CSI–Chocolate Science Investigation and the Case of the Recipe Rip-Off: Using an Extended Problem-Based Scenario To Enhance High School Students’ Science Engagement

This paper discusses a K–12/university collaboration in which students participated in a four-day scenario-based summer STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) camp aimed at making difficult scientific concepts salient. This scenario, Jumpstart STEM–CSI: Chocolate Science Investigation (JSCSI), used open- and guided-inquiry methods to generate meaningful student engagement for 33 rising 8th through 12th graders. This paper presents curriculum for the scenario; reports results from postevent survey data regarding students’ self-reported gains in science motivation, science confidence, science knowledge, and students’ associations with scientifically-minded social niches; and illustrates how a scenario can incorporate the use of skills and knowledge from many disciplines and make them relevant to student learning, providing a context for STEM literacy. Implications for science educators are discussed.