Vocal and quiet students’ attitude towards school biology and biotechnology following an intervention

The present study set out to examine the impact of linking in-school biology and biotechnology teaching with out-of-school biology and biotechnology experiences on the attitudes towards school biology and biotechnology of 16 upper secondary science students from eight different schools. The students had all been selected by the other students from their classes to participate in an intervention as Young Researchers and differed in being either vocal (8) or quiet (8) participants during normal lessons. Through interviews the Young Researchers shared their retrospective self-evaluations of the intervention. Findings show that combining an out-of-school intervention with in-class teaching and learning had an impact on the students involved. Vocal students’ self-belief and future career plans were affected positively and they became more committed to reach their goals of achieving high grades going to university and getting a good job in science. Quiet students’ self-belief and future career plans were also affected positively, but differently from vocal students, as they also changed their behaviour and became more vocal during class. It is, therefore, suggested that an experience of this kind can have a positive impact on students’ attitudes towards school biology and biotechnology.