Imapacts of Hands-On Science Curriculum for Elementary School Students and Families Delivered on a Mobile Laboratory

Jones, Amanda; Chang, Alexander C.; Carter, Rebecca A.; Roden, William H.

doi:10.15695/jstem/v2i1.02

Cited by 11 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…This information highlights the importance of effective evaluation of outreach programs in meeting their desired goals; for both financial (20) and social reasons (16). Hands-on and active learning approaches, typical of many outreach events (11,17), show an increase in cognitive retention of learned concepts (8,12,15). However, this does not necessarily translate into long-term interest and pursuit of STEM careers.…”

Section: The Evaluation Of Stem Outreachmentioning

confidence: 99%

An outreach program with hands-on, physiology-based exercises generates questions about STEM career expectations

Clarke

Sharma

Schiller

2019

Advances in Physiology Education

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Scientific advocacy and outreach programs are encouraged to increase public understanding of scientific knowledge and generate interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers. However, evaluation of these events’ effectiveness is difficult and somewhat rare. This study’s purpose was to better understand how effective an established physiology-based outreach program was in generating interest in STEM careers, while simultaneously providing information that can be used to increase the effectiveness of future events. We partnered with a private school located in Omaha, Nebraska, where 64–80 students participated in 3 h of physiology-based activities presented by volunteers from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The event included a brief presentation of the eye, sensory, heart, and lung systems, followed by hands-on demonstrations and activities. Each session concluded with 15 min of questions and answers (Q&A), where students were encouraged to engage the volunteers in inquiries about what they just learned, career-related questions, or any topic of their choosing. Each Q&A session was audio recorded and evaluated using thematic analysis to identify patterns in the Q&A data. Two major themes of questions were identified: 1) scientific content (animal circulatory systems and how organs are affected by disease or stimulus); and 2) career-related content, including typical day-to-day activities of a scientist and the volunteers’ satisfaction with a scientific career. We conclude that hands-on physiology-based learning opportunities are effective in generating short-term interest in STEM content and careers. The results of this study will also facilitate informed modification of event content to better suit student’s interests.

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Section: The Evaluation Of Stem Outreachmentioning

confidence: 99%

An outreach program with hands-on, physiology-based exercises generates questions about STEM career expectations

Clarke

Sharma

Schiller

2019

Advances in Physiology Education

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“…When learning about living things, observation, and experience are important (Shimada, 2009). Especially, hands-on learning is very active way to enhance more profound understanding and interest for learners (Brinson, 2015;Jones et al, 2019;Lempp, 2005;Lineberger and Jayne, 2000;Prokop and Fančovičová, 2016;Reid, 2001). Hand-on anatomical learning is very important since not only deep understanding by hand-on effect but also the opportunity of understanding "three-dimensional" structure of life.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anatomical Education Using Marine Products for Elementary School Students

Omura

2019

PEDAGOGICAL RES

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Anatomical education is very important in understanding the internal structure of the body and the mechanism of life, especially for the medical profession, including nursing. However, in Japan, students have a few opportunities of getting anatomical education using animals before they enter university. The different step-by-step anatomical curriculum needs to be created for elementary school, junior high school, high school, and university students. However, it is difficult to perform anatomical education widely, particularly with bioethics problems and students who often have an aversion to dissected animals. Therefore, it is considered very useful to introduce anatomical education using marine products, which are more familiar. In particular, fish have the same basic structure as vertebrates, so they are useful for understanding the bodies of vertebrate animals, including the human body. Also, the use of marine products other than fish can deepen students' understanding of the structure of organisms of various systems. Therefore, in this study, we conducted anatomical lectures from functional morphology and ecological point of view, using marine products as teaching materials for elementary school children. To prevent students' aversion, the marine products were wrapped, which also reduced the smell. Students actively learned the internal structure of fishes, cephalopods, and shellfish, without aversion. According to our questionnaire survey, most participants reported that their impression and comprehension of the course was excellent or good. The use of "seafood" as teaching material for young learners was found to be very useful for anatomical education.

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“…Measuring the change in opinion requires the initial opinions of respondents to be captured as a baseline for the investigation, as well an opinion at the end of the activity. A variety of different methods may be used to gather data from outreach activities, including recalling interactions (Mokros and Atkinson, 2018), Likert-scale surveys (Caref et al, 2018), or written assessments to gauge what knowledge was gained (Jones et al, 2019). Not all outreach activities that capture data are clear about measuring a change an outreach activity induces; for example, they may not establish a baseline.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Hydrogen Bike: Communicating the Production and Safety of Green Hydrogen

et al. 2021

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As the international community aims to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, green hydrogen has great potential to replace methane as a clean source of fuel. A novel public engagement activity, The Hydrogen Bike, has been developed to demonstrate the production and use of green hydrogen from water. The aim of the activity is to educate, entertain and inform young people and adults so that they have an opportunity to form an opinion about the use of hydrogen as a fuel. Using a novel two-part data collection system participants are briefly surveyed for their opinion on hydrogen before and after participating in The Hydrogen Bike activity. Through this we have found that most participants (73%) are considered to have no opinion or a neutral opinion on hydrogen before participating in The Hydrogen Bike activity. After participation 88% of those who were originally neutral or had no opinion on hydrogen self-reported a positive feeling about hydrogen. The method of data collection was quick, intuitive and suitable for an audience attracted from passing footfall.

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Imapacts of Hands-On Science Curriculum for Elementary School Students and Families Delivered on a Mobile Laboratory

Cited by 11 publications

References 13 publications

An outreach program with hands-on, physiology-based exercises generates questions about STEM career expectations

An outreach program with hands-on, physiology-based exercises generates questions about STEM career expectations

Anatomical Education Using Marine Products for Elementary School Students

The Hydrogen Bike: Communicating the Production and Safety of Green Hydrogen

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