Impact Research
Increasingly Science Discovery Centres are being asked to provide evidence of the educational impact of their activities. While evidence of short-term impact is relatively easy to obtain, acquiring evidence of long-term impact is much more difficult. So many other factors have to be taken into consideration such as the influence of an inspirational teacher, a fascinating and informative television programme, motivated, interested parents.
Techniquest has undertaken 2 pieces of research to try and find meaningful evidence of the long-term impact of its activities upon its visitors. This work is ongoing. Unfortunately a major difficulty is the acquisition of external funding to enable this research to develop.
A summary of the research conducted so far is given here:
- Does visiting a science centre have any influence on students’ decisions to study science? Cardiff University undergraduates, and A Level and GCSE school students, studying science and non-science subjects, completed questionnaires asking about the number of times they had visited science centres, the impact those visits had on their decision to study science, what they felt they gained from visiting a science centre and the reasons they had chosen to study their current course(s). The main findings indicated that science centres, particularly Techniquest in this study, have a positive impact on the uptake of science subjects at GCSE, A Level and University undergraduate level. Further details here.
- Is there any correlation between the numbers taking STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects at AS and A2 Level from schools who have visited Techniquest in Cardiff Bay, and the number of visits.The results appeared to show that the greater the number of school visits to Techniquest, the greater the percentage of pupils taking science at AS and A2 Level. Further details here.
