The primary purpose of this study was to examine the ways in which a 12-week afterschool science and engineering program affected middle school students' motivation to engage in science and engineering activities. We used current motivation research and theory as a conceptual framework to assess 14 students' motivation through questionnaires, structured interviews, and observations. Students reported that during the activities they perceived that they were empowered to make choices in how to complete things, the activities were useful to them, they could succeed in the activities, they enjoyed

STEM disposition surveys were completed by 364 11th and 12th grade students attending a two-year university-based residential science and mathematics academy during fall 2012. Surveys were completed by the same classes as a post test administration during spring 2013. Major findings were that first year students tended to show a decline in their dispositions pre to post while second year students showed an increase in their STEM dispositions pre to post. First year students exhibited gender differences in STEM dispositions that were typical of published male preferences, in that males had more

Data reflecting Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) dispositions and reported reasons for interest in STEM were gathered in April 2013 from 342 high school students participating in a residential mathematics and science academy on a university campus. Student participants were enrolled in a program where finish their last two years of high school in conjunction with their first two years in college. Analysis of these data indicated that factors influencing student interest in STEM and STEM careers include the student’s own self-motivation, support from a parent or family

This study examines positive dispositions reported by middle school and high school students participating in programs that feature STEM-related activities. Middle school students participating in school-to-home hands-on energy monitoring activities are compared to middle school and high school students in a different project taking part in activities such as an after-school robotics program. Both groups are compared and contrasted with a third group of high school students admitted at the eleventh grade to an academy of mathematics and science. All students were assessed using the same

Access to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields serves as a key entry point to economic mobility and civic enfranchisement. Such access must take seriously the intellectual power of the knowledge and practices of non-dominant youth. In our case, this has meant to shift epistemic authority in mathematics from academic institutions to young people themselves. This article is about why high school-aged students, from underrepresented groups, choose to participate in an out-of-school time program in which they teach younger children in the domains of mathematics and computer

Underrepresented populations such as women, African-Americans, and Latinos/as often come to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) careers by less traditional paths than White and Asian males. To better understand how and why women might shift toward STEM, particularly computer science, careers, we investigated the education and career direction of afterschool facilitators, primarily women of color in their twenties and thirties, who taught Build IT, an afterschool computer science curriculum for middle school girls. Many of these women indicated that implementing Build IT

Numerous studies have indicated a need for a diverse workforce that is more highly educated in STEM and ICT fields, and one that is capable of responding creatively to demands for continual innovation. This paper, in response, chronicles the implementation of the Digital Pathways (DP) program, a two-time ITEST recipient and an ongoing initiative of the Bay Area Video Coalition. DP has provided low-income, underrepresented minority young people with 180 contact hours of activities in digital media production to prepare them to pursue higher education and technology careers. A design-based

This paper focuses on the notable heightening of underrepresented students’ engagement in STEM education through project-based learning CincySTEM iTEST projects. The projects, funded by an iTEST NSF grant, were designed and facilitated by teachers at a new STEM urban public high school serving low-income African-American students. Student engagement conceptualized as a psychological process involving affective and behavioral participation in classroom activities was evaluated through a mixed-methods approach. Findings indicate that affective and behavioral participation was significantly