Expanding the Boundaries of Informal Education Programs: An Investigation of the Role of Pre and Post-education Program Experiences and Dispositions on Youth STEM Learning

Abstract

For generations educators have been supporting children and youth’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning through informal education programming. Such programming includes a wide variety of outdoor education programs, camp programs, and increasingly targeted STEM programs run afterschool, on weekends, and over the summer months. However, despite the positive impacts these programs have, few would argue that these programs could not be improved or be designed to better meet the needs of a broader and more diverse population of learners. Arguably, one major flaw in how most educators have approached the design and improvement of these programs—a flaw that permeates almost all informal STEM education efforts–is that either explicitly or implicitly, the focus of educators has been exclusively on what happens during the program itself. Superficially this seems reasonable. After all, the time children/youth are within the temporal and physical boundaries of the program, class, or museum is the time when educators have maximal control over events. However, given what is known about how people learn (National Academies of Sciences, 2018), we argue that this long-standing approach needs to be reconsidered.

Family values, parent roles, and life challenges: Parent reflections on the factors shaping long‐term interest development for young children and their families participating in an early childhood engineering program

“…Although almost all the families in the study reflected on the long‐term, positive impacts of the program, only a small subset reported ongoing interests directly related to the program goals of engaging families with the engineering design process. Recent attention to ecological perspectives on learning systems has also highlighted this complexity (Falk & Meier, 2021; Louw et al, 2017; Shaby et al, 2021). As Ainley noted, “the processing that occurs in a learning context over time implicates a complex network of interest experiences that are related to but not totally explained by students' individual interest” (2019, p. 801).…”

The Influence of Online STEM Education Camps on Students’ Self-Efficacy, Computational Thinking, and Task Value

“…The STEM education camp is a common and important form of informal learning and plays an active role in promoting the development of students' interests in and attitudes towards STEM (Binns et al, 2016), as well as their practical ability (Roberts et al, 2018), creativity (Falk & Meier, 2021), teamwork awareness (Mohr-Schroeder et al, 2014), and future career aspirations (Bindis, 2020). According to previous research, the thematic content of STEM education camps is rich.…”

An Examination of Black and Latinx Female Youth Experiences in STEM in an Informal Engineering Summer Camp

“…Informal and out of school learning can influence student experience not only inside of the classroom, but also outside of the classroom 5 . According to Roberts et.…”

“…al, for youth that struggle with traditional school learning environments, they often tend to be more attentive and interested in hands-on informal STEM learning 6 . Through research and input of various educators, STEM education programs and hands-on learning approaches goals have been to promote and improve learner outcomes 5 . Summer camps support the development of students learning important 21 st Century skills that they can use in their future careers or within the workforce 7 .…”