Abstract
BackgroundOne significant factor in facilitating students’ career intentions and persistence in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields is targeting their interests and motivation before eighth grade. To reach students at this critical stage, a design-based afterschool STEM program, titled Studio STEM, was implemented to foster motivation and engagement in STEM topics and activities. The purpose of this study is twofold: (a) to investigate how Studio STEM affected students’ beliefs about science and whether these beliefs differed from their peers who did not participate in the program, and (b) to examine a case study of one Studio STEM implementation to investigate elements of the curriculum that motivated students to engage in the program.ResultsAfter completing two Studio STEM programs, participants’ ratings of their values for science and science competence were higher than those of non-participants. In addition, the Studio STEM participants’ motivational beliefs about science and intentions to pursue a college degree were more resilient over time than their peers. We also found that students could be motivated in a voluntary afterschool program (Studio STEM) in which they grappled with STEM concepts and activities, and could verbalize specific program elements that motivated them.ConclusionsThrough this study, we found that students could be motivated in Studio STEM and that the experience had a positive impact on their perceptions about science as a field. Importantly, Studio STEM appeared to halt the decline in these students’ motivational beliefs about science that typically occurs during the middle school years, indicating that afterschool programs can be one way to help students maintain their motivation in science. Studying the program features that the students found motivating may help educators to make connections between research and theory, and their classroom instruction to motivate their students.
Highlights
IntroductionOne significant factor in facilitating students’ career intentions and persistence in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields is targeting their interests and motivation before eighth grade
One significant factor in facilitating students’ career intentions and persistence in STEM fields is targeting their interests and motivation before eighth grade
Science beliefs and college plans To understand the Studio STEM students’ motivation and the effects of the program on their motivation beliefs, we examined their perceptions about the field of science
Summary
One significant factor in facilitating students’ career intentions and persistence in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields is targeting their interests and motivation before eighth grade. The purpose of this study is twofold: (a) to investigate how Studio STEM affected students’ beliefs about science and whether these beliefs differed from their peers who did not participate in the program, and (b) to examine a case study of one Studio STEM implementation to investigate elements of the curriculum that motivated students to engage in the program. One purpose of our study was to examine how Studio STEM affected students’ beliefs about science and whether these beliefs differed from their peers who did not participate in Studio STEM Another purpose was to examine a case study of a particular Studio STEM implementation to investigate elements of the curriculum that motivated students to engage in the afterschool program. We focused this study on two primary research questions directly related to these two purposes: RQ1: To what extent do students’ motivational beliefs about science change as a result of participating in Studio STEM?
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