This research looked at the choices that children make in the classroom when offered manual and technological options to measure scientific variables. Over 170 school children were involved in science lessons designed in collaboration with school teachers and the research team as part of the planned curriculum. We found that approximately 25% of the students chose the manual measuring options, compared with 75% who chose the technological options. During the focus group interviews (n = 62) carried out immediately after the class, we found that some children who had selected the technological option had done so due to perceptions of the tool’s novelty and “accuracy.” Some later regretted their choice, reasoning that “real” scientists did not use technology, that it would have been more challenging to measure manually, and therefore that they would have “felt more like scientists” had they selected the manual option. Perceptions of ease of use sometimes lowered children’s intent to use the technology option. Similarly, students who chose the manual option alluded to the inauthenticity of the technology option: this is not “what scientists do.” Consequently, students who had selected the manual option were also more likely to describe feeling “like a scientist” when carrying out the measurements. The possible implications of the findings, in terms of a possible inversion of the technology acceptance model for students in the science classroom, are explored.

这项研究着眼于儿童在提供手动和技术选择以测量科学变量时在课堂上所做的选择。作为计划课程的一部分，有170多名小学生参加了与学校老师和研究团队合作设计的科学课程。我们发现大约25％的学生选择了手动测量选项，而选择技术选项的学生只有75％。在焦点小组访谈中（n = 62）在课后立即进行，我们发现一些选择了该技术选项的孩子之所以这样做是由于对工具的新颖性和“准确性”的认识。后来有人对他们的选择感到遗憾，认为“真正的”科学家没有使用技术，手动测量将更具挑战性，因此，如果他们选择了手动选项，他们将“感觉像科学家一样”。易用性的观念有时会降低儿童使用技术选件的意愿。同样，选择手动选项的学生也暗示了该技术选项的不真实性：这不是“科学家的所作所为”。因此，选择了手动选项的学生在进行测量时也更有可能描述“像科学家一样”的感觉。