High school science fair: What students say-mastery, performance, and self-determination theory.

ABSTRACT: Most high school students indicate that participation in science and engineering fairs (SEFs) increased their interest in science and engineering (S&E). The underlying appeal of SEF participation is unknown. However, having this information will help to identify best practices leading to more effective student participation and successful outcomes. To learn more about the appeal of SEF participation, we incorporated into our national SEF surveys a free text Reason Why? question asking students the reasons why SEF participation increased or not their interest in S&E. In this paper, we report and analyze the positive and negative comments by 1191 students who participated in our surveys during 2021-22 and 2022-23 and provided free text reasons. The positive reasons that students mentioned mo

SUBMITTER: Grinnell F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12193632 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature