An Exploration of Guide’s Roles in STEM Outreach Activities: A Contribution to Students’ Motivation for Career Aspirations?

Vennix, Johanna; Brok, Perry den; Taconis, R Ruurd

doi:10.5772/intechopen.108427

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 26 publications

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“…As shown in our previous studies and in Table 2, the questionnaire was valid and internally consistent (Vennix et al, 2017(Vennix et al, , 2018. Table 2 was adapted from Vennix (2020). All items in the questionnaire used a five-point Likert scale ranging from (1) strongly disagree to (5) strongly agree.…”

Section: Instrumentationmentioning

confidence: 86%

Motivation style of K–12 students attending outreach activities in the STEM field: a person-based approach

Vennix

Brok

Taconis

2022

Learning Environ Res

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This study focused on K–12 students attending outreach activities (i.e. activities from STEM-based industry emphasizing applications of STEM content in the STEM field), with the main objective being to motivate students for a future career in STEM. Outreach activities can be regarded as environments that extend the regular in-class learning environment and that differ from regular environments in terms of several dimensions, such as autonomy, relevance and learning resources. To date, little research has been conducted on these types of learning environments. We followed a person-centred approach in identifying students’ motivational profiles and corresponding student groups in outreach activities, and in evaluating whether students with different profiles differ in their STEM-related attitudes and experience of outreach activities. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. Latent-profile analyses revealed four different motivational profiles: good-quality motivation, moderate-motivation, high-quantity motivation and low-quantity motivation. Students with a good-quality motivation reported significantly more favorable-attitudes towards a future career in STEM compared with the other groups, with content and personal relevance being key factors for students with this profile. This study provided support for adding outreach activities to the school learning environment.

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Section: Instrumentationmentioning

confidence: 86%

Motivation style of K–12 students attending outreach activities in the STEM field: a person-based approach

Vennix

Brok

Taconis

2022

Learning Environ Res

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An Engineering Outreach Activity: How to Develop a Tendon-Based Soft Robotic Finger?

Demir,

Roels,

Terryn

et al. 2024

IEEE Trans. Educ.

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Contribution: This article presents an engineering outreach activity that aims to teach K-12 students how to develop a tendon-based soft robotic finger. The primary objectives of this STEM activity are to introduce students to the fundamentals of soft robotics, its interdisciplinary nature, and to offer them a hands-on and engaging learning experience using the projectbased-learning approach.Background: Soft robotics, an interdisciplinary field combining chemistry, materials science, and robotics, has the potential to revolutionize the design and development of robots. However, introducing the fundamental concepts of soft robotics to K-12 students can be challenging since traditional robotic activities often require complex programming, technical expertise and expensive equipment and software.Intended Outcomes: Increasing the students' understanding of soft robotics principles, materials, and polymer processing. Positively impacting students' perception of engineering as a potential career path by enhancing their attitudes toward STEM.Application Design: Students could develop manually actuated soft robotic fingers within a 45-min workshop by utilizing 3-D printed molds, rapidly curing elastomeric materials, and the basic mold casting method. The outreach activity is intentionally designed to simplify the technology used by eliminating the need for complex programming, and to focus on utilizing novel materials and basic concepts to construct actuating soft robots, providing an effective and engaging STEM activity for K-12 students.Findings: The success/effectiveness of the activity was evaluated in three ways: 1) through direct inspection on the performance of the student-fabricated soft finger during the workshop; 2) through the pre-and post-tests to evaluate the learning outcomes; and 3) by conducting a STEM outreach survey to gather student feedback on the quality of the outreach activity and their attitudes toward STEM. During the workshop activities, the students were able to effectively follow the instructions, construct a tendon-based soft robotic finger, and manually actuate the finger using the tendon. According to the results of

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The influence of UAE schools initiatives on high-school students’ STEM career aspirations

ElSayary

2023

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed

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Students’ science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) career aspirations are influenced by the cultural, cognitive, and contextual factors that affect their self-efficacy, outcomes, expectation, motivation, interests, and choices (Lent et al., 1994). This study investigates the influence of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) schools on high school students’ STEM career aspirations. UAE schools are considered the cultural factor, where many new initiatives and policies take place, such as the science, technology, and innovation policy and new high school equivalency policy. In this study, the students’ STEM career aspirations involved the cognitive factor and the contextual factor. The participants were high school students (n<sub>1</sub>=330) and teachers (n<sub>2</sub>=10) from different schools across UAE. A concurrent mixed-methods approach used quantitative data (online survey) and qualitative analysis (semi-structured interviews). The results reveal new initiatives in schools have a strong positive impact on students’ STEM career aspirations. However, some gaps occurred where recommendations were made.

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An Exploration of Guide’s Roles in STEM Outreach Activities: A Contribution to Students’ Motivation for Career Aspirations?

Cited by 3 publications

References 26 publications

Motivation style of K–12 students attending outreach activities in the STEM field: a person-based approach

Motivation style of K–12 students attending outreach activities in the STEM field: a person-based approach

An Engineering Outreach Activity: How to Develop a Tendon-Based Soft Robotic Finger?

The influence of UAE schools initiatives on high-school students’ STEM career aspirations

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