Participation in structured STEM‐focused out‐of‐school time programs in secondary school: Linkage to postsecondary STEM aspiration and major

Chan, Hsun Yu; Choi, Hyejin; Hailu, Meseret F.; Whitford, Melinda; DeRouen, Sheila Duplechain

doi:10.1002/tea.21629

Cited by 22 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Super (1980) describes career development as a function of one's vocational self-concept and multiple individual and contextual factors that shape lifelong career choices. Similarly, social cognitive career theory, which is widely used in studying STEM pathways (e.g., Chan et al, 2020;Grigg et al, 2018;Wang, 2013), underscores the critical roles of self-efficacy beliefs, expectations, interests, choice actions, and contextual supports and barriers (Lent et al, 2010). According to the social psychological model of status attainment (Blau & Duncan, 1967;Sewell et al, 1969), attaining a prestigious occupation-such as a high-skill and high-paying job in a STEM field-involves two major developmental processes: (1) the formation of educational and occupational aspirations and (2) academic preparation and educational attainment.…”

Section: Stem Pathways: Aspirations Preparation and College Enrollmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to social cognitive career theory, interest in a choice action is a product of self-beliefs and learning experiences; therefore, STEM career intent and attainment is tied to not only STEM achievement and motivational factors but also STEM learning contexts and opportunities (Chan et al, 2020;Grigg et al, 2018;Lent et al, 2010;Wang, 2013). Compared with their city and suburban counterparts, rural and small-town students experience very different STEM learning environments and opportunities.…”

Section: Stem Opportunities To Learn In Rural and Small-town Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many rural schools operate with reduced budgets that limit advanced course offerings and extracurricular programs in STEM (Anderson & Chang, 2011;Irvin et al, 2017;Peterson et al, 2015;Reeves, 2012), which may negatively affect students' motivation in STEM (Wang, 2015). A growing body of research has also reported that there are demographic disparities in access to out-of-school STEM learning opportunities, which are related to students' motivation, course taking, and college major choice in STEM (Chan et al, 2020;Saw et al, 2019;Saw et al, in press).…”

Section: Stem Opportunities To Learn In Rural and Small-town Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

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STEM Pathways of Rural and Small-Town Students: Opportunities to Learn, Aspirations, Preparation, and College Enrollment

Saw

Agger

2021

Educational Researcher

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Using the nationally representative High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09), this study documents that rural and small-town students were significantly less likely to enroll in postsecondary STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) degree programs, compared with their suburban peers. This study also shows that schools attended by rural and small-town students offered limited access to advanced coursework and extracurricular programs in STEM and had lower STEM teaching capacity. Those opportunities to learn in STEM were linked to the widening geographic gaps in STEM academic preparation. Overall, our findings suggest that during high school rural and small-town students shifted away from STEM fields and that geographic disparities in postsecondary STEM participation were largely explained by students’ demographics and precollege STEM career aspirations and academic preparation.

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Section: Stem Pathways: Aspirations Preparation and College Enrollmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Stem Opportunities To Learn In Rural and Small-town Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Stem Opportunities To Learn In Rural and Small-town Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

STEM Pathways of Rural and Small-Town Students: Opportunities to Learn, Aspirations, Preparation, and College Enrollment

Saw

Agger

2021

Educational Researcher

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“…Informal STEM education programs (e.g., summer camps) can play a crucial role in sparking and maintaining the interest of young people in STEM and STEM careers (Chan et al, 2020;Hughes and Roberts, 2019;Riedinger and Taylor, 2017;Roberts and Hughes, 2019). These programs provide opportunities for youth to engage in authentic STEM inquiry where they can meet role models and develop STEM skills in a safe and nurturing environment (Barron and Bell, 2015;Dahn and DeLiema, 2020;Hughes et al, 2020;King and Pringle, 2018;Schmidt et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unknown Territory: K-12 STEM Summer Exploration through Zoom

Roberts

Villa

Hughes

2021

JSTEM

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When COVID-19 shut down in-person programs across the world in 2020, we (the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (MagLab)) as practitioners were in unknown territory. This paper outlines the structure of a 10-week online Summer Exploration Series (SES) program along with the evaluation performed by staff at the MagLab in 2020. The goal of the SES program was to increase youth's interest in STEM and knowledge of STEM careers relevant to materials science. Each week included live and asynchronous components. All of the participants (n=86) rated the program as above average or higher, crediting the program with teaching them about new STEM careers/topics and increasing their interest in STEM. Our evaluation indicated that the live sessions, particularly those that offered more opportunities for interaction, were rated higher than the asynchronous sessions, providing evidence to the benefits of live -even if online -sessions on increasing interest in STEM. The lessons learned through the program can inform other organizations as we continue into the new normal.

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“…One area of interest by STEM stakeholders related to assessment is how and to what extent ISE programs augment participants' STEM major and STEM career outcomes (e.g., Cuddeback et al, 2019;Chan et al, 2020). Indeed, over the past decade, a major goal set forth by the National Research Council and the United States Department of Education is to inspire and motivate students to consider a STEM pathway (U.S. Department of Education, 2007;National Research Council, 2011, 2013, 2015.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Practical Rubrics for Informal Science Education Studies: (1) a STEM Research Design Rubric for Assessing Study Design and a (2) STEM Impact Rubric for Measuring Evidence of Impact

Habig

2020

Front. Educ.

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Informal learning institutions, such as museums, science centers, and community-based organizations, play a critical role in providing opportunities for students to engage in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) activities during out-of-school time hours. In recent years, thousands of studies, evaluations, and conference proceedings have been published measuring the impact that these programs have had on their participants. However, because studies of informal science education (ISE) programs vary considerably in how they are designed and in the quality of their designs, it is often quite difficult to assess their impact on participants. Knowing whether the outcomes reported by these studies are supported with sufficient evidence is important not only for maximizing participant impact, but also because there are considerable economic and human resources invested to support informal learning initiatives. To address this problem, I used the theories of impact analysis and triangulation as a framework for developing user-friendly rubrics for assessing quality of research designs and evidence of impact. I used two main sources, research-based recommendations from STEM governing bodies and feedback from a focus group, to identify criteria indicative of high-quality STEM research and study design. Accordingly, I developed three STEM Research Design Rubrics, one for quantitative studies, one for qualitative studies, and another for mixed methods studies, that can be used by ISE researchers, practitioners, and evaluators to assess research design quality. Likewise, I developed three STEM Impact Rubrics, one for quantitative studies, one for qualitative studies, and another for mixed methods studies, that can be used by ISE researchers, practitioners, and evaluators to assess evidence of outcomes. The rubrics developed in this study are practical tools that can be used by ISE researchers, practitioners, and evaluators to improve the field of informal science learning by increasing the quality of study design and for discerning whether studies or program evaluations are providing sufficient evidence of impact.

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Participation in structured STEM‐focused out‐of‐school time programs in secondary school: Linkage to postsecondary STEM aspiration and major

Cited by 22 publications

References 60 publications

STEM Pathways of Rural and Small-Town Students: Opportunities to Learn, Aspirations, Preparation, and College Enrollment

STEM Pathways of Rural and Small-Town Students: Opportunities to Learn, Aspirations, Preparation, and College Enrollment

Unknown Territory: K-12 STEM Summer Exploration through Zoom

Practical Rubrics for Informal Science Education Studies: (1) a STEM Research Design Rubric for Assessing Study Design and a (2) STEM Impact Rubric for Measuring Evidence of Impact

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