Interventions to increase young people's interest in STEM. A scoping review

Abstract

The underrepresentation of young people and particularly young women in many STEM fields has inspired various intervention programmes and research intended to boost their interest in these areas. The purpose of this scoping review is to examine the characteristics and effectiveness of interventions designed to encourage interest in STEM among secondary school students, particularly female students, over the past 20 years. A systematic search of the literature in five databases and additional search strategies resulted in identifying 215 studies evaluating interventions in different disciplinary fields. Data extraction and synthesis of these studies were carried out, focusing on the methodologies and theoretical foundations used. Twenty-five exemplars were selected to illustrate best practices in designing and evaluating interventions that address the various facets of young people's lack of interest in STEM. These interventions attempt to modify and/or manipulate multiple environmental and school factors to impact students' personal factors associated with STEM interest, such as achievement, self-perception of ability, and self-efficacy. Implications for the design of future interventions and potential outcomes are then discussed.

Navigating the Evolution of Game-Based Educational Approaches in Secondary STEM Education: A Decade of Innovations and Challenges

“…Some studies that have used a hybrid pedagogical model are recorded, combining gamification with other pedagogical models. Emotion (51,23); educational (48,85); game (38,8); achivers (38,44); digital (36,48); opportunity (29,36); exercise (28,79); design (27,83); practice (25,43); link (18,08); scenario (17,93); collaborative (16,28); inclusive (15,36); positive_emotion (15,36); help_students (14,42) This study showed that conventional exercises were detrimental to middle and high achievers' learning emotions, although their concepts improved (…).…”

“…Game_Base_Learning (17,17); argumentation (13,31); discipline (13,31), competence (11,47); subject (11,16); art (10,95); computational thinking (10,34); creativity (9,23); inquiry_based (8,99); web (8,98); workshop (8,91); classroom (8,1); laboratory (7,82); STEAM (7,36) Soil (-9,6); learner (-8,88); Covid_ 19 (-8,6); platform (-7,87); robotic (-7,59); center (-7,59); emotion (-7,34); social (-7,03); flow (-6,58); genetic (-6,39); qualitative (-5,23); theory (-5,1); selfefficacy (-5,06); mental (-5,06); disability (-5,06); learning_efectiveness (-4,89) 2020-2023 escape_room (25,02); emotion (20,16); flow (16,67); genetic (10,45); theory (9,62); narrative (9,06); factor (9,04); need…”

“…Targeted interventions are effective in transforming school environments and personal attitudes, thereby enhancing students' academic performance, self-perception, and self-efficacy in STEM [16]. Peer influence is another significant variable: students are more likely to choose STEM careers when surrounded by peers with a strong interest in these subjects.…”

Use of mixed methods research in intervention studies to increase young people’s interest in STEM: A systematic methodological review

“…Methodological reviews are particularly important in MMR intervention research because some basic procedures of the methodology are still not being implemented properly, as revealed by a number of reviews (see Section “Introduction”). The studies included in this methodological review were identified through a scoping review of intervention studies aimed at increasing young people’s interest in STEM ( Sáinz et al, 2022 )—hereinafter referred to as the original review . Specifically, we focus here on the subsample of studies from the original review that used MMR.…”

Extending Learning and Collaboration in Quantum Information with Internet Support: A Future Perspective on Research Education beyond Boundaries, Limitations, and Frontiers

“…Students' increasing interest in science has been sparked by the Internet and the perception of having greater job security than other sectors [10]. Unfortunately, students' interest in science does not guarantee their automatic selection of a career in Science or Technology, so additional interventions should be made [11]. In any event, it can be said that the Internet is facilitating things previously popularized in specialized books.…”