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*****************************************************************************

I used to teach a physics course "Physics and Society" at university and 
used "Draw-A-Scientist" not as a test but as a warm-up activity. It 
worked great to get a laugh out of the students and it did provide some 
anecdotal evidence which I could use later on during the course 
(comparison of the students' drawings to depiction of scientists in 
popular media).

It certainly wasn't a sound empirical test. The context (a university 
course, offered by the physics department, where students expect to 
learn about science's impact on society) guided the drawings. Some 
recurring themes were :

1. mostly men were drawn (drawings of women did occur sometimes but were 
much less elaborate than drawings of men)
2. they often resembled either Einstein (crazy hair, E=mc2) or Newton 
(falling apple!)
3. some were shown playing with dangerous things (bomb, laser)

I would "blame" 2 & 3 directly on the situation of the students when I 
asked them to draw a scientist. But it was fun nevertheless.
Peter

> ------------------------------
>
> Date:    Sun, 16 Jul 2006 13:45:39 -0700
> From:    "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: The Draw-A-Scientist-Test
>
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
> *****************************************************************************
>
> The excercise of having someone draw a scientist is interesting but I quest=
> ion
> whether asking for a single drawing is representative of what the drawer=20
> actually believes scientists to be.=20=20=20=20
> Now even though I am a female neuroscientist whose lab doesn't even have=20
> test tubes if asked to draw a scientist I would probably draw a male in=20
> a lab coat holding a test tube (that is if I had any drawing ability at=20
> all since in reality I would probably only manage a stick figure).  I=20
> would draw this not because I think all scientists look like this but=20
> because I think this is the image most able to convey scientist to other=20
> people.  What I would be very curious to see is what would happen if you=20
> asked people to draw 5 different pictures of a scientist.  This way=20
> people take up one drawing on the traditional test tube picture and then=20
> there would be 4 other pictures to see if people have any concept of the=20
> diversity that does exist within science.  Has something like this ever=20
> been tried?
>
> --Kristy
>
> ********************************************************
> Kristy Sundberg
> Graduate Student- UCSD Dept of Neuroscience
> John Reynolds Lab- The Salk Institute
> ********************************************************
>
>
> On Thu Jul 13 12:04 , 'Richard O. Brown' <[log in to unmask]> sent:
>
>   
>> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
>> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related instituti=
>>     
> ons.
>   
>> **************************************************************************=
>>     
> ***
>   
>> Re: depicting science:
>>
>> If you haven't done this exercise before, you might enjoy trying this=20
>> activity before reading on:
>> http://www.the-aps.org/education/2006rts/pdf/Draw_a_Scientist_handout.pdf=
>>     
> =20
>   
>> (Or simply imagine and draw a picture of a scientist doing science.)
>>
>>
>> This is the classic "Draw-A-Scientist-Test" (DAST), originally developed b=
>>     
> y=20
>   
>> anthropologists Margaret Mead and Rhoda Metraux in 1957.  It's been widely=
>>     
> =20
>   
>> used since then to track public perceptions of scientists over time, and=
>>     
> =20
>   
>> across different ages, ethnicities and nationalities.  The consistent=20
>> finding is that people asked to "Draw a picture of a scientist doing=20
>> science" typically produce stereotyped drawings of a socially awkward,=20
>> bearded old white man in a lab coat, with accessories such as beakers and=
>>     
> =20
>   
>> equation-covered chalkboards.  (Picture the scientists in Gary Larson's Fa=
>>     
> r=20
>   
>> Side.)   But it's a matter of debate how much that stereotype really=20
>> affects public perception of science, or the likelihood of choosing scienc=
>>     
> e=20
>   
>> as a career.
>>
>> I'd be interested to hear if anyone has used the DAST as an activity in a=
>>     
> =20
>   
>> science center.
>>
>> The test linked above comes from the website of the American Physiological=
>>     
> =20
>   
>> Society, which also offers this scoresheet:=20
>> http://www.the-aps.org/education/2006rts/pdf/DASTRatingRubric.pdf
>>
>> There was an interesting discussion of DAST and other measures of public=
>>     
> =20
>   
>> perception of scientists in the NSF's Science and Engineering Indicators=
>>     
> =20
>   
>> 2002=20
>> (http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind02/c7/c7s3.htm>http://www.nsf.gov/stat=
>>     
> istics/seind02/c7/c7s3.htm).
>   
>> Oddly and peculiarly yours,
>> Richard
>>
>> ***********************************************************
>> Richard O. Brown, PhD
>> Staff Neuroscientist / Exhibit and Project Developer
>> The Exploratorium
>> 3601 Lyon Street
>> San Francisco, CA 94123-1099
>>
>> (415) 353-0483
>> ***********************************************************
>>
>>
>> At 04:24 PM 7/12/2006, you wrote:
>>
>>     
>>> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
>>> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institut=
>>>       
> ions.
>   
>>> *************************************************************************=
>>>       
> ****
>   
>>> It turns out (surprise!) we're not the only ones grappling with how to
>>> depict science. This blog entry and its replies offer some scientists'
>>> opinions on the issue. Here's a hint: enough with the photos of colored
>>> liquids in Erlenmeyer flasks.
>>>
>>> http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2006/07/07/memo_to_the_public_relat
>>> ions_department.php
>>>
>>>
>>> Katherine Ziff
>>> Exhibit Developer
>>> Great Lakes Science Center
>>> (216) 696-4058
>>>       

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