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Impact of a Hands On Science Outreach Program on Student Interest in Science

Abstract

"Primary school students participating in the HOS program (N=72) and their parents (N=43) were asked to complete questionnaires prior to and at the end of the program indicating attitudes about science. Parents responded about their child who participated in the program. Ten of 11 questions (5 of 6 for students, 5 or 5 for parents) showed shifts in a positive direction, and 5 of these shifts, all in the positive direction, were significant at the .10 level by one-tailed test. In addition to the results for specific items, these results reveal a statistically significant pattern of positive findings in the overall trends. These findings demonstrate that hands-on-science programs can have positive effects on young students' attitudes toward science."