Do experimentation outreach programs improve the attitudes towards school science?

There is an increasing interest in the affective domain in science education, and particularly in the attitudes towards school science, as a possibility to counteract the present decline of scientific vocations observed in the last few years. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the effect of an experimental outreach program on the attitude towards school science. The possible influence of factors such as educational stage, sex and geographical context (rural or urban) is taken into account. This is a quantitative, cross-sectional study with a brief questionnaire being administered before and after the intervention to measure student attitude. The sample consists of 380 students from the pre-university schools participating in the project. Statistical analysis was carried out using the SPSSv22 computer software. The results obtained after comparing the pretest and posttest show a more positive attitude towards school science in the posttest (t=5.46; df=299; p<.01). This increase is more prevalent among elementary school students (t=-6.61; df=210; p<.00), and among students from rural areas (p<.00). No significant difference based on sex is found (p=. 38 pretest; p=. 06 posttest). The conclusion of our evaluation is that this outreach program has a more positive influence on elementary students than on those in secondary education. Therefore, interventions regarding the future selection of science related subjects should take place in the early stages of education, such as the elementary level, where a more positive increase is obtained, and to keep the actions in a more intense and long-term format. With regard to the increase in positive attitudes among students living in rural environments found in this study, further research is needed to confirm whether or not these results can be generalized.