BOARD # 457: Student Interest in STEM Careers: An NSF ITEST Project for High Schoolers’ Renewable Energy Technology Engagement

Allison Antink-Meyer; Matt Aldeman; Jeritt Williams; Jin Ho Jo

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Conference: 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Publication Date: June 22, 2025
Start Date: June 22, 2025
End Date: August 15, 2025
Conference Session: NSF Grantees Poster Session II
Tagged Topics: Diversity and NSF Grantees Poster Session
Page Count: 6
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/55838

Paper Authors

biography

Allison Antink-Meyer Illinois State University orcid.org/0000-0001-8969-1263

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Allison Antink-Meyer is a pre-college science and engineering educator at Illinois State University.

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biography

Matt Aldeman Illinois State University orcid.org/0000-0002-0482-9794

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Matthew Aldeman is the Founding Associate Dean of the Illinois State University College of Engineering. Prior to joining the College of Engineering, Aldeman served as an Associate Professor in the Department of Technology, where he taught in the Engineering Technology and Sustainable and Renewable Energy undergraduate programs.

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Jeritt Williams Illinois State University orcid.org/0000-0001-5117-8915

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Jeritt Williams is an assistant professor of Engineering Technology at Illinois State University, where he teaches applied industrial automation and robotics.

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Jin Ho Jo

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Dr. Jin Ho Jo is a Professor of Technology at Illinois State University, teaching in the Sustainable and Renewable Energy program. Dr. Jo also leads the Sustainable Energy Consortium at the university. Dr. Jo is an honors graduate of Purdue University, where he earned a B.S. in Building Construction Management. He earned his M.S. in Urban Planning from Columbia University, where he investigated critical environmental justice issues in New York City. His 2010 Ph.D. from Arizona State University was the nation’s first in sustainability. His research, which has been widely published, focuses on renewable energy systems and sustainable building strategies to reduce the negative impacts of urbanization.

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Abstract

Student Interest in STEM Careers: An NSF ITEST Project for High Schoolers’ Renewable Energy Technology Engagement

This NSF ITEST project focuses on engaging students in four Chicago public high schools in an afterschool STEM program where they experience hands on activities with renewable energy technologies and related sustainability-tied experiences. Using a micro:bit and kit materials, students code, build, and investigate technologies to explore phenomena like air quality, and the modeling of technologies like electric cars and environmentally responsive homes. The communities in which the schools are set are Communities of Color that have historically been positioned in the public through a deficit lens but have rich cultural and economic assets. Between 10 and 20 students met weekly afterschool during the first year of implementation, which was preceded by a planning year in which teachers provided feedback on activities, and connections to the communities of the schools were developed. Four faculty were involved in the design of the project and activities, and a group of undergraduate STEM majors were also involved in the design and pilot of all activities. Four goals frame this project and research. These are to learn how (1) high school students’ knowledge of STEM careers and STEM domains change across their participation; (2) the high school students improve their interest in STEM career attainment and their self-efficacy for career relevant skills; (3) the undergraduate STEM majors’ views about Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers develop across their participation; and (4) teachers’ knowledge of current STEM domains, skills, and careers change.

To examine the impact of the programming on each stakeholder group, PEAR’s CIS-S and CIS-E surveys, interviews, activity surveys, and workshop surveys were used. Research across the first year of implementation revealed improvements in participating students’ interest in a career in STEM in their future, their curiosity about STEM domains (with the exception of mathematics), and their attitudes toward STEM (Goal 1). While students’ interest in STEM career attainment improved, their self-efficacy for career relevant skills were mixed. The trend is positive overall, but interestingly the 21st century skills tied to work with peers declined (Goal 2). Interviews and CIS-E data demonstrate undergraduate STEM majors’ persistence in valuing the opportunity for access to STEM among high school students. The interactions among the undergraduate students and high school students were specifically valued in influencing some shifts in their views. For example, undergraduate student workers described in interviews how their knowledge about the high school students based on their interactions was informing new ideas about how to better support students (Goal 3). Among the teachers leading the afterschool club, their comfort, confidence, and self-efficacy around STEM and leading STEM activities improved after implementing the first year of the club. Their interest in leading STEM remained constant (Goal 4). This paper and poster will describe the data that informed these findings, descriptions of the activities and stakeholders, and implications for the subsequent years of the program and plans for sustainability.

Citation
Format

Antink-Meyer, A., & Aldeman, M., & Williams, J., & Jo, J. H. (2025, June), BOARD # 457: Student Interest in STEM Careers: An NSF ITEST Project for High Schoolers’ Renewable Energy Technology Engagement Paper presented at 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Montreal, Quebec, Canada . https://peer.asee.org/55838

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Student Interest in STEM Careers: An NSF ITEST Project for High Schoolers’ Renewable Energy Technology Engagement

This NSF ITEST project focuses on engaging students in four Chicago public high schools in an afterschool STEM program where they experience hands on activities with renewable energy technologies and related sustainability-tied experiences. Using a micro:bit and kit materials, students code, build, and investigate technologies to explore phenomena like air quality, and the modeling of technologies like electric cars and environmentally responsive homes. The communities in which the schools are set are Communities of Color that have historically been positioned in the public through a deficit lens but have rich cultural and economic assets.  Between 10 and 20 students met weekly afterschool during the first year of implementation, which was preceded by a planning year in which teachers provided feedback on activities, and connections to the communities of the schools were developed. Four faculty were involved in the design of the project and activities, and a group of undergraduate STEM majors were also involved in the design and pilot of all activities. Four goals frame this project and research. These are to learn how (1) high school students’ knowledge of STEM careers and STEM domains change across their participation; (2) the high school students improve their interest in STEM career attainment and their self-efficacy for career relevant skills; (3) the undergraduate STEM majors’ views about Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers develop across their participation; and (4) teachers’ knowledge of current STEM domains, skills, and careers change.

To examine the impact of the programming on each stakeholder group, PEAR’s CIS-S and CIS-E surveys, interviews, activity surveys, and workshop surveys were used. Research across the first year of implementation revealed improvements in participating students’ interest in a career in STEM in their future, their curiosity about STEM domains (with the exception of mathematics), and their attitudes toward STEM (Goal 1). While students’ interest in STEM career attainment improved, their self-efficacy for career relevant skills were mixed. The trend is positive overall, but interestingly the 21st century skills tied to work with peers declined (Goal 2). Interviews and CIS-E data demonstrate undergraduate STEM majors’ persistence in valuing the opportunity for access to STEM among high school students. The interactions among the undergraduate students and high school students were specifically valued in influencing some shifts in their views. For example, undergraduate student workers described in interviews how their knowledge about the high school students based on their interactions was informing new ideas about how to better support students (Goal 3). Among the teachers leading the afterschool club, their comfort, confidence, and self-efficacy around STEM and leading STEM activities improved after implementing the first year of the club. Their interest in leading STEM remained constant (Goal 4). This paper and poster will describe the data that informed these findings, descriptions of the activities and stakeholders, and implications for the subsequent years of the program and plans for sustainability.






AU  - Allison Antink-Meyer
AU  - Matt Aldeman
AU  - Jeritt Williams
AU  - Jin Ho Jo
CY  - Montreal, Quebec, Canada 
DA  - 2025/06/22
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - BOARD # 457: Student Interest in STEM Careers: An NSF ITEST Project for High Schoolers’ Renewable Energy Technology Engagement
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/55838
ER  -