Young People's Perceptions of Learning and Development Within STEM Youth Programs in Informal Learning Settings

• In Event: Unpacking the Learning and Benefits of STEM Engagement Across Formal and Informal Learning Contexts

Abstract

Objectives Informal science learning sites (ISLS; e.g., zoos, museums) often develop their own STEM youth programs based on each site’s resources and needs for youth involvement. Previous research highlights several benefits for youth participating in the delivery of STEM youth programs, such as increases in STEM interest and self-efficacy (Hoffman et al., 2021) and higher academic aspirations and greater engagement in STEM (Goff et al., 2020). However, few studies have explored how young people perceive their experiences within such STEM youth programs at ISLS, particularly their own learning experience and the impact of being in the program on their personal development. Our main research questions are: (1) How do young people conceptualise their roles in the program? (2) How do young people working with visitors conceptualise and undertake their role in visitors’ learning? (3) How do young people describe the way in which participation in the program has benefited their own development?
Methods We used semi-structured interviews to explore the research questions. We recruited 42 participants from five different STEM youth programs across ISLS in the UK and the US. The UK sites included a science and technology museum and a biomedical and cell biology science learning center. The US sites included a zoo, a children’s museum, and an aquarium. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data to identify themes across the STEM youth programs.
Results With regard to the youth’s perceptions of their role within the program, our findings demonstrated several conceptions of their role (e.g., content creator, facilitator/enabler) across the five ISLS. Those working directly with visitors operationalised their roles in ways intended to be facilitatory to visitors’ learning. While participants engaged in multiple roles in the programs, youth identified specific ways in which their involvement in the programs fostered important aspects of their own development that translated both within and beyond STEM contexts. These include knowledge development (e.g., increasing STEM knowledge, gaining familiarity with non-school environments), core/soft skill development (e.g., critical thinking; functioning under pressure; communication skills), general affective impacts (e.g., self-awareness), STEM-related affective impact (e.g., belonging in STEM and STEM efficacy), and career development (e.g., educational preparation and networking).
Significance. Our findings provide novel insights into young people’s perception of being in STEM youth programs and the way in which they support visitors’ learning. The results also demonstrate that the experience in these programs not only empowers young people’s STEM learning but also has a positive influence on the development of transferable skills and career development. The findings should be informative to practitioners and educators to further develop their STEM youth programs, in order to support the learning and development of young people. In particular, practitioners and educators can tailor ISLS STEM youth programs in ways that both nurture a passion for STEM but also provide critical social skills to communicate across multiple audiences.

Authors

• Mengya Zhao, University of Exeter
  Presenting Author

• Channing Jamielle Mathews, University of Virginia
  Non-Presenting Author

• Fidelia Law, University of Exeter
  Non-Presenting Author

• Angelina Joy, Purdue University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Adam Rutland, University of Exeter
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kelly Lynn Mulvey, North Carolina State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Adam Hartstone-Rose, North Carolina State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Mark Winterbottom, University of Cambridge
  Non-Presenting Author