Evaluation of the impact of a summer STEM program on participant's perception and knowledge of STEM careers (evaluation)

Abstract

West Virginia University Institute of Technology offers an annual summer program for high school and rising high school students interested in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields. During this program, students spend a week on a college campus attending STEM classes taught by college professors, participate in engineering design projects and problem solving challenges, and attend a STEM related field trip. Participants are mentored by and interact with both STEM professors and undergraduate STEM students throughout the week not only during classes and projects, but also during meals and free time. This less formal interaction outside of classes is crucial in developing rapport with students so they feel comfortable asking questions and seeking career advice from both faculty and undergraduate students. This summer program attracts many high school students from rural areas who have limited, if any, exposure to STEM careers and strives to introduce students to STEM disciplines and careers through classes and guest speakers from industry. The main goals of this program are to (1) introduce students to a wide variety of STEM fields, (2) increase student's engineering and science knowledge, and (3) help students learn what fields they are interested in pursuing (or not). During the summer of 2016, students were surveyed both pre- and post-camp experience on their attitudes towards the STEM fields and their knowledge of the types of careers available to engineers and scientists. At the end of the week, the students were also surveyed on their likes and dislikes of the program. Herein, the authors discuss the primary findings from the surveys and how these results will affect the future summer programs offered by West Virginia University Institute of Technology.