Donna Farland-Smith

By Donna Farland-Smith

Scientists have been in the media ever since Frankenstein in 1931. Today’s youth may not have seen the original movie or read the book, but they have seen cartoon reiterations of the famous classic as the work has inspired numerous films, television programs, video games, characters in books and movies. The concept of the “mad scientist” creating a creature, monster, or weapon that eventually falls out of his control, leading to the scientist's eventual defeat or ruin, is a common theme in science-fiction and comic books. Draw-A-Scientist protocols have been utilized by science education researchers to investigate learners’ perceptions of scientists. This chapter discusses historical perspectives of scientists in the media, the methods for analyzing students’ perceptions of scientists and how aspects of their illustrations relate students’ perceptions of scientists. The discussion presented here is framed in the context in which young children hold a range of perceptions that are based on cultural influences, and sometimes these images are limited, and sometimes they compete within the individual. The position of this author is that each of these three are interconnected with the others, support each other, and must be considered along with students’ cultural background and science identity if these illustrations are to fulfill any promise of its utility for research or instructional purposes.

Part of the book: The Evolution of Media Communication

By Donna Farland-Smith

Children are born natural scientists. Research has shown they draw less stereotypical images of scientists the younger they are and less school experience they have. This chapter explores stereotypes young children hold of scientists and engineers and how teachers might recognize, address, and combat these stereotypes in the early childhood classroom. From an early age, children receive messages directly and indirectly about scientists, from their parents, media, television, books, and school. The messages they receive help them shape their science identity and test ideas about who can be scientists and what stereotypes exist. Evidence has demonstrated that students are aware of stereotypes and they are able to recognize and discuss stereotypes in a way that broaden their perception of scientists and engineers. To begin the discussion of pedagogical methodologies, the history of drawings of scientists (and engineers) will be discussed. Likewise, these discussions of stereotypes and new awareness can increase career choices including these two fields: science and engineering. Explicit instruction about the stereotypes the stereotypes and implications that follow for early childhood science classrooms will be discussed.

Part of the book: Early Childhood Education