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International Journal of Technology and Design Education

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04-07-2017

Engineering attitudes: an investigation of the effect of literature on student attitudes toward engineering

Author: Geoffrey Albert Wright

Published in: International Journal of Technology and Design Education | Issue 3/2018

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Abstract

The growth of STEM career occupations is outpacing the college enrollment of STEM students in the United States. There have been many research projects investigating this issue. There has not however been a study which investigated the impact non-fiction literature has on student interest in studying STEM (specifically engineering) content. The purpose of this study was to investigate the change of student attitudes toward engineering after reading literature involving non-fiction engineering centric narratives. The study used a modified version of the PATT (Pupils Attitudes Towards Technology) called the TEAS (Technology and Engineering Attitudes Scale) to measure student attitude change. The students were high-school aged students in the United States (ages: 15–17) who were enrolled in an English Literature course. The students completed the TEAS before and after reading and studying two engineering and technology centric non-fiction books (The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind and October Sky). The data revealed that student attitude after reading and studying the two books did not statistically change.

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Title: Engineering attitudes: an investigation of the effect of literature on student attitudes toward engineering
Author: Geoffrey Albert Wright
Publication date: 04-07-2017
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Published in: International Journal of Technology and Design Education / Issue 3/2018
Print ISSN: 0957-7572
Electronic ISSN: 1573-1804
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10798-017-9417-0

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