From bespectacled, bearded and bald to explosions, potions and vaccines: Irish children’s changing perceptions of scientists and the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on those perceptions

Figures & data

Table 1. Grade and age distribution of participants.

Class	Age range	Frequency	Male^a	Female^a
Junior and senior infants	4–6 years old	79	27	42
First, second and third class	7–9 years old	42	20	22
Fourth, fifth and sixth class	10–12 years old	73	25	23

^a Some children did not disclose information about their gender.

Table 2. Distribution of traditional (upper scale) DAST-C indicators by class level.

Indicators	Percentage [number] of drawings including the indicator
	Junior-Senior Infants (n = 79)	1st–3rd class (n = 42)	4th–6th class (n = 73)
Lab coat	9% [7]	29% [12]	59% [43]
Eyeglasses	33% [26]	41% [17]	56% [41]
Facial hair	0% [0]	5% [2]	12% [9]
Research symbols	46% [36]	69% [29]	74% [54]
Knowledge symbols	8% [6]	5% [2]	25% [18]
Technology	6% [5]	2% [1]	26% [19]
Captions	9% [7]	7% [3]	21% [15]
Mean number of indicators per student	1.05	1.5	2.52

Table 3. Distribution of alternative (lower scale) DAST-C indicators by class level.

Indicators	Percentage [number] of drawings including the indicator
	Junior–Senior Infants (n = 79)	1st–3rd class (n = 42)	4th–6th class (n = 73)
Male	25% [20]	52% [22]	67% [49]
Caucasian	n/a	n/a	n/a
Danger indicators	17% [13]	24% [10]	23% [17]
Light bulbs	3% [2]	0% [0]	1% [1]
Mythic	10% [8]	10% [42]	11% [8]
Secrecy	3% [52]	0% [10]	3% [2]
Indoors	46% [36]	62% [26]	74% [54]
Middle aged/elderly	1% [1]	10% [4]	7% [5]
Mean number of indicators per student	1.03	1.59	1.86

Table 4. Analysis of drawings using the mDAST criteria (Farland-Smith, 2012).

	Percentage [number] of drawings categorised into the mDAST categories
	0	1	2	3
	Cannot be categorised	Sensationalised	Traditional or naïve	Broader than traditional
Infants [age 4–6]
Appearance	51% [40]	10% [8]	15% [12]	24% [19]
Location	54% [43]	5% [4]	33% [26]	8% [6]
Activity	43% [34]	32% [25]	14% [11]	11% [8]
1st–3rd class [age 7–9]
Appearance	24% [10]	7% [3]	36% [15]	33% [14]
Location	38% [16]	2% [1]	55% [23]	5% [2]
Activity	33% [14]	21% [9]	41% [17]	5% [2]
4th–6th class [age 10–12]
Appearance	14% [10]	12% [9]	49% [36]	25% [18]
Location	27% [20]	4% [3]	66% [48]	3% [2]
Activity	8% [6]	27% [20]	41% [30]	23% [17]

Table 5. Distribution of traditional (upper scale), alternative (lower scale) and total DAST-C indicators by class level and gender.

	Junior–Senior Infants (n = 79)	1st–3rd class (n = 42)	4th–6th class (n = 73)	Weighted mean for subscale
DAST-C upper scale indicators Male mean Female mean	1.03 0.85	1.9 1.13	2.16 2.34	1.67 1.30
DAST-C lower scale indicators
Male mean	1.48	2.0	1.96	1.79
Female mean	0.72	1.23	1.56	1.07
DAST-C total scale indicators
Male mean	2.52	3.9	4.12	3.46
Female mean	1.54	2.36	3.91	2.37

Figure 1. Proportion of male and female scientists drawn across the age groups.

Figure 2. Proportion of male and female scientists drawn by boys and girls.

Table 6. Analysis of the drawings by boys and girls using the mDAST criteria.

	Percentage [number] of drawings categorised into the mDAST categories
	0	1	2	3
	Cannot be categorised	Sensationalised	Traditional or naïve	Broader than traditional
Male
Appearance	39% [28]	11% [8]	44% [32]	6% [4]
Location	44% [32]	3% [2]	51.5% [37]	1.5% [1]
Activity	19% [14]	32% [23]	31% [22]	18% [13]
Female
Appearance	32% [28]	8% [7]	20% [17]	40% [35]
Location	47% [41]	2% [2]	43% [37]	8% [7]
Activity	30% [35]	24% [21]	25% [22]	10% [9]

Table 7. Comparison groups by study timing (before and during COVID19).

Class	School	Age range	Frequency	COVID19 status
Senior infants	School 1	4–6 years old	21	Pre-covid
Senior infants	School 1	4–6 years old	28	During covid
Fourth class	School 2	9–10 years old	30	Pre-covid
Fourth class	School 2	9–10 years old	25	During covid

Table 8. Distribution of DAST-C indicators prior to and post-COVID.

	Upper scale score	Lower scale score	Total scale score
Senior infants
Pre covid (n = 22)	0.86	0.95	1.8
Post covid (n = 28)	1.47	1.47	2.93
4th class
Pre covid (n = 30)	2.23	2.0	4.23
Post covid (n = 25)	3.04	2.04	5.08

Table 9. Analysis of drawings using the mDAST criteria (before and during COVID19) on children from Senior Infants (age 4–6) and Fourth class (age 9–10).

	mDAST categories
	0	1	2	3
	Cannot be categorised	Sensationalised	Traditional or naïve	Broader than traditional
Pre-covid
Appearance	33%	10%	24%	33%
Location	37%	0%	61%	2%
Activity	25%	35%	28%	12%
During-covid
Appearance	18%	18%	31%	33%
Location	24%	13%	56%	7%
Activity	24%	29%	29%	18%

Figure 3. Drawing of a scientist made by a 6-year-old child (senior Infants) during the pandemic (with handwritten transciption made by the teacher of the child’s description).

Figure 4. Drawing of a scientist made by a ten-year-old (4th class) child during the pandemic.

Farland-Smith, D. (2012). Development and field test of the modified draw-a-scientist test and the draw-a-scientist rubric. School Science and Mathematics, 112(2), 109–116. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1949-8594.2011.00124.x

 Google Scholar