ROSES in brief
ROSES, The Relevance of Science Education-second , is an international comparative project meant to shed light on affective factors of importance to the learning of science and technology.
Low interest in science and in pursuing a science career has perceived as a problem in many countries (Bybee & McCrae, 2011). School Science seems to have failed in engaging students and many students think that school science is difficult and not relevant for everyday use or for their future jobs (Anders Jidesjö, 2012; Lyons, 2006; Oscarsson, Jidesjö, Karlsson, & Strömdahl, 2009; M. Oskarsson, 2011; Schreiner, 2005). The former Rose project addressed questions about students’ experiences, interest, engagement and thrust in science. Almost 40 countries collected data from 2004 and some years after through a common questionnaire. Key findings was (Sjøberg & Schreiner, 2010)
Attitudes to science and technology among adults and young people are mainly positive!
In the richest countries (Northern Europe, Japan) young people are more ambivalent and sceptical than the adult population.
There is growing gender difference, with girls, in particular in the richest countries, being more negative than boys.
New trends among youth
Today’s society faces global challenges such as environment degradation, sustainability, and climate changes. Modern industry are on one hand part of the problem but science may also provide solutions to these problems. (M. Oskarsson, Eklöf, H., Kjaernslie, M., Sörenssen, H., 2018). In the last ten years, major changes have also taken place in society related to our use of everyday science and new technology. Today 15-year-old students live in an information-saturated society that is very different from only a decade ago. This have changed the way students are able to get access to new technologies and may change how they value science and technology.
Pisa 2015 (OECD, 2016a) shows that students’ enjoyment of learning science has increased in many countries in western and northern Europe. These are countries where students reported relative low enjoyment one decade ago. All these countries report an increase in the average students’ enjoyment but also increasing differences between different students. Some students show higher enjoyment and other lower enjoyment. These countries also show big differences in interest in science between boys and girls, where boys are more interested. This is in contrast to the fact that several of these countries e.g. the Nordic countries are being considered to be the most equal in the world (OECD, 2016a; Sørensen & Dohn, 2016). Enjoyment is at the same time lower in 2015 than in 2006 in several countries in Eastern Europe as well as in other parts of the world where students earlier reported high interests in learning science. Differences between countries, between various groups of students as well as increased differences between the sexes are two driving forces for more empirical evidence and knowledge building (OECD, 2016a, 2016b; M. Oskarsson et. al., 2018).
Theoretical framework
The students’ interest, commitment and learning are interconnected. They are developed in dialectical interplay in a social and cultural environment where the identities of young people are formed. The contact a person have with its surroundings has to be interpreted by physical and intellectual, signs and tools that make the world intelligible. Gender, social class and ethnicity become markers in the creation of identity and in the formation of groups. Attitudes, values and behaviours that influence ways that students take an interest in and which choices they make are formed in such groups (M. Oskarsson, 2011; Schreiner, 2005). Identity is a social construction whose meanings are derived from cultural, historical, and geopolitical contexts. It gives people a sense of “being”, a lens through which they see the social world, and a set of guidelines for ways of “acting” (Yep, 2016). However, identity is not only an individual process. Instead collective identities are central to human interaction, and if we are to understand them more fully, we must regularly incorporate them in research (Hosek & Soliz, 2016).
Methods
Previous data was collected through a questionnaire to students. The questionnaire was developed by researchers in collaboration with the use of several different methods. Data collection was carried out in almost 40 countries, all described in Sowing the seeds of ROSE (Schreiner & Sjøberg, 2004; Sjøberg & Schreiner, 2010).
The questionnaire from the previous study has now been developed and updated. The numbers of items have been reduced by the use of factor analysis. The analysis revealed a pattern in which groups of items could be discerned. The number of items could then be reduced without losing the possibility of capturing the underlying factor. New items regarding social media experiences has been added. Social media reinforce the socialisation into groups who act and think alike and this might be an explanation for patterns of changed attitudes. The new questionnaire can highlight questions about group affiliation and interest. More developed questions about students’ thrust in Science with questions about the theory of evolution as one example. Outdated questions about technologies like CD and tape recorders have been removed. The updated questionnaire was tested in a pilot study during March and April 2019.
The data collection started in 2020 in several countries but was deladed due to the pandemic. Results wil be presented at the IOSTE concference in Recife July 2022.
Results and discussion
Comparisons between countries is relevant as well as national adaptations which is in the heart of the study. Gender, age, progression, transition, recruitment, comparisons with teachers and relations between interest and experience ( Jidesjö & Danielsson, 2016) stand out as important continuations for the new ROSES study. Modern society is in changes with new technology influencing a greater part of our lives. Many jobs that students might have later in life do not even exist today. There are many indications that the image of science is shifting. In the discussions about sustainability, the environment, and climate change, the focus is in many ways on new technologies and entrepreneurs behind new brands in smart phones and electric cars are well known from the media and in popular culture. Socialisation into groups with those who think and act alike are strong and are reinforced by social media that is designed to help us to get “likes” and find “friends”. Different groups of students seem to perceive science differently which calls for more research to understand differences between genders and between other groups of students. ROSES are not interested in ranking or competition between countries. Diversity and reflecting over different students opinions in different countries is a key for understanding new trends among youth.
Based on long and rich experience and solid theoretical ground, comparable data that can describe the changes in young peoples' approaches towards science and technology will be generated by ROSES - Relevance Of Science Education Second. The strength in collecting students’ data from all over the world is immense. There are no right or wrong answers instead ROSES is open for new findings and new voices from young peoples about their attitudes and engagement in relation to Science and Technology.
Some preliminary results from the pilot study will be presented at ESERA 2019 but first and foremost we are happy to present a fully tested and operational questionnaire The ROSES team are also happy invite researchers from more countries to cooperate with us in ROSES network.
REFERENCES
Bybee, R., & McCrae, B. (2011). Scientific Literacy and Student Attitudes: Perspectives from PISA 2006 science. International journal of Science Education, 33(1), 7 - 26.
Hosek, A. M., & Soliz, J. (2016). Expanding the Landscape of Diversity in Instructional Communication Research through the Intergroup Perspective. Communication Education, 65(2), 223-226.
Jidesjö, A. (2012). En problematisering av ungdomars intresse för naturvetenskap och teknik i skola och samhälle: innehåll, medierna och utbildningens funktion. Norrköping: Department of Social and Welfare Studies, Linköping University.
Jidesjö, A., & Danielsson, Å. (2016). Student experience and interest in science: Connections and relations with further education. Nordic Studies in Science Education, 12(1).
Lyons, T. (2006). Different Countries, Same Science Classes: Students' experiences of school science in their own words. International journal of Science Education, 28(6), 591-613.
OECD. (2016a). PISA 2015 Results (Volume I) Paris: OECD.
OECD. (2016b). PISA 2015 Results (Volume II) Paris: OECD.
Oscarsson, M., Jidesjö, A., Karlsson, K. G., & Strömdahl, H. (2009). Science in society or science in school: Swedish secondary teachers' beliefs about science and science lessons compared with what their students want to learn. Nordina, 5(1), 18-34.
Oskarsson, M. (2011). Viktigt - men inget för mig: ungdomars identitetsbygge och intresse för naturvetenskap. Linköpings universitet, Norrköping.
Oskarsson, M., Eklöf, H., Kjaernslie, M., Sörenssen, H. (2018). Nordic students interest and self-belief in science. In A. Wester (Ed.), Northern light on PISA and TIMSS 2018. Copenhagen: Nordic Council of Ministers/Publication Unit.
Schreiner, C. (2005). Exploring a ROSE-garden. Norwegian youth's orientations towards science-seen as signs of late modernity. University of Oslo, Oslo.
Schreiner, C., & Sjøberg, S. (2004). Sowing the seeds of ROSE. Oslo: The University of Oslo.
Sjøberg, S., & Schreiner, C. (2010). The ROSE project: An overview and key findings. Retrieved from Oslo:
Sørensen, H., & Dohn, N. B. (2016). Elevernes holdninger og forventninger i forhold til naturfag. In V. T. Christensen (Ed.), PISA 2015 Danske unge i en international sammenligning. København: KORA.
Yep, G. A. (2016). Demystifying Normativities in Communication Education. Communication Education, 65(2), 235-240. the APA style, (www.tandf.co.uk/journals/authors/style/reference/tf_A.pdf).