Attracting Pupils and Students to Natural Sciences: Challenges in Higher Education on the Example of Science Learning Centre Bioskop Masaryk University (Brno, the Czech Republic)

Authors

  • Ondřej Konečný Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Regional Development and International Studies, Department of Regional Development and Public Administration, Tř. Gen. Píky, 9, 613 00, Brno
  • Alena Podhorná Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Regional Development and International Studies, Tř. Gen. Píky, 9, 613 00, Brno
  • Tereza Hlaváčková Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Regional Development and International Studies, Tř. Gen. Píky, 9, 613 00, Brno
  • Petr Novák Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Regional Development and International Studies, Department of Language and Cultural Studies, Tř. Gen. Píky, 9, 613 00, Brno

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15503/jecs20162.408.423

Keywords:

University, Natural Sciences, Popularisation of Science, Science Learning Centre, Employment

Abstract

Many universities in the Czech Republic lack students´ interest in the studies of natural science.  That is why all the universities have to come up with an idea how to popularize these scientific fields to attract potential university applicants.  One of the ways of achieving that is to create educational centres, which are able, thanks to these programmes, to approach students of primary and secondary schools and show them the natural sciences. The presented example of one particular educational centre (Bioskop Masaryk University, Brno, the Czech Republic) evaluates the success rate of their activities while using written questionnaire survey among the visitors of the programmes (students of primary and secondary schools as well as their pedagogues).  The results have shown that thanks to these activities the centre created quality conditions for popularization of natural sciences. The results have also proven the  centre´s ability to present natural sciences in an attractive and entertaining way to students of elementary and secondary schools. These students expressed their interest in the study of natural sciences and they would like to visit the centre again.

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Author Biographies

Ondřej Konečný, Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Regional Development and International Studies, Department of Regional Development and Public Administration, Tř. Gen. Píky, 9, 613 00, Brno

lecturer

scientific interests: regional development

Alena Podhorná, Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Regional Development and International Studies, Tř. Gen. Píky, 9, 613 00, Brno

Ing., lecturer

scientific interests: economy and management

Tereza Hlaváčková, Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Regional Development and International Studies, Tř. Gen. Píky, 9, 613 00, Brno

student

scientific interests: economy and management

Petr Novák, Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Regional Development and International Studies, Department of Language and Cultural Studies, Tř. Gen. Píky, 9, 613 00, Brno

lecturer

scientific interests: agriculture

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Published

2016-09-10

How to Cite

Konečný, O., Podhorná, A., Hlaváčková, T., & Novák, P. (2016). Attracting Pupils and Students to Natural Sciences: Challenges in Higher Education on the Example of Science Learning Centre Bioskop Masaryk University (Brno, the Czech Republic). Journal of Education Culture and Society, 7(2), 408–423. https://doi.org/10.15503/jecs20162.408.423

Issue

Section

LOCAL CULTURES AND SOCIETIES