Impact of biomechanics-based activities on situational and individual interest among K-12 students

Intervention designed to increase interest in engineering for low-interest, K-12 girls did so for boys and girls

“…1) students attending an engineering outreach event before and after participating in up to 10 interactive biomechanicsbased activities. The set of 10 biomechanics-based activities and the design of the surveys used were similar to those in a previous study (Francis et al, 2017).…”

“…Biomechanics is a highly relatable, interdisciplinary field with ties to engineering, medicine, and athletics. Previous studies at a college-wide engineering outreach event (Francis et al, 2016;Francis et al, 2017) have demonstrated the potential for hands-on, biomechanics-based activities to teach engineering principles to K-12 students. A recent study (Francis et al, 2017) indicated that boys participating in these activities had a higher interest in engineering than girls.…”

“…Previous studies at a college-wide engineering outreach event (Francis et al, 2016;Francis et al, 2017) have demonstrated the potential for hands-on, biomechanics-based activities to teach engineering principles to K-12 students. A recent study (Francis et al, 2017) indicated that boys participating in these activities had a higher interest in engineering than girls. This study also showed that biomechanics-based activities could increase interest in considering careers in engineering, regardless of initial interest.…”