STEM QuESTS: A Design Challenge to Engage Students in STEM Education

STEM QuESTS: A Design Challenge to Engage Students in STEM Education Engineering competitions are a popular mechanism to engage students in engineering and, more broadly, in STEM studies and careers. Participants typically work in teams to solve real-world problems, integrating conceptual learning with hands-on activities. Engineering design challenges provide an authentic engineering experience that integrates science, mathematics, and engineering principles and helps students develop innovative design thinking. They also improve student engagement, motivation, and self-efficacy, and provide students the opportunity to develop important "21st Century" professional skills. Most engineering design challenges have at their core a "design and build" objective, requiring problem solving through technical innovation (bridges, cars, wind turbines, etc.). Particularly in higher education, the growing popularity of maker spaces has led to more students collaborating in these hands-on creative endeavors. Clarkson's Institute for STEM Education created the STEM QuESTS Challenge (Questions that Explore STEM for Teachers and Students) as an alternative to design and build challenges. The STEM QuESTS Challenge invites students to create engaging STEM curricula that will entice pre-college students to pursue STEM studies and careers. Participating teams are invited to reflect on what inspired them to study STEM, and then create a similarly-inspiring, hands-on educational experience for local students. The lessons should be unique and innovative, interdisciplinary or cross-disciplinary, and must engage students in inquiry and active learning. Teams submit a 90-second video pitch to compete for a finalist position. Finalists then work with a mentor to create complete lesson plans, tied to New York State learning standards and ready to use in a middle or high school classroom. Teams present their lessons as part of the competition for a grand prize. So far STEM QuESTS has successfully produced quality lessons and engaged students in a fun, educational, professional development opportunity. Our presentation will share more details about the Challenge, with the objective of encouraging other universities to adopt this alternative approach to an engineering design challenge.