Grinnell Frederick, Dalley Simon, Reisch Joan
Department of Cell Biology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, United States of America.
Department of Physics, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2025 Jun 25;20(6):e0325283. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0325283. eCollection 2025.
Most high school students indicate that participation in science and engineering fairs (SEFs) increased their interest in science and engineering (S&E). The underlying appeal of SEF participation is unknown. However, having this information will help to identify best practices leading to more effective student participation and successful outcomes. To learn more about the appeal of SEF participation, we incorporated into our national SEF surveys a free text Reason Why? question asking students the reasons why SEF participation increased or not their interest in S&E. In this paper, we report and analyze the positive and negative comments by 1191 students who participated in our surveys during 2021-22 and 2022-23 and provided free text reasons. The positive reasons that students mentioned most frequently were learned new things; experience doing research; enjoyed/fun experience; and career choice. The negative reasons most frequently mentioned were participation not fun/stressful/boring; not a good project; not interested in science; and required to participate. Overall, students who received coaching and help from scientists made the most positive comments, consistent with our finding that students who received these kinds of help achieved better SEF outcomes. Students who participated in school-only level SEFs made the most negative comments. Reasons students gave why SEF participation increased their interest in S&E aligned with mastery criteria. By contrast, reasons students gave in a previous study regarding why competitive SEFs should be required aligned with performance criteria. Mastery and performance orientations (learning vs. winning) integrate differently with the three elements of self-determination theory: motivation, competence and community engagement. Recognizing these differences in relation to science fair requirements and the S&E career interests of students who participate in SEFs has the potential to enhance the impact of SEF participation on student STEM interest and knowledge.
大多数高中生表示，参加科学与工程博览会（SEF）增加了他们对科学与工程（S&E）的兴趣。参加SEF的潜在吸引力尚不清楚。然而，掌握这些信息将有助于确定最佳做法，从而实现更有效的学生参与和成功成果。为了更多地了解参加SEF的吸引力，我们在全国SEF调查中纳入了一个“原因是什么？”的自由文本问题，询问学生参加SEF增加或未增加他们对S&E兴趣的原因。在本文中，我们报告并分析了1191名在2021 - 22年和2022 - 23年参加我们调查并提供自由文本原因的学生的正面和负面评论。学生最常提到的正面原因是学到了新东西；有做研究的经历；享受/有趣的体验；以及职业选择。最常提到的负面原因是参与无趣/有压力/无聊；项目不好；对科学不感兴趣；以及是被迫参与。总体而言，得到科学家指导和帮助的学生给出的正面评论最多，这与我们的发现一致，即得到这类帮助的学生在SEF中取得了更好的成果。仅参加学校层面SEF的学生给出的负面评论最多。学生给出的参加SEF增加他们对S&E兴趣的原因与掌握标准一致。相比之下，学生在之前一项研究中给出的关于为何应要求举办竞争性SEF的原因与表现标准一致。掌握和表现取向（学习与获胜）与自我决定理论的三个要素（动机、能力和社区参与）的整合方式不同。认识到与科学博览会要求以及参加SEF的学生的S&E职业兴趣相关的这些差异，有可能增强SEF参与对学生STEM兴趣和知识的影响。
