How Do the Images of Scientists in Secondary School Science Textbooks Affect Students’ Perceptions of Scientists?

Abstract

This study aims to reveal whether there are any relations between secondary school students' perceptions of scientists and the images of scientists in secondary school science textbooks. The participants of the study were 140 secondary school students from a public school. The study is based on a qualitative research methodology.  Qualitative research methods were used in the research. As a data collection tools, the Draw a Scientist Test (DAST) and secondary school science textbooks were used. The drawings obtained from the students and the images of scientists in the science textbooks were analyzed in the context of the determined themes. As a result of the study, it was determined that the students generally drew the scientist as male, thoughtful, wearing a lab coat and glasses, and young, with long and curly hair. It has been observed that scientists express their working environment as people who work alone in the laboratory and library environment. It also stands out that they benefit from computers and other technological apparatus like telescopes. It was determined that the students mostly included the drawings of Isaac Newton, Galileo Galilei, and Albert Einstein at each grade level as famous scientists. It has been determined that the drawings made by the students were influenced by the images from the textbooks.