Title: Expectation shock in education: utilising industry SERVQUAL to enhance student perception of STEAM and STEAM careers

Authors: Tony Houghton; Zsolt Lavicza; Robert Weinhandl; Imam Fitri Rahmadi; Brigitta Békési; Yves Kreis

Addresses: Department of STEM Education, Linz School of Education, Johannes Kepler Universität Linz, Austria ' Department of STEM Education, Linz School of Education, Johannes Kepler Universität Linz, Austria ' Department of STEM Education, Linz School of Education, Johannes Kepler Universität Linz, Austria ' Department of STEM Education, Linz School of Education, Johannes Kepler Universität Linz, Austria ' Department of STEM Education, Linz School of Education, Johannes Kepler Universität Linz, Austria ' Department of Education and Social Work, Institute for Teaching and Learning, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg

Abstract: In industry, an expectation shock occurs when a customer has a post-experience perception that greatly exceeds their prior expectations. In our study, the customers are students and teachers. An expectation shock might occur when, for example, a student 'just did not expect to find STEAM so interesting'. The objective of this research was to determine how expectation shock might be used in schools to enhance student perception of STEAM and STEAM careers. It was found that expectation shock in the form of Hothousing intensive, collaborative workshops can be used in schools to greatly enhance student perception of STEAM and STEAM careers and give them experience of industry practise valuable for their future careers. Educational practice should focus on enhancing student or teacher perception rather than stated importance. It is essential to examine perception post-experience versus prior expectation to identify benefits (or not) from the activity.

Keywords: STEAM; careers; perception; expectation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTEL.2024.135425

International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, 2024 Vol.16 No.1, pp.1 - 15

Received: 07 Jul 2022
Accepted: 30 Dec 2022
Published online: 12 Dec 2023 *

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