The SEMinal impact of contemporary science: integrated authentic science design and students’ self-efficacy and career aspirations

Authentic science learning has a significant potential for contributing to students’ self-efficacy (SE) and science career aspirations (SCA) by introducing contemporary science. However, the design of authentic learning remains challenging due to the elusive and subjective nature of experiencing authenticity and the interdisciplinarity and complexity of contemporary science. This study aimed to transform these challenges into opportunities by integrating theoretical frameworks of authentic design with a unique setting, including: (a) authentic pedagogy highlighting social experiences, (b) authentic scientific equipment including hands-on operation of a scanning electron microscope (SEM) situated in a research institute, (c) contemporary science theme (biomineralization). This integrated design was investigated by collecting data from 70 secondary science students on their perceived-authenticity, SE, and SCA using pre–post Likert-type questionnaires. After discovering that authenticity was intensely perceived, we used inferential statistics to examine the relationships between different authentic aspects related to both hard and soft science skills and SE and SCA. We identified a significant connection between students’ experience of acquiring authentic knowledge (i.e. hard skills) and their SCA, as well as between the social experience (i.e. soft skills) and students’ SE. This study contributes to understanding the design and impact of authentic science activities in research institutes.