Effect of a science communication event on students’ attitudes towards science and technology

This study investigates the effect of participation in the Knowledge Fair, a Science Communication Event at Catalonia(North East of Spain), on the attitudes of secondary school students towards science and technology. Specifically, thisstudy focuses on answering the following research question: Did students change their attitude towards science andtechnology after participating in the Knowledge Fair? A total of 1,293 students (aged 14–18 years) from 23 Catalansecondary schools participated in the study following a quasi-experimental pre-test-post-test research design. Data werecollected in April 2014 and April 2015, when the fourth and fifth editions of the Knowledge Fair took place, through twoquestionnaires taken at the beginning and at the end of the event. Four attitude components are evaluated: interest inlearning science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines; perception of science and technologyeducation; perception about the importance of science and technology research for society; and choice of the future field ofstudy. For data analysis, descriptive statistics and statistical tests are used. The results of the study show that the studentsdeveloped more favourable attitudes towards science and technology after participating in the event, with few significantdifferences between male and female students.