Does human spaceflight affect the perception and uptake of STEM subjects?

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The project seeks to test the hypothesis that human space travel has a positive impact on school students' perception and uptake of STEM subjects. The principal elements involve:* interviews with key informants working in space science in different capacities to gain perspectives on key areas of space science that may influence students' responses to STEM subjects, and advice on space science resources that have been (or will be) produced for use with school students; * the design of a new instrument to assess school students' attitudes to STEM subjects and to space science (no single instrument probing attitudes to STEM subjects currently exists);* use of the instrument to gather longitudinal data from pupils aged 8-11 (Key Stage 2) and 11-14 (Key Stage 3) from a sample of 30 primary and 30 secondary schools;* interviews with teachers and students in 25% of these schools to gather data on their views of factors that influence engagement and participation in STEM subject, including the effects of human space flight; * the production of an overview (or map) of space science resources aimed at engaging young people in STEM subjects; the map will include existing resources and any resources specifically linked to Tim Peake's mission.