Project description

Ample research suggests an association between school students’ (often inadequate) beliefs about natural scientists and their (rather low) interest in studying natural sciences. Therefore, since the 1950s, research on science education has extensively investigated school students’ beliefs about the work and characteristics of natural scientists. On the contrary, research has not yet investigated student beliefs about the work and characteristics of scientists within the social sciences and humanities. Addressing this research gap appears highly necessary as it has been hypothesized that school students hold inadequate beliefs about the work of scientists within these disciplines, and that these inadequate beliefs are associated with their inaccurate expectations related to studying social sciences and humanities, and with the fact that especially the humanities – at least in Germany – suffer from a high drop-out rate of university students. Therefore, the present project aims at deeply investigating school students’ beliefs related to the work and characteristics of scientists within the social sciences and humanities. A further goal is to investigate the relationship between these beliefs and students’ study interest.