Gifted and Talented Students' Images of Scientists

The purpose of this study was to investigate gifted students’ images of scientists. The study involved 25 students in grades 7 and 8. The Draw-a-Scientist Test (DAST) (Chamber, 183) was used to collect data. Drawings were evalu-ated using certain criterion such as a scientist’s appearance and investigation, knowledge and technology symbols and gender and working style, place work, expressions, titles-captions-symbols and alternative images and age. The results showed that gifted students’ perceptions about scientists were stereotypical, generally with glasses and laboratory coats and working with experiment tubes, beakers indoors and using books, technological tools and dominant-ly lonely males. Most gifted students drew male scientists. Although females drew male scien-tists, none of the boys drew female scientist.