Effect of Science Outreach Activities on Chemophobic Conceptions at the High School Level

• Roberto Sáez-Hernández ^[1] ; Rafael Ballesteros-Garrido ^[1]
  1. [1] University of Valencia, España
• Localización: Journal of chemical education, ISSN 0021-9584, Vol. 101, Nº 4, 2024, págs. 1635-1641
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Chemophobia is a widely spread phenomenon in all strata of society, including high school students. Like adults, teenagers are exposed to the same environment and information sources that infuse an irrational fear toward chemistry and its influence in our society. The potential harm that hesitant positions against chemistry can have among the general public is sustained by the existing scientific literature, indicating that these positions are often based on wrong conceptions. This creates an urge to develop new approaches to counteract chemophobia among the general public and students in particular. Given the fact that secondary students are still in a learning stage, intervening at these early moments is a potential dissemination strategy. In this work, the influence of science outreach activities carried out by scholars at compulsory (aged 14–15) and pre-university (aged 17–18) levels is assessed in terms of chemophobic conceptions. To measure the shift in their conceptions, students answer questions before and after the activity. Results indicate that compulsory students are slightly more predisposed to have chemophobic conceptions than pre-university students. After the activity, the post-conceptions of both groups significantly changed regarding some topics, moving toward more receptive positions about chemistry. This effect was more evident among pre-university students, probably due to their stronger prior scientific backgrounds. Overall, this work presents evidence for the potential that science outreach activities have in fighting chemophobia at lower education levels.