Understanding the Influence of a Week-Long Electrical and Computer Engineering Summer Camp on Middle School Students’ Interests in STEM (RTP)

Abstract Student interest in engineering at the K-12 level has been shown to predict whether students of all backgrounds pursue engineering as a college major and career 1,2. Middle school is a critical time when student interest, identity, and career choices begin to solidify. Scientists have developed a framework based on social cognitive theory for understanding three factors that are critical in career pathway development in late adolescence and early adulthood, namely, "(1) Formation and elaboration of career-relevant interests, (2) Selection of academic and career choice options, and (3) Performance and persistence in educational and occupational pursuits" 4, p. 79. They also point out that social and economic factors affect the level and content of career choices. Since states have been slow to adopt the NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards) and include engineering curricula in their K-12 classrooms, many universities with engineering programs have implemented informal STEM outreach programs for elementary, middle, and high school students. Thus, there is a need to better understand how outreach programs such as engineering summer camps influence engineering interest and identity in middle school students and their subsequent choice of engineering as a major and career. In the Summer of 2023, 18 middle school students participated in a week-long summer camp that focused on electrical and computer engineering (ECE) concepts and practices. The five-day summer camp consisted of hands-on activities, tours of different laboratories in ECE disciplines, and a group project that spanned the whole week where students built circuits using the SparkFun Inventor's kit. During the group activity, the students were organized into eight groups, and each group was mentored by an undergraduate mentor who facilitated the collaborative hands-on activities. The middle school students completed validated and reliable pre and post-surveys adapted from the Student Attitudes Toward STEM (S-STEM) Survey and the Group Work Skills Questionnaire Manual. The S-STEM survey is focused on STEM interests while the Group Work Skills Questionnaire Manual Survey is centered on student collaboration. The results of Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Tests indicated positive significant impacts on 21st-century learning, Group work, student's expected class performances (in Math, Science, Engineering, and English) and student's plan to take advanced courses in the future (in Math, Science, and Engineering). Additionally, daily reflection surveys were administered to understand the impact of individual activities students participated in each day. Results were analyzed to identify activities that positively improved domains in student interests, which provided additional context to the meaning of the results from the pre- and post-survey. This approach provides valuable insights for designing more inclusive and impactful STEM education interventions, ultimately contributing to a broader and more diverse STEM pipeline. Future work will explore the effects of socio-economic diversity on STEM engagement outcomes, and investigate which specific camp activities most effectively promote STEM interest across different student demographics.