Going beyond the one-off: How can STEM engagement programmes with young people have real lasting impact?

Abstract

A major focus in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) public engagement sector concerns engaging with young people, typically through schools. The aims of these interventions are often to positively affect students’ aspirations towards continuing STEM education and ultimately into STEM-related careers. Most school engagement activities take the form of short one-off interventions that, while able to achieve positive outcomes, are limited in the extent to which they can have lasting impacts on aspirations. In this paper, we discuss various different emerging programmes of repeated interventions with young people, assessing what impacts can realistically be expected. Short series of interventions appear also to suffer some limitations in the types of impacts achievable. However, deeper programmes that interact with both young people and those who influence them over significant periods of time (months to years) seem to be more effective in influencing aspirations. We discuss how developing a theory of change and considering young people’s wider learning ecologies are required in enabling lasting impacts in a range of areas. Finally, we raise several sector-wide challenges to implementing and evaluating these emerging approaches.

Evaluating participants' experience of extended interaction with cutting-edge physics research through the PRiSE “research in schools” programme

“…Parental engagement is notoriously difficult within school-based programmes in general (see the review of M. O. Archer et al, 2021), so we simply aim to include parents/carers to celebrate in students' project work at the end of the programme. These parents/carers are likely interested in their children's education.…”

“Thanks for helping me find my enthusiasm for physics”: the lasting impacts “research in schools” projects can have on students, teachers, and schools

“…Independent research projects and "research in schools", when appropriately developed and supported by expert mentors from universities or industry, thus potentially align with this direction. Bennett et al (2016Bennett et al ( , 2018 reviewed the evidence of impact from independent research project endeavours globally. They found that impacts on students were most often investigated, with various outcomes being reported including improved understanding, practical and transferable skills, or attitudes and aspirations towards science.…”

“…Dunlop et al (2019) further suggest there is value in students participating in independent research projects through developing their understanding about scientific research/researchers and allowing them to make more informed decisions about their future subject choices. It appears at present though that only a few programmes consider the impact on students from underrepresented groups, presenting emerging evidence that increased engagement with science can result from their involvement (Bennett et al, 2016(Bennett et al, , 2018. Finally, the review highlights that evaluations exploring the potential long-term impacts of project work on students, such as subsequent subject or career choices, are currently lacking.…”

“…While some studies into independent research projects use views from teachers, these tend to little explore the impact on the teachers themselves from their own participation in projects (Bennett et al, 2016(Bennett et al, , 2018. This aspect has recently been considered by Rushton and Reiss (2019) for teachers engaged in projects with IRIS (2020).…”

“…In general, however, Bennett et al (2016Bennett et al ( , 2018 note that with little detail on the assessment criteria for independent research projects being reported, further work is required to improve the quality of evidence and to more fully explore the potential long-term benefits of teachers' and students' (particularly those from underrepresented groups) involvement in independent research projects. This paper draws on 6 years' worth of evaluation data from the Physics Research in School Environments (PRiSE) programme of independent research projects to explore the possible impacts on participating students, teachers, and schools.…”