Literature Review of Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) Awareness-Raising Activities

The Literature Review was the first element in a project on changes in community awareness of science, engineering and technology (SET).  The Review was followed by a survey of parents, community members and secondary students.

The Review analysed material assessing the effectiveness of a wide variety of SET awareness raising activities, such as publicity and promotion efforts by science centres, museums, awards, etc, including evaluations, where available.  It found that:

• Key promotion activities covered a wide range of SET fields, often focussing on interactive approaches and cutting-edge fields such as genetic engineering and biotechnology.
• interactive, hands-on SET activities (eg Questacon, Phiggles the Flying Scientist)  appeared to be the most effective in engaging community interest;
• general awareness of SET activities appeared to be low among high school and university students;
• many SET activities, while seen as interesting and fun, were not very effective in engaging students in pursuing careers in SET;
• formal evaluation of SET awareness raising activities was very limited, leading to a need for better baseline data about attitudes to SET and the effectiveness of specific initiatives (which is supplemented by the next element of the project, the Survey).

Literature Review of Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) Awareness Raising Activities Research Report  PDF    (247.3 KB) RTF    (3.4 MB)