Comparing effectiveness of STEM outreach venues utilizing engineering challenges

Abstract

Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) outreach still continues to be a viable method to grow young minds interest in these key disciplines. STEM outreach can be found in a verity of forms and duration. One method to engage young minds in STEM is through challenging them to solve problems. An effective method for this is through the use of presenting students with engineering problems to solve. These can be short exercises or long term projects that are tackled over months. This paper utilizes an established engineering challenge based STEM outreach workshop to understand the utilization of different venues for conducting outreach. These challenges present students with a defined problem that needs to be completed within a forty-five to sixty minute window. Typically the students are given a clear set of requirements and supplies that can be utilized to develop a solution to the task. These engineering challenges are presented in detail. Discussion of the different venues utilized is also provided. These include in classroom, summer camp and library venues. Each of these venues allow for reaching different demographics of students. Survey findings are presented to illustrate similarities and differences between venue types. These surveys measured STEM interest levels of students before and after participating in the workshop event. Overall these finding hope to aid other STEM outreach providers in developing outreach programs that can be effective throughout numerus location and venue types.