‘More than Just Waste Paper’ – It Could Be an Indicator of a Stereotypical Image of a Scientist

Year 2018, , 715 - 730, 15.07.2018

Sedat Karacam , Volkan Bilir Azize Digilli Baran

https://doi.org/10.12973/eu-jer.7.3.715

Abstract

The
purpose of this study was to investigate the meanings assigned by pre-service
teachers to the wastepaper basket and waste (crumpled) papers in their drawings
of a scientist. The study was carried out with 220 pre-service teachers during
the 2015-2016 academic years. A phenomenological research method was used.
First, the pre-service teachers were administered the ‘Draw-A-Scientist Test’
in order to identify their images of a scientist and then they were asked to
describe and explain the scientist they drew. And a semi-structured interview
was performed with the 34 pre-service teachers who included a wastepaper basket
and waste paper in their drawings in order to identify the meanings assigned to
the wastepaper and wastepaper basket by these teachers. The data were analysed
by using content analysis. The results of the analysis showed that with these
figures the pre-service teachers revealed their belief that when scientists
conduct research, they follow a confirmatory experimental process in a similar
manner to the way school science experiments. Based on these results, it can be
suggested in the analysis of the drawings that waste paper and wastepaper
baskets can be regarded as indicators of the stereotypical image of scientists
and of the scientific method they use.

Keywords

Science, science education, image of scientist, draw-a-scientist test

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