Enjoyment and Self-Efficacy in Oral Scientific Communication Are Positively Correlated to Postsecondary Students’ Oral Performance Skills

Scientific oral communication is of major importance in democratic societies, but science students often dread giving oral presentations because of the stress they cause, and more generally, because of their attitude towards science communication. As attitude influences behavior, attitude towards sc...

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Main Authors: Caroline Cormier, Simon Langlois
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-07-01
Series:Education Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/12/7/466
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author Caroline Cormier
Simon Langlois
author_facet Caroline Cormier
Simon Langlois
author_sort Caroline Cormier
collection DOAJ
description Scientific oral communication is of major importance in democratic societies, but science students often dread giving oral presentations because of the stress they cause, and more generally, because of their attitude towards science communication. As attitude influences behavior, attitude towards science communication might have an impact on the performance students give during an oral presentation. This study was conducted with French-speaking postsecondary CEGEP (17–19 years old) science students in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In this mixed-methods study, students’ attitude towards oral communication in science (<i>n</i> = 1295) was measured using a five-component model (perceived relevance, anxiety, enjoyment, self-efficacy (S-E) and context dependency). We then observed, by video, a sample of 26 students and measured their oral performance skills during a presentation on a scientific topic. The results suggest a strong correlation between oral performance in science and two components of attitude: the enjoyment of doing oral presentations and a specific aspect of S-E we called Showmanship S-E. In addition, although most students had a high perception of the relevance of oral communication in science, this did not correlate to their oral performance and most experienced anxiety about their oral communication.
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spelling doaj.art-56e051b3fb2048c780c4a412632b75842023-11-30T23:05:15ZengMDPI AGEducation Sciences2227-71022022-07-0112746610.3390/educsci12070466Enjoyment and Self-Efficacy in Oral Scientific Communication Are Positively Correlated to Postsecondary Students’ Oral Performance SkillsCaroline Cormier0Simon Langlois1Chemistry Department, Cégep André-Laurendeau, Lasalle, QC H8N 2J4, CanadaSciences Department, Cégep Marie-Victorin, Montreal, QC H1G 2J6, CanadaScientific oral communication is of major importance in democratic societies, but science students often dread giving oral presentations because of the stress they cause, and more generally, because of their attitude towards science communication. As attitude influences behavior, attitude towards science communication might have an impact on the performance students give during an oral presentation. This study was conducted with French-speaking postsecondary CEGEP (17–19 years old) science students in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In this mixed-methods study, students’ attitude towards oral communication in science (<i>n</i> = 1295) was measured using a five-component model (perceived relevance, anxiety, enjoyment, self-efficacy (S-E) and context dependency). We then observed, by video, a sample of 26 students and measured their oral performance skills during a presentation on a scientific topic. The results suggest a strong correlation between oral performance in science and two components of attitude: the enjoyment of doing oral presentations and a specific aspect of S-E we called Showmanship S-E. In addition, although most students had a high perception of the relevance of oral communication in science, this did not correlate to their oral performance and most experienced anxiety about their oral communication.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/12/7/466oral communicationscience communicationattitudeself-efficacyassessment
spellingShingle Caroline Cormier
Simon Langlois
Enjoyment and Self-Efficacy in Oral Scientific Communication Are Positively Correlated to Postsecondary Students’ Oral Performance Skills
Education Sciences
oral communication
science communication
attitude
self-efficacy
assessment
title Enjoyment and Self-Efficacy in Oral Scientific Communication Are Positively Correlated to Postsecondary Students’ Oral Performance Skills
title_full Enjoyment and Self-Efficacy in Oral Scientific Communication Are Positively Correlated to Postsecondary Students’ Oral Performance Skills
title_fullStr Enjoyment and Self-Efficacy in Oral Scientific Communication Are Positively Correlated to Postsecondary Students’ Oral Performance Skills
title_full_unstemmed Enjoyment and Self-Efficacy in Oral Scientific Communication Are Positively Correlated to Postsecondary Students’ Oral Performance Skills
title_short Enjoyment and Self-Efficacy in Oral Scientific Communication Are Positively Correlated to Postsecondary Students’ Oral Performance Skills
title_sort enjoyment and self efficacy in oral scientific communication are positively correlated to postsecondary students oral performance skills
topic oral communication
science communication
attitude
self-efficacy
assessment
url https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/12/7/466
work_keys_str_mv AT carolinecormier enjoymentandselfefficacyinoralscientificcommunicationarepositivelycorrelatedtopostsecondarystudentsoralperformanceskills
AT simonlanglois enjoymentandselfefficacyinoralscientificcommunicationarepositivelycorrelatedtopostsecondarystudentsoralperformanceskills