Staging science with young people: bringing science closer to students through stand-up comedy

ABSTRACT

Although efforts are being made to bring science closer to secondary school students, science is still mostly perceived within stereotypic frameworks, hindering students’ identification with it. In this paper, we claim the role that arts-based approaches can play in science education to break these biased views and understandings and generate a more motivating science learning experience. For that purpose, we analyse research conducted with students from two secondary schools in Barcelona participating in a science education project applying drama-based activities within an inquiry process with early-career researchers. More specifically, we explore students’ perceptions of science and their attitudes towards learning science at school and pursuing scientific careers. We then evaluate and discuss how the triad ‘researchers’ interaction – scientific inquiry – artistic creation’ can potentially challenge their storylines about science and bring science learning closer to them. Findings suggest that the evaluated approach contributed to progress in this direction through two mechanisms: creating new rapports with science by offering a creative, inclusive and interactive learning experience, and broadening students’ perceptions in terms of what implies to do science and who can do it.

KEYWORDS:

• Drama-based science education
• STEM
• STEAM
• images of science
• attitudes towards science

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the participant schools and the students, teachers, and researchers involved in this study, as well as the science communicators implementing the workshops.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the EU H2020 Science with and for Society programme under Grant Agreement No. 665826: PERFORM ‘Participatory Engagement with Scientific and Technological Research through Performance.’ I. Ruiz-Mallén is also thankful to the Spanish government’s Research Agency through a ‘Ramón y Cajal’ research fellowship (RYC-2015-17676).