM fields. Quantitative findings reveal former student's orientation to participation in science fair activities related to their high interests, perceptions of a challenge, curiosity, and emerging mastery, where students demonstrated high [Correction added on February 17, 2021, after initial publication on February 04, 2021; the displayed quote in the section entitled "Dr. Olson successfully petitioned…" was initially placed as text due to a production error and has been reinstated.] dispositions in science and engineering and self-identified as STEM people. Implications include the use of SCCT, linked with equitable pedagogies to understand interest in STEM fields, mentoring, tapping into the expertise of local professionals to support development of projects, and navigating cultural barriers to provide access for underrepresented youth.

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High school science fair: Positive and negative outcomes

Cited by 19 publications

References 21 publications

High school science fair: Experiences of two groups of undergraduate bioscience students

High school science fair: Experiences of two groups of undergraduate bioscience students

An idea to explore: Engaging high school students in structure‐function studies of bacterial sortase enzymes and inhibitors ‐ A comprehensive computational experimental pipeline

Rubbing elbows with them: Building capacity in STEM through science and engineering fairs

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