Impact of TEAMS clubs: An afterschool engineering enrichment program that impacts K-12 students and college student leaders

Abstract

Many examples of university engineering education programs designed to impact K-12 student learning and access are described in the literature. Unfortunately, most do not report repeated engagement with students who are assessed over time. There is a need to better determine the results of evolving engineering instruction in K-12 schools and the best practices for implementation. This paper discusses a successful model for a weekly afterschool elementary engineering enrichment program that has been in place for six years. TEAMS clubs, named after an umbrella K-12 engineering education initiative (Tomorrows Engineers... creAte. iMagine. Succeed.) at the University of Colorado Boulder, are led by undergraduate engineering students, using handson activities that allow students to learn first-hand that engineering is creative and explorative. The school-based TEAMS Clubs are popular, oftentimes with more students interested in participating than there is space. Many of the elementary students in TEAMS Clubs are concurrently engaged in engineering learning opportunities during an in-class, academic-year NSF-funded GK-12 program. To supplement the in-class program goals, the afterschool TEAMS Clubs also expand the knowledge of and exposure to engineering careers. While program assessment has been at the core of these clubs since their inception, the impacts of the TEAMS Clubs have not been previously reported in the literature. To understand student perceptions of their repeated and frequent exposure to engineering, pre/post engineering attitudes are assessed for students in grades 3-5 in nine partner elementary schools. TEAMS Club leader impact is also discussed, supporting the theory that the clubs have a broader effect than on the elementary students themselves. Hosting teachers are also surveyed to glean their feedback on the clubs' value. Additionally, information is provided on how schools elsewhere can replicate and implement the TEAMS model, with minimal funding and high impact. The TeachEngineering digital library, also an NSF-funded initiative, is revealed as a primary source for TEAMS Clubs curricular activities. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2013.