University run science outreach programs as a community of practice and site for identity development

ABSTRACT

There is a concern in many countries with participation rates in science. One response to this has been a proliferation of university run science outreach programs that aim to both engage and retain students in science. Previous studies of outreach programs have tended to take into account the perspectives of just a few stakeholders in the program. Although this approach has led to some understanding of outreach programs it underplays the level of complexity in running outreach programs and leaves a gap in understanding how student identity and aspirations toward science are supported in science outreach. This research has investigated the perspectives of students, teachers, parents and scientists in one university run astronomy outreach program with the aim of better understanding the role that communities of practice play in science outreach in developing students’ science identity. The study confirms the importance of sustained support rather than single interventions and highlights how the development of community within science outreach contributes to shared affective experiences of astronomical phenomena and practices.

KEYWORDS:

• Science outreach

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Professor Rachel Webster and Jacinta den Besten for their generous support throughout this project and their work on the Telescopes in Schools program. We would also like to thank the Laby Foundation for the grant that made this research possible.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Victoria Millar http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1350-9530

Maurizio Toscano http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8585-0343

Jan van Driel http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8185-124X

Emma Stevenson http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4871-9693

Chloë Nelson http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7301-2852

Clare Kenyon http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5533-6386

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Laby Foundation.