engleski

Technology and innovation in drawings made by primary school children in Croatia

When asked about their future role in science, primary school children draw their visions comprising various aspects of technology and innovation. The children draw themselves as scientists during 2010 Researchers' night in Croatia. We have received total of 82 drawings done by pupils in the age of 10 to 16 years, 64.6 % being females. They draw several research professions in addition to technology icons such as robots. Their active roles in research, space or wildlife study draw 71.95 % of children. Analysing these drawings, we can group the illustrated topics into three categories ; a) innovation, b) technology and c) applied technology, although that was not always simple because children illustrated several motifs such as technology icons (rockets or telescopes) with personal research. The innovation category comprised drawings of chemistry and pharmaceutical laboratories, electric light and chemical experiments, the technology category comprised drawings of robots and machinery, and the applied technology category comprised drawings of scuba-diving, space research (involving rockets and telescopes), and photographing the nature (animals, birds and fossils). The analyses showed that innovation was illustrated in 35.37 %, purely impersonal technology (not involving the author) was illustrated in 14.63 %, whereas the applied technology was illustrated in 29.27 % of drawings. Combined technology topics give 43.9 %. The popularity of applied technology does not overcome innovation, but proves that majority of children are aware of its role in basic research. It is interesting to note that majority of drawings which illustrated impersonal technology showed friendly robots usually helping around a house.

science; technology; drawings; school children

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